Leadership Development
The task of leadership is not to put greatness into humanity, but to elicit it, for the greatness is already there."
- John Buchan
Leadership is essential to achieving any goal. Leaders help us see what is possible and help us towards making that a reality. But for lots of reasons, most having to do with the poisonous effects of systems of oppression, leaders are often seen as white, wealthy, heterosexual men. Not only does this pass over the leadership of so many others, but it also limits the vision of what leaders see and consider important. We need real leadership now. The problems we face are too grave for us to ignore leaders who have critical insights.
We need leaders who are low-income, who are people of color, who are women and who are immigrants. We need to promote a new generation of leadership.
POWER's Model of Leadership Development
POWER has developed a three-pronged model of developing leadership.
• Observation and Participation
• Research, Study and Political Education
• Political Exposures
POWERful Leaders
POWER's Leadership Development program brings together the members from all of the organization's membership spaces- the Bayview Organizing Project, the Women Workers' Project and Youth in Power- to sharpen the members existing abilities to provide leadership. Through action, reflection, study and exposure, POWER members continue the life-long process of developing a critical consciousness as well as the ability to help cultivate the leadership of others.
POWERful Projects
POWER members are engaged in several exciting and important campaigns, including:
- POWER University, 100 Series: The 100 Series of POWER University is an nine-week training designed to help members understand the organization's mission statement and to develop their skills needed to lead the organization. We offer the 100 Series twice every year so that at least 50 members graduate from this first step to developing as a community leader.
- POWER University, 200 Series: The 200 Series of POWER University is a twelve-week training designed to sharpen members' critical consciousness and to refine their skills as leaders in the organization and in the larger movement. We offer the 200 Series once a year to all graduates of the 100 Series.
- Member Internship: The member internship is a five-month opportunity for 4 members to work full-time as a staff organizer. During the internship, members get to develop their skills recruiting members, recruit new members and understand the day-to-day operations of the organization. In addition to receiving close supervision from a member of the staff, member interns get to attend weekly political education and reflection sessions.
- Fantastic Fridays: A large part of being a leader is having the ability to respond to the changing conditions in the world around us. Fantastic Fridays is an informal training and discussion space for staff and members to come together to discuss important current events. Sometimes those events relate directly to our campaign work and other times they are about world events that are in motion at the moment.
- Harriet Tubman Books Club: We figured if Oprah has a book club, then so should Harriet Tubman. In the Tubman Book Club, members from all of POWER's membership spaces come together to study the successes, challenges and lessons of previous organizers and activists. Every two months, we select one historical or international movement to study, then we read one book and several articles describing the situation that those movements faced and how organizations and allies were able to effect history. The Harriet Tubman Book Club is open to all of POWER's members, and we function in English and Spanish.
