Training & Capacity Building

Community Voices Heard has a strong commitment to training and capacity building – with our members, with our constituents, with our staff, with interested activists and with other organizations working to build power for low-income people. Over the years, we have developed a series of curriculum based trainings and internship opportunities in an effort to share our experience with others that are interested in developing similar skills.

Our trainings include:

• Organizing 101
• Base-Building 101
• Mobilization and Turnout: The Numbers Game
• Identifying & Developing Leadership
• Campaigns 101 & 102
• Media & Messaging
• Electoral Outreach 101

In addition to running these trainings for members and staff, we are also often asked to conduct trainings for other organizations interested in building organizing arms or developing their existent organizing capacity. We have conducted trainings for groups as diverse as the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition (OVEC), the Child Welfare Organizing Project (CWOP), the Red Hook Initiative, and Concerned Citizens for Family Preservation.

We also regularly host organizers from other organizations – Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, Metro Justice, and OVEC to name a few - that wish to shadow us and learn from us in the field. Staff has also taught organizing courses or classes at various colleges in the city including Columbia University, City College, and New York University. Additionally, we have trained over 30 organizers in our in-house internship, trainee, and canvasser training programs, many of whom have gone on to work as organizers and outreach workers with social justice organizations.

For more information on our training and capacity building, please contact Sondra Youdelman, Executive Director at 212-860-6001, ext. 21.