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Reclaim the Promise through the
Leadership, Education and Development (LEAD) Program
Michigan/Ohio Individual Development Program (1.5)
May 2-3, 2015
Toledo, OH—Grand Plaza Hotel & Convention Center
Our vision for reclaiming the promise may look different community by community, but it is the AFT’s core work. The
1.6 million members of the AFT are joining with parents, students and community partners to reclaim the promise of
public education as the embodiment of our commitment to help all children succeed. We are committed to the fight for
high-quality public services that make our communities safe, healthy and vibrant. We are fighting for a healthcare
system that puts patient care and safety above corporate profits. We are reclaiming the promise of a high-quality
system of public higher education that is accessible and affordable by all. We are working to ensure all young people
have the building blocks of success, including high-quality early childhood education. And we are safeguarding the
retirement security for all working women and men.
To help accomplish these goals, the AFT is sponsoring a two-day individual development event. These training
courses are designed for individual activists, leaders and staff (with the approval of their local president) to explore
subjects tailored to the strategic needs of our local unions.
May 2, 2015: ALL
Public Narrative: Values-Based Story Telling
Registration Information:
http://go.aft.org/LEAD_OH
May 3, 2015: Tentative Course List (Choose one)
Engaging Our Members through Activism and Better Communication
Building Our Frontlines: Training Work-site Leaders
Communicating the Public Narrative of Your Local Union (Public Speaking)
Union-Management Partnerships and Community Schools
Overcoming Dysfunctional Leadership Teams
Descriptions on reverse
Registration Fee: $50
Hotel Rate (single or double): $92
Register for a room by 3/31/15
For additional information please
email uli_support@aft.org
Saturday, May 2, 2015
Public Narrative: Values-Based Storytelling
Storytelling is one of our most powerful tools as leaders, activists and staff. This day long training introduces why
storytelling matters, how storytelling fits into social change work, and what methods for harnessing the power of
stories are most effective.
At this training, all the participants attending the MI-OH Individual Development (1.5) Session will learn the art of
Public Narrative, a framework developed by Marshall Ganz that integrates a story of self with a story of us and a story
of now into a values-based narrative for public leadership. A story of self communicates who I am: my values, my
experience, why I do what I do. A story of us communicates who we are: our shared values, our shared experience,
and why we do what we do. And a story of now articulates the present as a moment of challenge, choice, and hope.
Leaders and activist will use this storytelling practice as a powerful tool in overcoming apathy, inertia and the
challenges facing our members today.
This introductory session is for all leaders, activists and staff.
Sunday, May 3, 2015 (Choose one of the following courses)
Engaging Our Members through Activism and Better Communication
This session will address how to more completely engage all of our members in our union work. Using our newly
developed public narrative storytelling skills, we will explore new strategies in social media, innovative ways to
encourage active participation with members and the community, and a systematic approach to reaching out to new
or uninterested colleagues. We’ll also look at proven best practices for crafting communications materials that
resonate, using modern brain science to de-jargon our work.
This session is best for leaders, activists and staff.
Building Our Frontlines: Training Work-Site Leaders
A key ingredient for a strong union is to have committed, active work-site leaders (building reps and stewards) in
adequate numbers with clear sense of their union’s public narrative, expectations, relevant training and appropriate
supports. In this session, you will develop specific skills for taking your work-site leadership to its highest level of
performance ever, most specifically when it comes to getting more of your members to act more like unionists and
less like customers.
This session is best for those willing to look hard at the steward and representation structure of the local.
Communicating the Public Narrative of Your Local Union (Public Speaking)
Union leaders and activists may find themselves in a variety of communication situations, ranging from membership,
work-site and employer board meetings, to presentations before political and community organizations.
In these situations, audiences are making judgments about the union and its goals, based on what union leaders and
activists have to say, and how they handle themselves.
This session is best for leaders, activists and staff.
Union-Management Partnerships and Community Schools
Understanding how successful union-management partnerships are structured, negotiated and implemented to
ensure high-quality outcomes is critically important for unions who are leading change as a result of policy mandates
and best practices. This session will provide guidance on how to begin a partnership to implement community
schools in your district and strengthen your members’ engagement to sustain the partnership.
This session is best for leaders, activists and staff.
Overcoming Dysfunctional Leadership Teams
Union leaders’ primary responsibilities often require the development of highly effective teams. Whether developing a
team of worksite leaders to organize and mobilize in the workplace or managing senior staff, we need great groups of
individuals to leverage power to make change.
This session will examine five negative aspects of dysfunctional teams and their positive counterparts that can make
teams highly effective. We will explore how to use our newly developed public narrative storytelling skills to help
create high functioning and effective teams. Participants will receive useful tools for creating healthier teams as well
as insight into why simple changes can be difficult to implement.
This session is best for leaders, activists and staff.