Overview | History | Board | Staff | Partnership
AOP believes it is vital to empower more individuals to organize within their communities and create a diverse culture of organizing that is an integrated, community-wide effort across oppressed groups and purposes. To achieve this, AOP provides a unique opportunity that enables activists to learn grassroots community organizing skills through a combination of on-the-job training with experienced mentors, supplemented with intensive training by a variety of people active in the social justice movement.
AOP’s apprentice training program supports and develops apprentices though a seven-month, paid apprenticeship, including a wellness stipend. Apprentices have been active within their communities and have demonstrated a commitment to social change, usually within their own communities. All possess a fundamental cognizance of the need to change oppressive attitudes, policies and systems. They are paired with mentors—seasoned organizers—working at organizations that match their interests and passions for social justice. The apprentices, with their mentors, develop their own work plan for the course of their apprenticeship based on their individual training needs, strengths, and the current needs of their community for social justice organizing. Apprentices work closely with their mentors throughout the program to develop, implement, and learn from their campaigns.
In addition to their work with their mentors, apprentices also come together two days each month to participate in training. Most of our trainers are experienced organizers who come from and work within Wisconsin’s marginalized communities. At these trainings, apprentices learn ways to develop their skills and knowledge, reflect upon and process their work, and develop important relationships—both with their trainers and fellow apprentices. The training sessions cover a wide range of topics related to organizing, including: skills, models, and theories of organizing; anti-oppression training; fundraising; communications; and coalition building.
By centralizing organizer training in Wisconsin, AOP gives apprentices (as well as their mentors) the chance to form relationships with established organizers, learn from one another, and develop the basis for ongoing collaboration between social justice efforts.
The idea for AOP first emerged in 1997 as a project of the Verna Hill Memorial Fund, a sponsored project of the Wisconsin Community Fund. This Fund was first formed to honor the legacy of Verna Hill, a legendary community organizer in Madison. It is now called the Verna Hill/Dorothy Shannon Fund to honor two great women. The Fund provided the seed money for establishing AOP.
Early program planning was based on feedback of many organizers, activists, and leaders of social justice organizations throughout Wisconsin, with early support provided by the Organizing Apprenticeship Project in Minnesota. Their valuable input focused on the needs of grassroots community organizing in Wisconsin.
AOP has trained and developed 28 grassroots community organizers since our first cohort of apprentices in 2004. As our apprentices graduate and become successful organizers with strong relationships across the community, our program has experienced increased demand both from prospective apprentices and from prospective mentors and mentoring organizations.
As a result of AOP’s work, more highly skilled organizers are organizing in their communities and are empowering underrepresented and oppressed individuals to work together as a community to create social change. The work of AOP builds a strong organizing culture across communities and a basis for ongoing collaboration between social justice efforts. Not only are the communities in which organizers are working taking direct action, but communities and organizations are more engaged with each other—working together to achieve social change.
Patrick Barrett, Co-Chair
Karen Campbell
David Crowley
Becky Glass
Jen Sandler
Teresa Thomas-Boyd, Co-Chair
Rachel Crites, Executive Director
Rachel has been organizing and active in the social justice movement for the past 15 years. She began her career with the United Farm Workers where, over the course of four years, she worked on various local organizing projects in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. She then relocated to Chicago where she worked with a domestic violence shelter, and later with AFSCME Council 31, where she organized a variety of workers throughout Illinois, eventually becoming a lead organizer. She has also done additional project work for the Steelworkers in Colorado.
AOP is a program of collaborative organizational partnerships through our mentors, trainers, and program committee. Many of our partners come from underrepresented and oppressed communities themselves and donate their time to AOP. Our Program Committee gathers and provides ongoing feedback from activists and organizations throughout Wisconsin. AOP always welcomes and seeks new and additional collaboration in these and other areas, both with individuals and organizations.
In 2006, AOP began a partnership with the Board for People with Developmental Disabilities (BPDD) in support of its effort to develop a new network of community organizers to develop the power of Wisconsin’s disability community, building off the strong history of grassroots community organizing for disability rights. In particular, BPDD is interested in developing relationships with communities of color and low-income communities to incorporate disability issues into the broader social justice movement in Wisconsin.