(Re)Constructing an Advocacy Toolkit: Staying in the Fight and Leveraging the Power of Community
We are living in a moment in time where there are so many issues of concern on the national and international stage. The Reconstructionist movement remains poised to raise our voices and make a difference on these issues. Join us and learn from professionals in the field how you can organize, advocate, and transform your community. Let’s turn progressive, Reconstructionist values into action.
All Advocacy Program workshops will take place on Thursday, March 24
Workshop Block 1 (10:30 – 12:00 noon)
How to Use Your Personal Story to Make Change
Rebecca Kirzner, Senior Director of Grassroots Campaigns at HIAS
Description:
The moral arc of the universe does not bend toward justice by itself. In this session, discuss how you and your community can be engaged constituents, reliable allies, and effective advocates for social change. We will review basic community organizing principles to learn how to tell your story, engage others, and develop an action plan to make a difference on issues that matter. Together, we can build a more just and compassionate world.
Lunch will be provided
Workshop Block 2 (1:00 – 2:15 pm)
How to be an Informed Political Donor and Activist
Debra Fried Levin, Leader, NOPE - Neighbors Defending Democracy, (www.NOPEneighbors.org)
Debra leads an all-volunteer political activist group that came about in response to the 2016 election. She has been employed by many campaigns, her most notable as Al Gore’s Vice-Presidential finance director in 1992. Using her years of experience working inside campaigns and at the grassroots, she will share with you her insights into how to make informed, strategic decisions about where to direct your donations and time. Hint: Not in response to the countless emails that flood your in-box. You will have tools you can use for the 2022 election and beyond.
Workshop Block 3 (2:30 – 3:45 pm)
Organizing to Stay in the Fight: How to Bring Justice to an un-Just World.
Ruth Messinger, Social Justice Consultant and Global Ambassador, American Jewish World Service
We know the problems and the challenges. There is racism in our community and some of it is manifested in our own congregations. We are beset with stories of anti-Semitism, anxieties about the loss of voting rights, the challenge of having Critical Race Theory being debated in local school boards and put on the ballot in nearby towns. Let’s talk together about some of these issues, about the connections between then and about what we might do together to move the needle toward justice.
Reconstructing Judaism is the central organization of the Reconstructionist movement. We train the next generation of rabbis, support and uplift congregations and havurot, foster emerging expressions of Jewish life, and encourage people to be their best selves — always helping to shape what it means to be Jewish today and to imagine the Jewish future.
The Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association is the professional association of Reconstructionist rabbis.
Camp Havaya is all about the joy of summer camp…with the freedom to be who you truly are.
RENA, The Reconstructionist Educators of North America, is a professional group for people leading schools in Reconstructionist congregations and other educators committed to the values and vision of Reconstructionist education.
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