The Economic Democracy Young Leaders project’s goal is to invest in the development and training of young leaders in our communities that are going to take Economic Democracy into the future. The project specifically focuses on investing in young people because often, they are the ones with the freshest and most collaborative ideas and solutions to social problems. This project aims to give them the tools and help them develop the skills to expand Economic Democracy in our communities and into the future. It is composed of the Organizing Institute, a Paid Internship program, and a Fellowship program.
The Economic Democracy Young Leaders Organizing Institute is a rigorous organizing training program composed of a series of trainings covering different organizing skills such as Canvassing, Phone Banking, Communications (Social Media Messaging and Framing), Public Speaking, Community Outreach and more. The purpose of the program is to help develop young leaders in the Long Beach and Harbor Area to advance the ideals, politics and vision of Democratic Communities focused on the well-being of people over profits. The Institute is organized in partnership with experienced organizer Norma Rodriguez the Statewide Organizing and Policy Director for Californians for Justice. Norma has over 15 years of experience in strategic relationship building as well as developing legislative and policy strategies
The Internship advances this further by allowing a few young leaders to participate in the daily work of the organization, practicing their skills in helping the organization carry out and grow its projects.
The Fellowship focuses on helping aspiring academic and legal scholars in developing resources and knowledge through research on Economic Democracy, Worker Cooperatives and Community Land Trusts. As fellows they are able to not only contribute in the knowledge production of the organization and developing resource toolkits but also in helping to guide the direction of the organization.
If you would like to support the development and mentoring of young leaders who will envision and develop a future full of Economic Democracy and democratic communities Become a Member today!
