Training Committee

The Training Committee works to develop new leaders and strengthen existing leadership by hosting training, coaching, and skill sharing opportunities. In 2013, there are two initaitves: Organizers Training and a Facilitation Training Program. 

To get involved with the Training Committee, contact Bill Price (bill.price@sierraclub.org)

Organizers Training

One of the persistent barriers to more comprehensive organizing in our region is a lack of resource and information sharing between organizations and between generations. The history and tradition of organizing is deep in our mountains. Union struggles for safe working conditions and fair pay, victories for black lung benefits, school reform were all born from the long history of organizing here. Today, many of our groups have lost touch with the lessons of the past and they seldom have access to troubleshooting and building support infrastructures with organizers working in isolated rural communities. In 2013, we plan to make training organizers a priority. We will bring together organizers and aspiring organizers from member and ally groups. They will be joined by veterans of the VA Pittston Strike, those who helped to push for successful black lung legislation and those that were apart of unprecedented land reform initiatives. Together, they will participate in a training that sets up coaching relationships and supports organizers designing plans to take back home.

Facilitation Training Program

Our facilitator coaching project pairs some of our most experienced facilitators with participants that would like to gain more experience as facilitators. These pairs work together by discussing facilitation theory and practice and they co-designed and co-facilitated portions of our regional Steering Meetings. The pairs will also go through more formal trainings together that will develop the facilitations skills of both trainers and trainee.