The League of Young Voters is putting on a series activist trainings around the state geared towards arming young people with the skills they need to be successful activists and organizers in their local communities. The League believes that providing young people with these skill sets will guarantee that the progressive movement will continue to flourish in a professional and effective manner.

The first training in the series will take place at Colby College in Waterville, ME, on February 15, 2009.

WHAT: The League of Young Voters: Activist Training

WHEN: February 15, 2009
      10 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

WHERE: COLBY COLLEGE
       Diamond Building
       Rooms 145 and 153
       1st Floor
       4000 Mayflower Hill
                Waterville, ME

Workshops include:

Using Media to Get your Message Out: In this workshop, you will learn how to use media effectively, as well as practice recognizing bias in media.  There will be a hands-on section where you will practice putting together a media piece.

Winning Local Elections:  Ever want to know how to put together a voter guide? Need the basics on winning local elections? These questions and more will be covered in this workshop.

Lobbying Your Local Elected Officials: This is the workshop to participate in if you want to learn the skills and tools needed to effectively lobby your elected officials.  It is a hand-on, interactive workshop where you will actually get to practice your skills.

How to get people involved and keep them involved in your campaign: This workshop will cover why people get involved in campaigns or organizations, recruitment techniques, why people do (or don't) stay involved, and how to create structures and spaces for leadership.

TRAINER BIOS:

Jill Barkley is a Lesbian Feminist Activist who works in the Domestic Violence Movement in Maine. When she's not working to end relationship violence of any kind, Jill can be found organizing within her local community in Portland - most notably the Portland Dyke March, which she co-founded. A graduate of the University of Michigan, she is currently pursuing a Master's of Public Administration in the Program on Domestic Violence from the University of Colorado-Denver. In her spare time, Jill supports the work of tremendous non-profit organizations like the League of Young Voters and Equality Maine.

Charley Connolly is a young queer organizer/activist of Portland. He has been involved in community organizing and activism now for over 7 years with a passion for youth organizing and social justice issues from class to race to sexual orientation. He has trained with the National Conference for Community Justice, OUTRIGHT, and various other organizations. He is also the Founder of Southern Maine Youth Pride.

Steve Taylor, Organizing Director, Environmental Health Strategy Center.  Steve Taylor has been an organizer and trainer for twenty years in the environmental, social justice and labor movements. He has designed and taught leadership development programs, coordinated local and national grassroots action campaigns, and organized direct and indirect actions in Maine, Tennessee, Georgia and Louisiana. He currently serves as Organizing Director for the Environmental Health Strategy Center, and has worked previously for the Military Toxics Project, Maine People's Alliance, Save Our Cumberland Mountains, the Georgia State Employees Union, and Local 100 of the Service Employees International Union.

Harris Parnell is the Maine Director for The League of Young Voters.  Before joining The League, Harris worked with the Federation of State PIRGs with college students to address issues ranging from environmental to students' rights to hunger and homelessness issues.  Most recently, Harris worked with Toxics Action Center where she empowered citizens to fight toxic threats in their communities.  While there, she helped to prevent a new dirty coal plant from being built in Wiscasset, Maine.