The ACCE A-Team is a transformative training program that develops leaders in the classroom, and in the field, into neighborhood organizers and campaigners motivated to expand the people’s movement. A-Team trainings focus on 3 critical organizing components:
The staff of ACCE Institute is committed to helping community members unpack and tackle the issues that most negatively impact their lives – especially as they help lead to racial, social, and economic justice. ACCE Institute developed an analysis and framework through which organizations and their members can view issues and develop issue campaign plans taking into account Race and Class, two of the most impactful and divisive systems of oppression people face today. While we acknowledge that other critical systems of oppression are at play in people’s lives and must be addressed, we have chosen to focus on Race and Class because of their particularly significant role in the equity gaps people face here in California.
The reality of WHO poverty impacts in California has a strong racial dimension. The WHAT and WHY’s of upcoming battles for poor Californians will continue to have a strong racial dynamic that is largely un-named in the strategic orientation of most economic justice groups. A singular focus on economic disparity or racial inequity without a strong intersectional analysis does not accurately reflect the political landscape in California. This partial diagnosis leads to strategies and campaign decisions that do not holistically address the reality of the base we seek to organize, does not accurately assess nor address the motivations of the opposition, and misses a key component to reaching the field of would-be allies.
The REJ training lays out an analysis and framework that is intended to facilitate an organizational learning dialogue around the intersection of racial and economic justice where key players in the organization build shared language, surface differences, and align around commonalities. They then can begin to think openly and critically about how this strategic orientation can be applied to movement work. The goal is to help stakeholders see the broader impact of their issue fights, which enables them to make strategic decisions that more accurately and adequately address those issues. The result -more focused campaign outcomes that impact a wider base of people.
ACCE Institute organizers work to recruit and develop members every day. Our model is rare in that our staff lead from behind: members fundamentally lead our issue campaigns. Our members set their own agendas, facilitate their own meetings and make decisions about their goals and campaign fights. They are also actively engaged in power analysis and mapping activities, issue analysis, and campaign strategy development. By encouraging members to take ownership of neighborhood or issue development and campaign plans and outcomes from the start - ACCE organizers help members tap into their own power and leadership.
A donation to ACCE Institute is an investment in individual and systemic transformation. Every dollar we receive is put to work in the fight to create an equitable, inclusive, and just California. Your tax-deductible donation will help provide research, training, and education in support of powerful grassroots leadership.