Put Your Passion to Action

Please note, this course takes place each Monday from 6:30-8:30pm EST, beginning April 5th and ending May 24th. Optional office hours will be held on Wednesdays from 6:30-7:30pm EST. 

Building Skills for Change

“I was able to grasp all the material and implement it in my day-to-day work continuously as we progressed through the sessions. I’m so grateful for the opportunity to grow with this group.”

"I leave these sessions at 8:30 at night after working all day, and I'm still excited!"

"Thank you for being so welcoming and providing a safe space for our ideas to grow."

- 2020 program graduates

Do you have a desire to step up and fight for a better, fairer, more just world? This course is for you.

This workshop series is designed to help people learn how to make a difference in their communities through the basics of strategizing, organizing, telling their own story, and taking effective action.

During this eight week, sixteen-session online course you will learn how to:

• Tell your story to motivate others to take action.
• Design a strategy that gets the change you want
• Structure your team to avoid burnout and facilitate growth
• Recruit and keep volunteers
• Choose a strategy and tactics that move decision-makers

After completing the course you will receive a certificate in Organizing for Social Change from the Institute for Change Leaders.

The curriculum is based on the teachings of Harvard University Professor Marshall Ganz, a veteran of the Civil Rights Movement and an adviser to President Obama's 2008 Presidential campaign.

You will learn through lectures and small group activities that will allow you to practice the skills we teach.

You will work with an experienced organizer, who will facilitate your group and help you plan your organizing project. You will finish the course ready to tell your story, with a developed organizing statement, and tools to plan your organizing project's strategy and tactics.

Dates and times

Monday and Wednesday evening sessions, starting April 5, 2021. The Monday sessions will run 6:30pm - 8:30pm EST, and will include lectures and facilitator-led breakout groups with the opportunity to practice that week's material. The Wednesday sessions will run 6:30pm - 7:30pm EST, and will function as 'office hours' for participants to ask questions, practice their skills, and receive coaching.

Price

The regular price ticket is $399.00. We offer a discounted rate if you are registering as a group. Participants can be from different organizations. Please email [email protected] for details.

ICL will be offering a limited number of scholarships to individuals and groups working or volunteering with a non-profit, charity, labour union or social movement. Please complete this form to apply.

Teaching Team

Rizwan Tufail is a member of ICL's Board of Directors and a former fellow at Harvard's Kennedy School, where he studied with Marshall Ganz. Rizwan is the Managing Partner of Innovonomics Inc – a strategy consulting firm that works on strategies, policies, and skills required to accelerate the move towards a global innovation economy.

Duncan Pike is a union activist, campaigner, and social movement trainer with a passion for supporting people who are organizing for a more just, fair, and equitable society. As a facilitator and Communications Lead with the Institute for Change Leaders in Toronto, Duncan has trained hundreds of new activists and union members on organizing and campaign strategy and tactics, public narrative, and campaign messaging.