Organizing for Change: Family Engagement & Organizing

We show up, we speak up, we reach out, we vote.

In our efforts to ensure that all children have an equal opportunity to graduate from high school prepared for college, we need to be sure that decision-makers hear our voices and take action. Through family engagement, community-based workshops, and organizing, we bring together passionate individuals willing to work and fight together for what’s best for all Louisiana students.

Organizing is a way to purposefully bring a large group of people together and empower them to create change.When members of the community who are impacted by and care about the way our students are learning show up, speak up, and vote, we know that has an impact on decision-makers. Organizers work with their communities to come together and work for positive changes for all students.

At Stand, we have four key steps to organize for change:

Educate parents and community members on the issues
Build teams of members with team leaders
Develop leaders’ and members’ skills, knowledge, and confidence
Mobilize teams to take action on issues

Our organizing work includes multiple engagement activities including:

Stand University for Parents (Stand UP) is an eight-week course for parents and guardians that focuses on actionable steps to get involved in their students’ education.
In-person (when safe to do so) and virtual workshops that build issue understanding and provide easy-to-implement strategies to increase involvement in their students’ education.
Community forums and presentations to build community understanding and awareness of issues.
Hosting or attending in-person (when safe to do so) or virtual house parties to take a deep dive into specific issues facing students or the education system at large.
Becoming a Fellow, a one-year program that further develops the leadership skills, organizing abilities, and engagement of the organization’s most involved members.
Advocating directly with decision-makers through testimony, petition drives, individual meetings, Lobby Days, phone banks, canvassing, and more.

Organizing for change is a vital part of our mission. Decisions about education are made every day at the district, state, and national level that impact the children in Louisiana classrooms. Our goal is to make sure that the people in charge of those decisions are well-informed and have the best interests of students at the heart of every decision they make.