SF Training Review

The training took place in San Francisco at the Women's Building, although practitioner's came from all over the country. There were a wide-range of issues represented in the room, from Indigenous Sovereignty to war reparations, worker's rights, and environmental issues. It's always exciting to see the cross-pollination that occurs when change-makers from different issues join together in this learning community.

Chief Tony Surta of the Ohlone tribe welcomed the group to their land, and led us in a closing circle on the last day.

Ohlone Profiles was an anchor group for the training. Other anchor groups included the Black Mesa Water Coalition, Iraq Veterans Against the War, and Mujeres Unidas y Activas as part of the CA Domestic Workers Coalition. These groups served as a concrete campaign for participants to practice story-based strategy. Participants expressed excitement about part of their learning experience being tied to live campaigns.

The training is a mix of whole group, small group, partner, and individual exercises.

One of the tools we explored was the narrative power media analysis. The process of digging around in the dominant mainstream story in the media around an issue helps participants get a sense of the narrative landscape.