Massachusetts Leadership Academy

Remembering Paul Cellucci

by Judy on Jun 8, 2022 • No Comments

Rest in peace Paul Celluci ,who always responded to poor people’s advocates— as a State Rep, as State Senator, as Lt. Governor, as Governor, as Ambassador. We called his official office in Canada and told a Secretary that an immigrantion lawyer from GBLS needed his official intervention to facilitate a...

advocacy / civic engagement / policy change / Trainings / workforce training

Relationships Matter

by Judy on Nov 30, 2018 • No Comments

When two hill town girls from Western Massachusetts get together in Florida – they have fun. Jane Swift and I go way back to our roots in Western Mass, to small town politics, to shared values and commitment to social, racial and economic justice as we pursued our separate careers...

advocacy / children / civic engagement / policy change

Celebrating National Adoption Day – Like many women in this lobbying business I started as a volunteer 45 years ago.

by Judy on Nov 18, 2018 • No Comments

Like many women in this business, I started as a volunteer. I belonged to an adoptive parent group. We had decided to “do something” about an existing law that forbade the adoption of children across religious lines. Through our parent support network we had learned that more than a thousand...

civic engagement / policy change / Resources

What People Are Saying

by Judy on Oct 24, 2018 • No Comments

More important than ever – positive policy change on the state level. Here’s what professional and volunteer lobbyists and organizers are saying about the newly-released 2018 edition of Lobbying on a Shoestring, by Judith C. Meredith and Margaret E. Monsell: Making effective and lasting change is harder than ever but...

Featured / Resources

New! 4th Edition of Lobbying on a Shoestring Is Here!

by Judy on Sep 12, 2018 • No Comments

Lobbying on a Shoestring offers a common-sense, practical approach to political action. Premised on the idea that real people should have a real impact on the development of public policy, this powerhouse of a paperback conveys truths about the legislative process and hard-won, strategic insights. The 2018 Revised Edition gets you...

advocacy / Featured

A Found Poem: from an official training PowerPoint for workers who screen shelter applicants.

by admin on Nov 22, 2012 • No Comments

THE CHILDREN AND I NEED SHELTER – LAST NIGHT WE SLEPT IN A CAR ( Massachusetts found poem)* Where were you sleeping before you slept in the car? How many nights have you spent in the car? Were your children with you? Do you own the car? Do you have the...

Featured / Resources / Trainings / Uncategorized

Organizing for Change – Reorganizing Your Internal Resources

by admin on Oct 15, 2012 • No Comments

I bet you can think of 10 MORE reasons why your organization might not want to spend the time and energy to reorganize you existing resources in order plan and implement a campaign to promote positive policy change in your town, in your county or in your state. I can...

Featured / Trainings

New Videos from Freedom House + past Highlights

by admin on Jul 13, 2012 • No Comments

Parents on the March: Organizing for Quality Education in Boston Public Schools, June 2012 Gail Snowden, from Freedom House, hosted the recent session on organizing for quality education in Boston and introduces two of Boston’s greatest education advocates and organizers Rep. Byron Rushing and Sarah-Ann Shaw. ...

Featured / Uncategorized

The most fun message training ever.

by admin on Jun 27, 2012 • No Comments

What kind of story do you tell? So far, the most “fun” on-site coaching event is a very lively, interactive message development session which helps volunteer activists and professional advocates learn how to turn a Chicken Little story that people ignore, into a Little Train that Could story, that makes people want to...

Featured / Trainings

What Does it Take to Promote Positive Change in Our Communities?

by admin on Jun 13, 2012 • No Comments

Answer: One person or organization, willing to be a part of a greater network, fueled by a common vision for the right solution. Individuals, organizations, communities learning from each other, drawing from a comprehensive library of public policy resources and organizing tools. Leadership Academy Training Programs: Be part of the Academy’s...

Featured / Resources

Do you have Real Clout?

by admin on Mar 30, 2012 • No Comments

There’s no secret for how to win the policy change you’re looking for, just a series of planning and organizing activities that add up to a campaign. Start by learning how the policy-making process works: the Real Clout textbook was written to serve as a how-to manual for community activists who,...

Latest entries

Updated list of public policy players endorsing 4th Edition Lobbying on a Shoestring

by Judy on Oct 25, 2018 • No Comments

advocacy / civic engagement / policy change

What is Public Policy Anyway?

by Judy on Oct 22, 2018 • No Comments

Do you have an answer to this basic question? What is pubic policy Anyway? At Real Clout we say that policy are rules made by people in authority to control others in their family, workplace, government. Ask a room of youngsters to tell you what family policies that hate most and they will come up with...

advocacy / Keys to winning

Keys to Winning Positive Policy Change in 2019 – Start Now!

by Judy on Oct 19, 2018 • No Comments

Here’s the Introduction to the 4th Edition of Lobbying on a Shoestring outlining the Three Rules of Lobbying and the Hero Opportunity

advocacy

We could not reach consensus —

by Judy on Aug 1, 2018 • No Comments

I may have been around tool long but I don’t remember this excuse……………. We could not reach consensus. We used to blame people.

advocacy

4th Edition of Lobbying on Shoestring – looking for new and experienced lobbyists to share a story

by Judy on Jul 27, 2018 • No Comments

We are looking for new and experienced lobbyist familiar with Lobbying on a Shoestring willing to share a lobbying story as a reviewer of the 4th Edition. Maybe we have been working side by side for years practicing a much misunderstood and maligned profession called “lobbying.” Maybe we worked together developing a strategic plan for...

advocacy

Nobody said it was going to be easy –the Speaker and the President cannot avoid conflict; they must confront it, resolve it, and take the blame for it

by Judy on Jul 10, 2018 • No Comments

Closing days of a session are always a test of Leadership… from Chapter 2 of the draft 4th Edition of Lobbying on a Shoestring “Leadership, like other legislators, must be reelected. Because it is particularly embarrassing for a party leader to lose a local election, leaders listen to their constituents very closely and use the...

advocacy

Highlighting Organizers – Lew Finfer

by admin on Dec 5, 2013 • No Comments

Lew Finfer from MCAN-PICO Co Chaired the successful Raise up Massachusetts effort to get over a quarter of a million signatures to improve the lives of a million or so workers. In this picture, Lew is wearing a pin from Martin Luther King’s last campaign. Lew is an organizer without peer in Massachusetts. Here is an...

advocacy / Featured / immigration reform

On the Agenda at Last! Immigration Reform — No Excuses

by admin on Jan 30, 2013 • No Comments

from Ali Noorani’s Huffington’s Post in part…. Less than a week to go till the March FOR America and the immigration blame game is kicking into full gear. Democrats are blaming Republicans, Republicans are blaming Democrats. Meanwhile, the DC punditry – aided and abetted by a front pageWashington Post story that doesn’t have a source to cite – is tripping...

advocacy / Featured / tax breaks

TAX BREAKS for Ben Affleck. Tax hikes for everyone else.

by admin on Jan 28, 2013 • No Comments

Joan Vennochi does it again. A sharp spin on a current hot debate — in this case revenues Here in part TAX BREAKS for Ben Affleck. Tax hikes for everyone else. As he calls for $1.9 billion in new taxes, that proposal didn’t add up for Governor Deval Patrick. So, he’s also proposing to cap the film tax...

advocacy / Autism / Resources

Michael Forbes Wilcox – One Man’s Mission: Bring much-needed assistance to autistic adults and others who are not now served.

by admin on Jan 26, 2013 • No Comments

Of course the campaign to bring much needed services to autistic adults and others is not just one man’s mission. In fact the effort is being led by The Asperger’s Association of New England (AANE) and they have taken the lead in drafting and promoting two bills to implement the highest priority recommendations of the...

advocacy / Featured / gun control

On the Agenda at Last Linsky Files Gun Violence Legislation

by admin on Jan 23, 2013 • No Comments

From the Brookline Patch in part The bill looks to close loopholes in existing state laws, require mental health background checks, strengthen gun storage requirements and require liability insurance for gun owners. The following is a press release sent by the office of state Rep. David Linsky, D-Natick. State Rep. David P. Linsky announced today...

advocacy / domestic workers / Featured / Uncategorized

Refocusing Our Lens: Domestic Workers’ Rights Are a Neglected Feminist Issue

by admin on Jan 20, 2013 • No Comments

Fom RH Reality Check Domestic Workers Rights The attention gap for this issue is particularly unfortunate in light of how hard domestic workers are toiling not just in their jobs, but also to advocate for themselves. The successful campaign for a New York Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights which passed in 2010, and the campaign in California which...