Skip to main content

Agenda - Year 3

July 15-19, 2024
The Fort William Henry Hotel and Conference Center
Lake George, New York

Monday, July 15

12:30 pm - 1:30 pm
Lunch
1:30 pm - 4:30 pm
3rd Year Locals – Gallery Walk Prep
4:30 pm - 5:30 pm
Gallery Walk Reception
6:00 pm
Welcome Dinner

Tuesday, July 16

7:00 am - 8:30 am
Breakfast
8:30 am - 9:15 am
3rd Year Locals – Welcome and Logistics

Presenters: Ron Gross, NYSUT 2nd Vice President and Jennifer Kaseman, NYSUT Director of Constituencies and Program Services; Steve Lagnena, Labor Relations Specialist, Suffolk Regional Office

9:15 am - 10:00 am
3rd Year Locals – Overview and Opening Session

The Local Action Project (“LAP”) is about building power within locals. Year three is the culminating year in which locals will reflect on what they’ve accomplished so far and strategize to sustain their program into the future. Participants will reflect upon the pillars of LAP - Organizing, Social Justice, Political and Community Engagement and debrief on the progress made toward advancing these touchstones of LAP. Teams will use this reflection to inform the development of future campaigns.

Presenters: Elizabeth Vignaux, Labor Relations Specialist, Western New York Regional Office; Paul Aroune, Labor Relations Specialist, Western New York Regional Office

10:00 am - 10:45 am
3rd Year Locals – Your Campaign Revisited Part 1: Debriefing, Changes and Positives

During this session, teams will learn about effective strategies for meaningful debrief. Using the campaign they planned and executed for year 2 as a basis for this debrief, teams will report out on their reflections, including successes and adversities they experienced, what they learned from those experiences, and how those experiences will inform their work in the future. This exercise will provide the team with a framework for their presentations to the first- and second-year locals at the end of the week.

Presenters: Christine Sarni, Labor Relations Specialist, Nassau Regional Office; Elizabeth Vignaux, Labor Relations Specialist, Western New York Regional Office

10:45 am - 11:00 am
Break
11:00 am - 12:30 pm
3rd Year Locals – Your Campaign Revisited Part 2: Debriefing, Changes and Positives continued
12:30 pm - 1:30 pm
Lunch
1:30 pm - 3:30 pm
3rd Year Locals – Governance and Sustainability

Participants in this workshop will examine their formal and informal organizational structures to analyze how they can or need to be transformed to facilitate and advance a sustainable LAP program in the future.

Presenters: Paul Aroune, Labor Relations Specialist, Western New York Regional Office; Andy Voigt, Labor Relations Specialist, Central New York Regional Office

3:30 pm - 5:00 pm
3rd Year Locals – Team Time
6:00 pm
BBQ with the Officers

Wednesday, July 17

7:00 am - 8:30am
Breakfast
8:30 am - 10:30 am
3rd Year Locals – Social Justice

In this session Year three LAP Locals will explore Social Justice issues and how they intersect with core values of their membership. They will analyze their current plan and documents to identify how social justice issues can be used as internal organizing opportunities using a series of equity lens questions.  The locals will focus on changing their 1 on 1 approach to refocus their emphasis on equity to expand their organizational development and include more equity into the chapter.  They will identify opportunities to incorporate the tenets of social justice within their plans.

Presenters: Michelle Couture, Labor Relations Specialist, UUP; Loren Fountaine, Labor Relations Specialist, North Country Regional Office

10:30 am - 11:15 am
3rd Year Locals – Team Time
11:15 am - 12:30 pm
3rd Year Locals – Coalition Building

Coalition building is a critical element to strengthening your local and empowering your school community. This segment will allow locals to assess the efficacy of their community relationships in advancing their campaigns toward success.  Locals will identify opportunities for community engagement that build long-term, substantive, and productive coalitions within the community.

Presenters: Steve Lagnena, Labor Relations Specialist, Suffolk Regional Office; Christine Sarni, Labor Relations Specialist, Nassau Regional Office

12:30 pm - 1:30 pm
Lunch and special guest speaker
1:30 pm - 2:30 pm
3rd Year Locals – Team Time: Facilitating Coalition Building into Your LAP Plan
2:30 pm - 3:30 pm
3rd Year Locals – Next steps for THIS Campaign/Future Campaigns
3:30 pm - 5:00 pm
3rd Year Locals – Team Time AND Consultation Time
6:00 pm
Dinner on your own

Thursday, July 18

7:00 am - 8:30 am
Breakfast
8:30 am - 9:30 am
3rd Year Locals – Inventory of Future Campaigns

The purpose of this session will be to provide teams with time to reflect upon their year 2 campaigns as well as issues that have arisen throughout the course of the last year within New York State, the team’s region, or within their local, in order to brainstorm a list of possible issues around which a successful campaign could be built in the future.

Presenters: Elizabeth Vignaux, Labor Relations Specialist, Western New York Regional Office; Andy Voigt, Labor Relations Specialist, Central New York Regional Office

9:30 am - 10:30 am
3rd Year Locals – Developing Future Campaigns

After two years of focus on the LAP Pillars-Organizing, Social Justice, Community Engagement and Political Action this session will act as a complete overview with a focus on well-run campaigns. We will review the core components of a campaign and identification of worthy issues.  Local LAP teams will draw from their previous years’ training to develop campaigns that will exist beyond their LAP training.

Presenters: Elizabeth Vignaux, Labor Relations Specialist, Western New York Regional Office; Loren Fountaine, Labor Relations Specialist, North Country Regional Office

10:30 am - 10:45 am
Break
11:45 am - 12:30 pm
3rd Year Locals – Team Time/Consultation Time
12:30 pm - 1:30 pm
Lunch
1:30 pm - 5:00 pm
3rd Year Locals – Team Time/Consultation Time
6:00 pm
Special Event TBD

Friday, July 19

7:00 am - 8:30 am
Breakfast
8:30 am - 9:45 am
3rd Year Locals – Team Time/Consultation Time
9:45 am - 10:00 am
Break
10:00am - 11:00am
Lessons from our 3rd years

In this session, year 3 LAP locals will share their experiences, lessons learned, and best practices with first- and second-year LAP Locals.

11:00 am - 12:00 pm
Plenary and Closing Remarks