VISIONS is currently in a strategic planning process (which we will integrate into this project), and we have determined four strategic goals for the organization, one of which is:

Achieve Impact
One of the 4 methods to achieve the Impact goal is: through public advocacy in collaboration with policy groups focused on advocacy.

We would love the students to support us in developing an  advocacy and political action strategy to support  "public advocacy in collaboration with policy groups focused on advocacy".

Collaboration with VISIONS Community and the Impact Goal Group (PROCESS):

1. There will be a VISIONS goal group (related to the strategic plan) forming around this Impact goal in October and working on it potentially through December. Students can be a resource for that goal team, and the goal team could be a source of connection for the students. (But the project will have to continue after the goal team completes its work and disbands.)

2.  As with all initiatives that are rooted in multicultural transformation and seeking to challenge systems of oppression, the PROCESS of this project -- the who, where, when, why, and HOW-- will be essential to create effective CONTENT (the outcome, the what). We will invite students into learning about our organization's culture and ways of being/doing in order to support process-based effective collaboration.  As an example, students will participate in workshop about VISIONS Guidelines for Effective Cross Cultural Dialogue, and for their supervision will be invited into a collaborative feedback framework called Real Talk which is a reiterative process of giving/receiving feedback across hierarchies.

Advocacy and Political Action Strategy (CONTENT):
A project focused on mapping out an advocacy and political action strategy that leverages the work of VISIONS through policy groups focused on advocacy.  As advocacy isn’t billable, and it isn’t always funded, this is an area of interest where VISIONS lacks the resources to develop a robust strategy on its own. Students can help fill the gap. 

A successful project will be collaborative with our community, have an equity lens throughout the process, and will produce an advocacy and political action plan that we can mobilize.

Some ideas on research and action outcomes:

Research:

Act: