RAISING OUR VOICES FOR PUERTO RICO
Each workshop includes:
- A short refresher on US government structures at the federal, state, and local levels.
- The A, B, C;s of civic engagement;
- How to organize, amplify, and multiply your voice on the issues that matter to you;
Workshops are divided into two categories to meet the needs of the trainees.
- Civic Engagement “101”: Adult Workshops are designed for adults and provide the participants with multiple deliverables. These workshops are for community members seeking to learn more about advocacy and civic engagement. These half-day workshops are held in partnership with community-based organizations and feature a half-day of training and in-depth review of advocacy. The series deliverables include customized civic engagement toolkits and meetings with elected officials and/or staff.
- Civic Engagement “101”: Teen Workshops are designed specifically for high school students. Our program is broken into four or five 90-minute to two-hour classes for a total of 8+ hours over a 4 to 6 week period. We teach teenagers about the various branches of government in classes that average 20-25 students on-site or up to 45 students via Zoom. All participants receive training to create their own custom toolkits and the the series ends with a meeting with an elected official and/or staffer. We work closely with the schoolteachers and integrate our lessons to follow the U.S. government lessons.
Since 2017, when we kicked off our workshops for adults at American University in Washington, D.C., we have traveled to Orlando, Tampa, Miami, New Jersey, Philadelphia, New York, Chicago, the San Fernando Valley, Arlington, and Los Angeles, where we received a commendation from the Chair of the Board of Supervisors of the County of Los Angeles, the Honorable Hilda Solis. In just these six years we have trained nearly 5,000 people in the art of civic engagement and effective advocacy.
In the coming years, BoricuActivatEd plans to expand our workshops with a Train the Trainer program, full integration into high school curriculums, and new training opportunities in new cities and states across the nation. Sign up for updates as details of future workshops are announced.