CLOI: California Lead Organizers Institute

Each CLOI cycle brings together experienced lead organizers from community and labor groups for advanced skills sessions, analysis of key economic trends in the state, and sharing of lessons and strategies. One-on-one meetings and conference calls are performed on a regular basis to track the organizers’ progress. Lead organizers become empowered with the ability to develop new leaders among their rank and file and become more effective in developing strategic campaigns

2011 presents exciting challenges for labor, community and political activists. Unions and community-based organizations need skilled staff in order to tackle the mounting needs placed before them and their constituents. The UC Berkeley Labor Center and Center for Third World Organizing are offering the 2011 program to monolingual and bi-lingual Spanish speaking lead organizers. Special topics affecting the daily lives of Spanish-speaking union members and community-based activists are an integral part of CLOI 2011.

2011 participants include: 

 Alejandra Ponce de Leon, Orange County Communities Organized for Responsible Development  
 Amy Hines   
 Annie Durazo, SEIU-UHW Fresno Office  
 Cesar Mendia, OPEIU  
 Debbie Macias, SEIU Local 521 Fresno Office  
 Dellia Serrano, SEIU Local 521 Bakersfield Office  
 Gustavo Corral, SEIU-UHW San Francisco Office  
 Jorge Guzman, SEIU Local 1021 Oakland Oak Street Office  
 Lane Levine, Humboldt Community for Activity and Nutrition  
 Mario Fuentes, AFSCME Local 3299 - UC Los Angeles  
 Rolando Gutierrez, SEIU-UHW Sacramento Office  
 Shanrika Turney, CTWO

CLOI trainings feature such topics as:

Staff/Leadership Development • Wellness/Healthy LifeStyle Exercises • Training/Teaching/Learning Skills • Forum on Immigration Reform/Issues • Strategic Campaign Planning • Community-Labor Coalition Building

“CLOI was an amazing opportunity to work and learn with people using a common lens and language–the art of leadership. Its leadership development program was both enriching and challenging for me.”—Everette R. Harvey Thompson, Field Organizer (FL, LA, MS), Amnesty International

“CLOI helped me see my role in the labor movement as a part of the broader movement for social and economic justice, while giving me tools to manage the day-to-day minutiae that can be so distracting to the work and goals we really want to accomplish.”—Danielle de Silverio, AFSCME 3299