Are you interested in PGH DSA's next round of the Campaign Leadership School
In recent years, Pittsburgh DSA has organized a campaign leadership school to build candidates for elected office—and those who may wish to work to elect candidates for elected office—who will partner with us in a long-term strategic way in our work to build a socialist future.
Please fill out this form if you are interested in participating in a next round of our Campaign Leadership School! We don't yet have any details to share, but we wanted to give people a way to express interest, which will be helpful in seeing when we have enough people interested for another round!
Our goal with the campaign school has been to train people who may be considering running for office or supporting others in doing so to:
- Develop their skills to run a successful campaign and to be a candidate
- Develop their understanding of key issues for socialists and ability to explain and discuss those ideas
- Get started in organizing in their community before they're ever asking for people's votes to gain a better understanding of what the work takes, have their community get to know them more, and for them and our chapter to have more experience organizing together
In the past, this program has taken place over 9 sessions over 4-5 months, with both hybrid and Zoom-only format sessions.
The program has a cohort structure, so participants sign up to attend all of the sessions and commit to completing work outside of sessions to advance their practical experience and knowledge of course materials.
Focal topics include:
- Selecting a strategic seat
- Understanding the powers and jurisdiction of different offices
- Getting on the Ballot
- Creating a Campaign Plan, including a field plan, policy platform, media plan, budget, and fundraising plan
- Leadership development and volunteer coordination
- Understanding issues from a socialist or anti-capitalist perspective
- Governing from the Left
- Using campaigns and elected seats to build the organization of the poor and working class
