After months of gaining critical organizing skills, building deep solidarities, and growing their personal leadership, the Delfino Leadership Institute (DLI) graduated it’s 3rd cohort of worker leaders!
This year’s cohort included members from the following organizations: Desis’s Rising Up and Moving (DRUM), New York Communities for Change (NYCC), The Street Vendor Project (SVP), Adhikaar, Restaurant Opportunity Center-NY (ROC-NY) and Domestic Workers United.
In keeping with tradition, our final training took place May 19-20 in Long Island, NY where the cohort spent the weekend sharing their personal stories, performing theatre of the oppressed skits, learning about each other’s cultures through music and dance, enjoying delicious home-cooked meals– all while building a truly beautiful and long lasting community.
This year’s graduates have grown by leaps and bounds since they first embarked on their collective leadership journey in February. Meeting on a monthly basis, the cohort engaged in trainings covering organizing essentials like base-building, recruitment, action planning, and more. Upon completing the program, participants walked away with solidified outreach skills which they can use to advance their organizations’ capacity through base-building. They learned the Enlace outreach RAP framework as well as how to respond to push-back when outreaching. They also gained skills in how to conduct 1-on-1 meetings, how to grow the leadership of other members in their organization, and how to effectively plan an action.
Underlying the Delfino Leadership Institute is the importance of movement building. Since it’s initial formation, DLI has worked towards the goal of creating a space where solidarity can flourish across communities. This year’s cohort was emblematic of those founding principles as we saw how powerful connections are able to transcend language, nationality, sector, and gender. Both within the training space and through taking collective action together, the bonds formed within DLI will be long-lasting. And while DLI may have officially ended for the year, cohort members are committed to staying connected and taking action together.
Congratulations to all the graduates! Unity is Power!
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