Menu
Local Progress Impact Lab’s Policy & Strategy Primers are a series of foundational learning sessions on policy tools and strategy designed to help local electeds and staff figure out where and how to get started on key issues. Whether you’re recently elected or looking to build your knowledge in a specific area, each session will dig in on both policies and strategic approaches to help you use all your local levers to drive change. The series operates on a regular, recurring schedule throughout the year focusing on issues related to housing, community safety, economic justice, and communications strategies.
Our 2024 schedule is LIVE! You can sign up for all available primers using the links below:
1. Who can sign up for the Policy & Strategy Primers?
The series is open to all Local Progress members – including those who have recently joined, those who have been active for years, and those who are no longer in elected office (i.e. alumni). It is also open to your staff. All we ask is that each person signs up individually so they receive the appropriate Zoom links.
2. Can I invite my staff to join?
Yes! They can sign up for as many sessions as they like even if you are also planning to join or not.
3. I can’t make any of the virtual workshops. Are there other resources available?
Yes, there are many resources available to you as a Local Progress member:
Thurs, Feb 22 | 1pm PT / 4pm ET | Location: Zoom
As local elected officials, it is crucial that you develop a vision and strategy for getting you and your community's stories told through the media – especially now in a media landscape increasingly defined by scarcity in communities of color and non-major cities. This training will empower you with strategies to craft effective messages and tools through which to get those messages out into the world.
Thurs, Feb 29 | 1pm PT / 4pm ET | Location: Zoom
For too long, we’ve relied solely on policing for everything while at the same time underinvesting in public housing, infrastructure, schools, and healthcare – which has caused decades of harm in Black and Brown communities. It doesn’t have to be this way. This workshop will introduce core concepts for how to instill accountability and restrain abusive and discriminatory policing. Topics covered will include data collection and transparency, independent oversight of police, and use of force.
Thurs, Mar 14 | 1pm PT / 4pm ET | Location: Zoom
Social media is an opportunity for local elected officials to own their stories and speak directly to their communities outside of the traditional media landscape. This workshop will offer ways to identify which platforms are right for you, how to establish your voice, and how to effectively use social media to engage your community and support your policy and governing priorities.
Thurs, Mar 21 | 1pm PT / 4pm ET | Location: Zoom
Policies and enforcement that protect the rights of workers, ensure workers are able to meet their basic needs, and support workers’ efforts to organize are foundational to building healthy, thriving, and equitable communities. This workshop will provide an overview of the numerous policy levers available to local governments—including localities in preempted states—to advance and protect workers’ rights. Topics covered will include: leveraging your contracting and licensing power, establishing worker boards and labor agencies, being a model employer, creating new labor standards, and more.
Thurs, May 16 | 1pm PT / 4pm ET | Location: Zoom
People are safer when they are taken care of. But for too long, we have relied on policing and the criminal legal system while underinvesting in what people need to thrive. This workshop will highlight how community responder programs can foster community safety from a public health perspective.
Thurs, May 30 | 1pm PT / 4pm ET | Location: Zoom
Budget authority is one of the most powerful tools in local governance. This workshop will provide a primer on budgetary and finance issues in local governments as well as ways to use the budget process to advocate for change and center workers rights, housing justice and more.
Thurs, June 4 | 1pm PT / 4pm ET | Location: Zoom
Advancing racial and economic justice at the local level will require engaging all of the governance and oversight tools available to local elected officials. This workshop will provide an overview of some of the most important–and least talked about–governance tools for local elected officials, including procurement, policies governing the municipal and school district workforce, working with city staff (managers, attorneys and other department heads), and–crucially for local legislators–oversight and accountability.
Thurs, June 12 | 1pm PT / 4pm ET | Location: Zoom
Local governments have a critical role in ensuring their policies preserve and develop housing so that it is affordable, accessible, and dignified for everyone. This workshop will give an overview of housing issues and strategies that advance equity utilizing a range of levers, including renter protections, investing in affordable housing preservation, and managing new housing development.
Check out our resource library! We highlight solutions to the most pressing problems and the best practices from the network.
The Local Progress Impact Lab brings together local leaders, partners, and issue experts to build the knowledge, skills, and leadership needed to advance racial and economic justice at the local level.