Opening Framing

During our opening session, we’ll have the chance to get to know each other, play some ice breakers and come up with our community agreements for the two days we have together. We’ll also do a quick overview of the agenda so we know what’s to come for the next two Sundays.

Plenary 1: What Happened This Year and What Are We Going To do About It?

In this opening plenary, we’ll learn all about why we’re coming together virtually for WLI at this moment and why we as students, have power to organize our campuses to end the occupation. We’ll learn about J Street U’s No Aid to Occupation campaign and all of the tools that it gives us as student organizers to take action in support of peace, justice and human rights in Israel and Palestine.

Lunch

Skills Training: Tools for Power (First Pick)

Please select one of the following skills trainings, which will then be followed by a break, and another skills training of your choosing from this block of three

1. Advocacy in Congress- How to run an IDM and engage my member of congress
   In this interactive session, students will learn about J Street U advocacy opportunities and reflect on powerful examples of student-led advocacy. Participants will practice tying personal narrative and the No Aid to Occupation campaign into formal meetings with Members of Congress.
2. Beyond the Group Chat: How to build meaningful coalitions
   In this skills training, we’ll discuss how partnering with other campus organizations can help us build power and get what we want. We’ll introduce a new framework to distinguish between public relationships, partnerships, and coalitions, and we’ll think about the role that each of these plays in our work. There will also be time to develop tools for creating and strengthening these relationships.
3. Public narrative
   Students will walk away from this training with the capacity to tell personal stories in a way that demonstrates politics on our issue. By the session’s conclusion, students will have an understanding why counterstories are critical for our success and have been equipped with the basic tools with which to craft their own narratives, especially for use in 1:1s with campus leaders.

Break

Skills Training Series: Tools for Power (Second Pick)

1. Advocacy in Congress- How to run an IDM and engage my member of congress
2. Beyond the Group Chat: How to build meaningful coalitions
3. Public narrative

Closing

After our skills trainings (and a full day learning how to organize and take action on campus) we’ll come back together to wrap up and say goodbye for the day!

Opening Framing

Introduction to 1:1s (Cap South + NW + SW)
Introduction to 1:1s (MW + NE + MA)

This training is an introduction to 1:1s, where we will learn the basics about what a 1:1 is, how we can use 1:1s to help identify each other’s self interests (and what that is and why it’s important!), and ultimately how 1:1s help us build our movement. Please be sure to join the session for your region.

Leadership Development 1:1s

This training takes the elements of a 1:1 training and applies them to leadership development. To grow our chapters and our movement, we need to bring new leaders into our work. We will develop skills and tools for using 1:1s to help less experienced students take on more leadership.

Lunch in One on Ones

In this lunch break, we’ll be splitting off into groups of two to have lunch with a new person and practice the 1:1 skills that we’ve just learned today. Your organizer will put you in an intentional 1:1 with a fellow leader to practice your 1:1s over lunch together. Please register by 1/24 to participate in this session.

Plenary Two: Winning No Aid to Occupation Through Campaign Tactics and Strategy

This plenary will dive into the “how” of the No Aid to Occupation campaign. We will think through the tactics that we can use over the coming semester and discuss how those tactics both help build power and use that power to build support for aid use restrictions on campus, in the Jewish community, and in Congress.

Break

Skills Training: Building and Strengthening Chapters (Pick One)

1. Chapter Board Meetings: Planning and Facilitation for Action*
   This interactive session will build skills for healthy chapter structure, planning, and chapter board meeting facilitation with your core group of leaders*. Students will learn skills for delegation, and follow-up. These skills will better equip chapters to identify and achieve goals for engaging their campuses for action. Students will break down organizational tips and roadblocks to running successful chapters, and walk away with specific action steps for the Spring Semester.
   *This training is geared toward leaders from established chapters that have more than 2 leaders
2. Understanding our members and growing our chapters
   In this training, students will gain a solid understanding of the framework for the different levels of membership and how to build each one. Students will create a tangible plan for who and how they want to grow their chapter membership this semester. Students will also feel empowered to be creative and see how having a political vision for their campus will give them opportunities to reach different groups of people. (*if you are attending WLI with other members of your chapter, we recommended coordinating and joining this session together as there will be semester planning involved.)
3. Handling Tough Questions and Having Tough Conversations
   In this training we will discuss the complex and divisive issues within the Israel/Palestine conflict. We will then learn how to answer tough questions about these topics in a way that encourages conversations and creates community. You will leave the training with deeper confidence to be public on this issue and an understanding of how to use tough questions to move your work forward.

Closing

After two days of training, learning and so much more, we’ll come back together one last time to wrap up, talk about the semester ahead and say goodbye for now!