July 22 and my blueprint has been approved! What a great feeling... after 6 months of thinking, planning, evaluating...and starting all over again; the relief of finally having a grasp on how I am going to make a difference in my academic community is inexplicable.

One aspect of my blueprint for social justice that was different than other blueprints I've read was my goal for leadership development. This was a goal that was suggested by Zach Dryden and Rachel Burrows. Since I have planned to run my blueprint on a smaller scale (aka, no funding necessary) Yp4 offered me the opportunity to attend Camp Wellstone's citizen action training in my home town of Philadelphia.

Tonight 15 local activists got together in the Andrew Heiskell Center for Democracy (NYC) to watch the second National Network Training along with hundreds of other activists across the country to learn the fundamentals of grassroots mobilization, including volunteer recruitment, direct voter outreach and integrating leadership development into every effort. We gathered at the Andrew Heiskell Center at People For the American Way.

Using a combination of a training video, live conference call with a national expert, and small group interactives, we learned about tools needed to make a difference in our communities. Specifically, we learned to develop a solid grounding in some of the skills necessary to engage in effective volunteer recruitment and voter outreach, as well as to gain a deeper understanding of grassroots organizing and how we can use it to strengthen the progressive movement. Center for Progressive Leadership Action Network hosted the trainings. Get connected to other activists in your community and get involved in the next network training!