Multicultural Leadership Summit & GROW

The Multicultural Leadership Summit and Grassroots Organizing Weekend (GROW) is held in conjunction together in September every year. Student leaders can choose between two tracks: Organizational Development or GROW.

Registration information for the 2013 Leadership Summit and GROW are coming soon. 

Multicultural Leadership Summit and GROW 2012

The Leadership Summit is an annual weekend retreat for MSC student organization leaders that focuses on preparing them to effectively handle the personal and professional demands that fall on them during the academic school year. The goals are:

  • To support the individual development of leaders who represent organizational affiliated with the MSC
  • To prepare MSC affiliated organizations for successful programming and operations for the school year
  • To develop positive working relationships between and among MSC organizations and MSC staff
  • To encourage coalition-building among MSC affiliated organizations.

Past workshops have included event planning, grant writing, creating more accessible programs, team building, marketing, safe space, facilitation, and solidifying organizational missions.

Grassroots Organizing Weekend (GROW)

GROW 2012: Understanding Relations of Power

GROW is a community organizing training by the US Students Association (USSA) (the oldest and largest national student-led organization). Through a series of presentations, exercises and discussions, GROW teaches a set of skills and concepts so students can be more strategic in their fight for justice on campus and in the community. Participants will learn how to:

  • Increase student power on campus and in the community
  • Develop an effective strategy for your campaign
  • Overcome lack of participation on campus
  • Increase membership of your organization
  • Build more effective coalitions
  • Prioritize the issues that are important to you
  • Win concrete victories in students lives

Sessions include:

  • Introduction to Direct Action Organizing - Discusses the principles of direct action organizing and how it relates to different types of organizing that organizations use.
  • Understanding the Relations of Power: An interactive role-play that shows what power is, who has it, who doesn’t, and how to use it to win organizing victories.
  • Choosing an Issue: Framing issues sets the scope of your organizing. Learn to outline criteria and a process to turn problems into issues that mobilize people.
  • Strategy Guidelines: The strategy chart is a tool for planning successful direct action campaigns. Design a chart for a sample campaign after learning the basics.
  • Educational Access: It is necessary to increase access to higher education for everyone! There are institutionalized barriers to higher education that support a cycle of poverty. See how this relates to the organizing that you are doing.
  • Coalitions Building: Working with other organizations can be essential to winning victories. Learn guidelines for forming, joining, and maintaining a coalition.
  • Recruitment: Learn what motivates people to join organizations and practice recruiting new members using new techniques.