Today, LEE has more than 56,730 members and 20 partners!
New members registered with LEE in Q2
Newly engaged members
LEE members have registered to run for office
“LEE has helped me build new connections, invitations to skill-building workshops, and a clear map of the diverse stakeholders and interests to consider in local advocacy work. The gatherings I’ve attended through LEE have helped me learn from others more experienced in the realm of politics and advocacy and make such meaningful connections.”
“I am very passionate about organizing work. Within the school, we have a lot of access to kids, but we can only get so far in supporting students. I’m interested in what we can do outside of school to support students and the community. LEE helps support that.”
May 2024 YES Prep Partnership Event
We are excited to welcome TWO new partners to LEE: YES Prep and Govern for America. Together, we are building a vast network of equity minded civic leaders and we have plans for continued growth in 2024!
YES Prep (Youth Engaged in Service) strives to empower all Houston students to succeed in college and to pursue lives of opportunity. They believe in and actively support students engaging in their community and advancing their college and career aspirations. YES Prep graduates approximately 1000 students every year and today has about 12,000 alumni.
Govern For America is a nonprofit organization that pairs emerging civic leaders with full-time roles in government. Its mission is to “build the next generation of public servants to create a more responsive government that better reflects and serves our communities.” Govern For America was started in 2018 and runs a two-year fellowship program that helps leaders from diverse backgrounds secure jobs in government. GFA provides their fellows with mentors, training and the professional community needed to persist in a career in public service. Today, GFA has 52 alumni and their incoming 2024 cohort is expected to be their biggest yet, at approximately 20 fellows.
This May, LEE’s latest Public Policy Fellowship (PPF) cohort finished with an impressive group of 37 fellows (selected from more than 100 applicants). Fellows were placed at 35 host sites across the country, including Chicago Public Schools, Rosebud Sioux Tribe, and the U.S. Department of Commerce. An incredible one-third of the fellows secured jobs before the fellowship concluded, and several have been extended by their host organizations to continue working through the summer.
The PPF is a full-time, 9-month opportunity in which fellows provide critical support to senior officials in high-impact government offices and advocacy and organizing organizations. PPF helps LEE members enhance their policy skills, and provides them with hands-on experience and exposure to national, state or local policy.
During their time as a PPF fellow placed with Baltimore City Councilmember Zeke Cohen, Ash Nicholes learned how to create legislation in partnership with community leaders, as well as with the government agencies most affected by proposed legislation. They said the fellowship opened new doors and connections they would not have otherwise found.
“LEE has been instrumental in my career in policy,” Ash said. “Although I’ve just begun, I know that whatever success I have, it is due to the opportunities and network that LEE created for me. I am a first-generation college student, so I had very few connections and networks for the career I wanted. LEE has provided the network and connections that always felt just out of reach for me while in college and graduate school.”
LEE Members During a Breakout Discussion at the Courageous Leaders Conference
In May, LEE brought together 100 LEE members for a three-day event–the Courageous Leaders Conference–focused on networking, professional training, and wellness. Members from ten partner organizations and 28 states convened at the Austin gathering and were greeted with inspirations from partners and fellow LEE members, including TFA CEO Jemina Bernard, Public Allies CEO Jenise Terrell, and Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute CEO Marco Davis.
The conference was an invitation-only event designed for LEE senior leaders who are influencers and decision makers from across policy, advocacy, and elected leadership. Participants were able to connect with a community of fellow experts and senior leaders from across the LEE network; build knowledge around current challenges and opportunities facing senior leaders today; discover how to prioritize their well-being as senior leaders; and explore the future of civic leadership.
Discussion themes included Wellness & Sustainability as Courageous Leaders; Skills to Build the Future Together; and The Power of Connection in Courageous Leadership.
Members left the conference feeling recharged in their leadership journey, with one participant saying, “The Courageous Leadership Conference just wrapped and I am walking away feeling reenergized and so grateful for the team who put the event together with so much care and consideration. A line in the programming that is echoing in my head ‘the world is better because you are working on purpose’”
South Dakota Education Equity Coalition North Star Retreat
LEE continues to look for new and meaningful ways to engage with members through our partnerships. Here are just a few examples of our collaboration with partners over the past few months.
LEE-South Dakota Education Equity Coalition (SDEEC) members attended SDEEC’s April North Star Retreat, an opportunity to bring together parents, guardians, educators, practitioners, and advocates who are dedicated to fostering diverse, equitable, and inclusive learning environments for Indigenous youth in South Dakota.
At the Crafting Your Narrative: Leveraging Storytelling for Personal Branding and Civic Engagement event, ALL In Education-LEE members explored the power of storytelling in shaping their personal brand and driving civic engagement. The workshop was facilitated by LEE and examined how one’s values influence their civic engagement efforts and how storytelling can effectively communicate strengths and brand.
DREAM-LEE members were able to connect with their peers at the recent Lunch & Learn: The Power of Relationships: Building your Professional Network to Advance Your Goals event. This session provided an opportunity to learn and practice with new tools for building relationships and networks that support members in their summer internship positions and beyond.
LEE facilitated Fundraising for a Winning Campaign for Moms Demand Action members. In the session, attendees learned fundraising methods and how to face fundraising challenges that keep many from starting a campaign.
LEE partnered with the New Memphis Institute to offer an impactful opportunity for potential new LEE members and to showcase the role that elected leaders are playing across the Memphis community. For the nearly 100 people in attendance, the event showcased key issues in the region, the collaboration among leaders, and the opportunities for others to get engaged locally.
LEE has partnered with several Teach For America regional teams to bring civic leadership and career transition resources forward for corps members transitioning into alumnihood as they complete their two years in the classroom. In addition, LEE has hosted regional sessions for new corps members who are at the beginning of their corps experience in support of grounding them in the civic leadership landscape of their community.
Please visit our Events page to see all the upcoming regional and national opportunities for members.
August 8: LEE Organizers Community of Practice
August 20: AAPI Leadership Series: Empowering our Community Through Collective Action
August 28: National Latinx Learning Series – Values Based Leadership
September 10: Exploring a Run-Fall
If you have any upcoming events or opportunities you’d like highlighted in a future Partnership QuarterLEE, or you just want to get in touch, please feel free to email me at sarah.sandoval-mohapatra@educationalequity.org.
We look forward to continuing this quarterly opportunity to collaborate, connect, and celebrate our work together.
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