Participants in IEA’s Growing Engaged Members program learn the art of relationship building through one-on-one conversations that engage leaders and grow membership in their local education association.
Be an IEA GEM!
What is IEA’s Growing Engaged Members program?
Growing Engaged Members, or GEMs, builds up leaders and increases engagement in your local education association through effective one-on-one conversations with members and potential members. Through GEMs, a team of motivated and respected educators learn the key to energizing your membership and building bridges that turn potential members into enthusiastic additions to your local education association’s robustly growing membership rolls.
Inviting your colleagues to stand together is fundamental to your local education association’s success. Your local wins with healthy teams in your building, working relationships with administrators, and contract bargains for better pay and benefits for you and your colleagues. Strong local associations create policy success and electoral wins at the district and state level possible. It all starts with one-on-one organizing conversations with colleagues in your building.
IEA’s GEMs program is the perfect fit for members who value personal connections and fostering meaningful relationships with their colleagues. Participants come together for a two-day training to learn the art of relationship building through one-on-one conversations that engage leaders and grow membership. GEMs is for those who share a passion for public education and crave solidarity through collective action and the power of a strong local education association.
Details:
Each GEMs contract is eight to 12 weeks (2-3 months) in duration. There will be four contract cycles throughout the year. Each contract focuses on slightly different themes, but the goal will always be the same: having one-on-one organizing conversations to grow membership and engage leaders.
Here are kinds of issues IEA works on throughout the year:
Summer: The build-up to your association’s essential back-to-school membership drive. Expect to dedicate 5-7 hours a week to focused training, customized and consistent support and follow-up with IEA trainers, cohort consultations, and other opportunities to build your success as an organizer extraordinaire.
Fall: Election of pro-public education candidates
Winter: Focus on the legislative session, including speaking with members and potential members about IEA’s legislative priorities and organizing members to attend the annual IEA Lobby Day.
Spring: Coordinated Contract Bargaining.
