Youth-Based Coalition Building

Adapted directly from the Advocacy Kit, published 1996 by Advocates for Youth.

Coalitions can play a vital role in educating the community, expressing advocacy for inclusion of programs in schools, and providing and advocating for networks of support and resources for lgbt youth. Coalitions provide a structure for allied groups to pursue a unified goal, coordinate strategies, and pool resources. Broad based coalitions demonstrate wide support for particular policies or programs, as well as offering a wide network of resources and support for lgbt youth.

Coalitions can serve the purpose of educating school administrators, teachers, parents, and students regarding lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth issues. They can run hate crime hot lines, offer educational materials regarding lgbt violence issues in schools, and promote tolerance within schools by lobbying for and conducting lgbt awareness workshops in schools. They can lobby policy makers, write letters to the editor, speak with the press, attend community meetings and give public testimony to support anti-discrimination policies and non violence in general. They can offer direct support to youth by supporting gay straight alliances and implementing safe zone programs. By educating the public and the schools through community influence and direct involvement, coalitions supply policy makers and the public with accurate and compelling information regarding lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth issues. This information makes policy makers and the public more likely to demonstrate support for related policies and programs: and coalitions may mobilize this support, improving the quality of life for lgbt students.

The following are some basic tips for creating and maintaining a coalition.

Coalitions are invaluable because they bring people and resources together from all sectors of the community and provide visible signs of community support. Working in a group helps increase quality as well as the quantity of work, and prevents burnout by spreading responsibilities. Coalitions allow individuals and groups to contribute their unique expertise, as well as to educate and mobilize their particular constituents. Coalitions can help identify genuine concerns and engage in group problem-solving. Once a program is implemented, coalition members are ideal for providing services and resources for program operations.

Coalitions are hard work, however. Keep in mind the following pitfalls and work to minimize the usual problems found in coalitions:

• coalition members interests may conflict
• building consensus is a time-consuming process
• logistics become more complicated

Keeping these problems in mind, the following is a list of guidelines for effective coalitions.

The number and range of groups in your coalition will influence your coalition's chance at success. Making people informed from day one helps increase the reputability of your coalition and avoids the coalition collapsing into the initiating organization at times of crisis. The public and politicians will judge the strength of the cause by the coalition list, both who is involved and who is missing. Youth are a group affected by their schools being safe, but they are often left out of the advocacy and planning purpose. Other groups to approach are listed in the box.

Organizations and Groups to Involve

young people

school faculty and staff, including counselors

gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender advocacy organizations

parents

public and community social work professionals and officials

social service agencies

family planning providers

youth-serving agencies

religious leaders and organizations

racial and ethnic associations

women's and feminist groups

local chapters of national advocacy organizations

civic groups

elected officials

AIDS/HIV prevention and services organizations

school based school linked health center staff

general anti violence networks and coalitions

child abuse and neglect groups

education bureaus

Ensure that your base of groups is aware of the problem

the coalition seeks to address and that they understand the need for action. Make sure clear how they will benefit from being part of the coalition effort. Give them an easy way to join the coalition and support your program as part of the solution. Outreach through member's organization resources (newsletters, meetings, staff) to educate and enlist more support for your coalition goals. As each new group joins, add them to the coalition stationary and list of supporters.

The "statement of purpose" can be broadly worded to reflect the philosophy of the coalition and permit a wide range of groups to participate. A "Goals" should be specific, achievable, and measurable. An organization's membership in the coalition symbolizes their commitment to the goals, and is indicated by endorsement of the coalition statement of purpose.

The statement of purpose should be broad, but not so broad that groups who would actively impede the overall purpose are eligible to be members. For example, if the coalition seeks open affirmation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender lives in curriculum, a group that supported ending violence against lgbt people but not a more comprehensive approach would not be an appropriate member. The coalition could work with non-member groups on other projects, Btu without jeopardizing the strategic work of the coalition.

Coalitions are most effective when all members have a voice and know they will be heard. Creating maximum involvement does not negate, however, the need for organized leadership and structure.

Money is one place where clear policies and procedures can help immensely. be sure that your group knows how to process funding and grant requests. Investigate becoming a non-profit or adopting an organization to be the fiscal agent of your organization. Develop a way of decision making for spending money.

Choose chairs and clearly define their responsibilities. It often helps to have co-chairs whose skills complement each other and who represent organizations willing to commit significant time and/or resources to coalition efforts. Roles can be shared or rotated.

Create a broader leadership tame that includes representative of the major interest groups. A diverse team will be more successful in providing leadership on the complex issue of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth in schools.

These should be people with experience in interacting with the media, who are comfortable in that role. The Spokespeople may or may not be the same people as the leadership team, but this may simplify communication. one of your Spokes people should be an articulate teenager. Agree on a process for handling media requests and opportunities.

These allow more people to become invested in the group, and can either be permanent or just for a specific project. Define responsibilities and the decision that can be made without the broader coalition.

Rome wasnt built in a day. A realistic and strategically developed time line is one of the most important tools for a coalition. Some of the most successful programs take over a year to implemented. A realistic time line with targeted activities every month will help insure the coalition remains focused and realistic in its expectations. Short term activities could include bringing 5-10 new organizations into the coalition, a medium term goal could be conducting an needs assessment survey, a long term goal could be to institute and pass legislation supporting safe schools issues.

A coalition is more than the sum of its parts. To establish identity and generate excitement for the goals, members need to see how they fit in. Letterhead stationery listing coalition members and an updated membership list fosters ownership and the respect of those who receive coalition communications.

Coalitions often make decisions by consensus. This doesn't mean that everyone has to agree on everything. Rather, a majority agrees and no one feels so strongly opposed that they would veto or publicly oppose the effort. Decide what will happen if consensus cannot be reached. Decide which decisions will be made by the leadership team and which are so important or sensitive that the entire membership needs to be involved. Determine in advance what issues must come before the entire coalition and how the coalition will make decisions quickly.

Meetings should be held frequently enough to respond to current situations, and can be scheduled weekly, bi-monthly, or monthly. Hold meetings at a convenient time and location, start and end on time. Consider whether meeting times should rotate between day and evening hours and between locations.

Maintain up to date mailing, phone, and fax lists of coalition members and key contact persons. Keeping members informed maintains trust, interest, and involvement. It also minimizes misunderstandings and identifies points of disagreement before they become problems. Coalition members should receive minutes from meetings, updates, press articles and information on future events. Advance notice of meetings and other events encourages participation in important discussions and decisions.

Articulate and committed young people help the coalition remain true to its mission. Moreover, youth are excellent Spokes people for programs designed to address their needs. Young people can also organize students and other young people to support the program. Many community groups already work closely with youth and should be targeted for involvement with the coalition. Teens know their peer opinions and needs better than most adults; be open to young people's suggestions, and seek their input. Involve youth in meaningful ways, and encourage them to represent the coalition to the media.

Create 1-2 page materials describing the problem you are concerned about and the coalitions programs and solutions to address it. Compile a larger packet of materials that can be distributed to the community and media. See step 3 for more information about what types of information to create.

Realize that youth need support even when the goals of the coalition are not yet achieved. Work with queer youth organizations to make their organization smarter. Offer support networks and hot lines. Offer and distribute research guides. Give diversity workshops for educators and parents to make schools and homes safe environments for lgbt youth.

In order to win support for your program, you must be ready to advocate on its behalf. Survey the schools who will be involved in implementing your program of safe-schools, and start educating them. Start with firm supporters, and move on to moderates and undecideds. Coalition members can testify at hearings, meet with school principals, organize letter writing campaigns, write letters to the editor, etc.

Make sure that coalition members offer their expertise in planning curriculums, training counselors, crisis intervention, organizing youth, and referrals if schools decide to take up the offer of creating safer schools for lgbt students. Often, schools do not know where to begin when implementing safer schools program: be sure you have a wealth of resources available.

issues of curriculum, counseling queer youth, and other information.

Establish a "safe zone" campaign for educators in area schools. Campaign to get lgbt related information in the school library. make sure the school is an open and affirming environment for queer youth.

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