What are Skill Ups? 

Our Unitarian Universalist faith calls us to be lifelong learners, and organizing traditions teach that we need to share what we know for our movements to grow.   We are holding Squad Skill Ups - a monthly series of trainings on organizing skills to help build our Action Center Volunteer Squads and help YOU build stronger teams in your congregation and community. We start each session with some spiritual fun and then launch into our training, on a different subject each month. Our Skill Ups are also a chance to find out how to get more involved as an Action Center volunteer and meet members of the Volunteer Squads. All are welcome!

 

Skill Ups Summer & Fall Series 2022

Skill Ups occur every 3rd Sunday for 90 minutes

 1pm PT • 2pm MT • 3pm CT • 4pm ET

Sign up here

 

 

Resource Pages & Recordings of Past Skill Ups

• Amplifying our Values & Actions on Social Media: Led by Audra Friend, Digital Communications, Data, and Technology Specialist with UUA’s Organizing Strategy Team (September 2022)

  • Slides

  • Sources and Additional Resources 

• Can we do this? Prophetic not Partisan, aka Non-Partisanship 101, Led by JaZahn Hicks, UU the Vote Campaign Manager & Rev. Rob Keithan, Minister for Social Justice at All Souls Church DC (July 2022)

• The Art of the Ask. Gain knowledge in order to ask for people to do things with specific & tailored asks. It is important to hone this essential organizing skill in the work we do. Making clear, specific, and direct asks of volunteers and others can make our organizing more effective and energizing. (April 2022)

  • Chat file

  • Skill up Slides

• Grounding, Welcoming, Energizing. Gain knowledge on how to integrate fun and spiritual grounding into our Zoom gatherings and justice work. It is important to incorporate the joy in the work we do, and discover new resources inside and among us. Say "yes, and....!" and use these tools to energize, play, and breathe fresh life into our spirits. (March 2022)

  • Chat file

  • Slides

  • Yes and Let's... Exercise Instructions

  • Faithful Groundings

• Letters to the Editor. Gain some helpful knowledge on how to write guest columns or letters to the editor of your local newspaper (and other publications), a vital way you can inform the public, advance your views, and inspire action. This skill-up shows you to maximize both the impact of your writing and your chances to get published. (February 2022)

  • ​​​​​​​Slides

  • Jeff’s Tips on Letters to the Editor

  • Op-Ed Tips

  • Breakout group sample letters & questions

  • See the Skill Up Faith out Loud: Framing & Claiming for more on this

  • Our opening reading came from the book Justice on Earth, Pamela Sparr’s essay, “Transforming Unitarian Universalist Culture: Stepping Out of Our Silos and Selves”

• Slack: Our virtual field office  (April 2021)

• Canva & Graphic Design 101 (May 2021)

• Zoom Hosting 101 (July 2021)

• Organizing 101- Mapping Your Base (August 2021)

• September 2021 we had a Birthday Party for our Squads -- go have your own party or celebration! 

• Activating your Network without Talking to Strangers (October 2021)

• Faith Out Loud: Framing and Claiming Faith-Rooted Organizing (November 2021)

• Hosting an Event using the Side with Love Action Center (January 2022)

• Crafting Words that Inspire Action: Writing Letters to the Editor (February 2022)

• Bonus: Relational Organizing with One on Ones

• Grounding, Welcoming, and Engergizing (March 2022)

• Art of the Ask (April 2022)

....Come back each month for more!

 

Share, learn, and get connected at our Side with Love Action Center and on our Side with Love Slack.

 

Are you ready to take your work with Side with Love to the next level?  We have an amazing crew of leaders in our volunteer squads who run phonebanks, crunch data, set up and support events, and manage communications and media-- and we want YOU to join us!  If you are ready to learn, grow, and work with awesome UUs from across the country, please read on for more info about our dynamic squads:

• Data Squad - provides back end support for actions, organizes our resources, handles data analytics
• Fun & Spiritual Nourishment Squad - tends to the spirit and wellbeing of our Side with Love community
• Media Squad - creates content & graphics, organizes and catalogs media,  amplifies on social media
• Phone Bank Squad - leads and provides logistical and tech support to phonebanks and other online events so that participants have a smoother, supported, spiritually grounded experience
• Welcome Squad - Ushers new members into Slack, provides welcome and support

If any of these roles interest you, let us know here