Teams Training Event Prepares STUN Leaders for a New Phase of Advocacy
The Drew Lewis Foundation's Fairbanks Community Hub, which hosted the Springfield Teams Training event this month. Photo by Karl Reinkemeyer.
The Springfield activist community is preparing to take another bold step forward after a collaboration this month between STUN and other area organizations. Over the weekend of November 15th and 16th, over 50 leaders from groups such as PROMO and Jobs with Justice joined with leaders from STUN at the Drew Lewis Foundation's Fairbanks Community Hub to hold a two-day summit.
The purpose of the summit was ostensibly to hold training sessions focused on leadership and team-building. Leaders from all four organizations presented talks and led exercises on topics such as running meetings, recruiting new team members, and executing political actions. But another key theme frequently recurred over the course of the event: preparations for long-term coordinated efforts in 2026. While each organization will continue to focus primarily on its own goals and priorities, they have all also agreed on a timeline for a larger political movement called the People’s Platform, which will join the groups’ efforts to push for broader changes. “We’re all under attack, and by the same people,” stated Liz Wertz, representing Jobs with Justice.
The People’s Platform will officially be launched on January 17th, as an initiative where “community members shape decisions that impact our lives, our homes, our healthcare and our livelihoods”. On a local level this means continuing to fight for housing justice in Springfield, along with sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) protections and campaign contribution limits. But the platform will also work towards winning protections for Missouri voters state-wide by fighting efforts at gerrymandering and demanding changes to prevent the legislature from overturning the results of state elections. Their first major planned action is a massive “Town Hall Showdown” in June with a target turnout of 500 people.
The overall tone of the event was one of personal empowerment and responsibility. Those 500 people are not going to simply show up all on their own – attendees of the training session were instructed to personally contact three people each before leaving in order to build the coalition’s power base. Even if you were not one of the participants in the training event, I would invite you to take some time to think about your own power and how you can use it for the good of your community. Do you know three people who could use their talents to make a difference in Springfield’s housing policies? Have you talked to them about it? Or do you know someone who could contribute towards LGBTQ+ rights, or employment protections? What can you do to build the power base fighting for human rights in Springfield? The more talented people we have on our side, the more influence we can exert! Let’s band together and fight for a better tomorrow in Missouri!