Affiliate UniServ staff can attend 90-minute, monthly online discussion events to learn more about specific topics that impact their role, while staff and members can sign up for a series of course modules – both synchronous and asynchronous - hosted on our learning management system. The topics will be aligned with the skills and issues UniServ Directors and Organizers need to be successful in their affiliate work.
Online Discussion Events (Staff Only)
Online Discussions begin at 2:30 p.m. ET and conclude at 4:00 p.m. ET. To register for any online program, you must use a VALID WORK email and follow these two steps:
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Step 1: You must pre-register with NEA POPS with a VALID work email to enroll in any of our online discussion groups.
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Step 2: Click on the Unique Course link in the descriptions below. Upon course enrollment you will receive two invitations. One from NEA POPS and one from Zoom. Both include a calendar invite that you can use to save to your work calendar.
Course Descriptions and Dates
NEA Campaign Lab: Building the Power We Need to Win in These Times
August 19, 2025
This discussion will focus on how the NEA Campaign Lab helps local communities and their partners address various issues of equity and racial justice in education through well-planned campaigns. These issues could be related to schools or broader community concerns, such as class size reduction, affordable housing or increasing the minimum wage. The Lab is being executed in collaboration with the Alliance to Reclaim or Schools a national education justice coalition. All AROS organizations are recruiting local campaigns to participate. Participants will learn how to help their local leaders apply to be in the Lab, how to help high capacity leaders, apply to coaches in the Lab, or consider becoming mentor coaches in the Lab.
Data for Organizing: Using Excel to Evaluate Membership
September 23, 2025
This discussion will focus on the skills needed to successfully use Excel alongside data from databases such as NEA 360. Participants will apply basic sort and filter functions and learn more advanced tools such as pivot tables and goal seek. The basic skills needed for each session will be reviewed at the beginning; ensuring participants of any skill level can join at any time. Skill focus - Sort, Filter, Custom Sort, Sort by color, concatenate, text to columns.
Safe Schools: Tools and Strategies to Address Gun Violence in Schools
September 25, 2025
Gun violence has a tremendous impact on the safety and wellness of students, educators, and the school community, whether it takes place in PreK-12 schools or institutions of higher education. This module empowers UniServ Directors and other staff to effectively counter gun violence and support elected leaders in that crucial work. Participants will learn about strategies and protocols for prevention of, preparation for, response to, and recovery from incidents of gun violence. This module is one of three Health and Safety UniServ Academy sessions that highlight resources, tools, and strategies for affiliate staff to use with employees, families, lawmakers, and school administrators to advocate for and support health and safety in our PreK-12 schools and institutions of higher education.
Foundations of LGBTQ+ Justice
October 16, 2025
UniServ Directors and Organizers work with members, colleagues, and community members who belong to and are allies of the LGBTQ+ community. Understanding this community and their issues is critical to providing support and guidance that is not only inclusive but liberating. Participants will learn about critical policies, strategies, and resources that will strengthen their methods, skills, and dispositions for work with this community.
Safe Schools: Promoting Occupational and Environmental Health
November 13, 2025
This discussion focuses on strategies and tools to advocate for safer and healthier learning and working conditions. The module empowers participants to identify and address common environmental and occupational health and safety concerns like mold, lead, and poor indoor air quality. Using health and safety as a mobilizing tool against privatization, participants will also learn about the pathway-to-action tool to support students and educators. This module is one of three Health and Safety UniServ Academy sessions that highlight resources, tools, and strategies for affiliate staff to use with employees, families, lawmakers, and school administrators to advocate for and support health and safety in our PreK-12 schools and institutions of higher education.
Data for Organizing – Using Excel: Advanced Tools for Power Analysis
December 11, 2025
This discussion builds the skills needed for successful navigation of Excel to use member data from databases such as NEA 360, import non-member data, and successfully use other forms of community data. This session focuses on tools and functions allowing for analysis and assessment of potential partnerships, shared resources, and opportunities to build power beyond our current membership. Participants apply tools that sort, filter, and track this work allowing for ongoing power analysis and mapping. The basic skills needed for each session will be reviewed at the beginning; ensuring participants of any skill level can join at any time.
Teacher Unions and Social Justice Series
January 21-22, 28-29, 2026
This series focuses on strategies used by a growing number of affiliate staff supporting the creation of multiracial alliances with communities and the importance of centering social justice in their unions. Social Justice Unionizing seeks to expand how we think about issue identification, power building, bargaining, partnerships, and the wins we achieve. Content and resources from the book, “Teacher Unions and Social Justice,” will be highlighted through a variety of media and discussion formats. The series will provide an in-depth study of the full text, and full attendance is strongly encouraged, but not required. For those who commit to attending all four sessions, and completed the registration at the link below before February 14, a copy of the book will be sent to you at no cost. You will be provided with additional information on how to order the book once you register.
- Session 1: Defining what Social Justice Unionism is and what it takes to achieve this
- Session 2: Broadening union leadership and expectations for what unions can win
- Session 3: Developing and testing leaders, structures, and tactics that result in power building
- Session 4: Using internal and external structures to fight systems of injustice
Safe Schools: Advocating for Student Well-being and Restrictions on Student Personal Device Use
February 17, 2026
Rising numbers of mental health issues in young people is a call to action for comprehensive school mental health support and policy in schools. This module provides educators with strategies and tools to understand and address factors that impact mental health in education environments – with a focus on social media and students’ use of personal devices in school. Participants will learn about the pathway-to-action tool to support students and educators and will engage in a case study exercise. This module is one of three Health and Safety UniServ Academy sessions that highlight resources, tools, and strategies for affiliate staff to use with employees, families, lawmakers, and school administrators to advocate for and support health and safety in our PreK-12 schools and institutions of higher education.
Strong and Effective Sex Ed Advocacy to Promote Student Health and Academic Success
March 5, 2026
Age-appropriate and medically accurate sexual health education plays a crucial role in improved health and academic outcomes for students. Yet, educators face barriers to teaching sex ed. This module will provide UniServ Directors and other staff an overview of sexual health education in schools, the connection between sex ed and student academic and health outcomes, and the significance of sex ed for achieving racial and social justice. Participants will engage in a case study exercise and identify strategies to advocate for policies and programs that improve and/or protect students’ rights to receive education that will support healthy decision-making and positive sexual health outcomes. This module is a Health and Safety UniServ Academy session that will highlight resources, tools, and strategies for affiliate staff to use with employees, families, lawmakers, and school administrators to advocate for and support sexual health education in our Pre-K-12 schools.
Data for Organizing: Disseminating Information
March 12, 2026
This discussion builds the skills for successfully navigating Excel to use member data from databases such as NEA 360, VAN, or other data bases. This session focuses on the tools and functions that support leader identification, targeted messaging, and activist invitation into mobilization. Participants will look at tools that track this work and create lists based on desired campaign outcomes. The basic skills needed for each session will be reviewed at the beginning, ensuring participants of any skill level can join at any time.
Winning School Board Elections
April 23, 2026
School Board Elections are the races that make a huge impact in the day-to-day lives of our members and yet often are overlooked. Join this 90-minute virtual session to critically engage with and connect with colleagues across the country on how we can support our members in organizing around school board elections. We will discuss the key factors to successfully flipping a school board election including working with outside groups, mobilizing voters, and finding candidates. This session will focus on continuing to build our skills as affiliate staff to develop leaders, mobilize activists, create and maintain solid structures in worksites, and test our strength continually so that we can win big for public education everywhere, every time we step into the ring.
Organizing through Advocacy Series
April 28-30, 2025
This three-part series will help affiliate staff refocus areas of advocacy through a member-engaged, organizing lens. UniServ Directors and Organizers are the first line of contact between the workers in our public schools and the state and national affiliates. The challenges of workload, shifting priorities, and having an organizing mindset in the face of overwhelming requests for service make the job a challenging and complex one.
- General representation - interrupting the one-person one-problem mode
- Grievance processing - interrupting the process and paper tiger approach
- Representing a member at the school board level - interrupting the superhero model
- Letter writing - interrupting the staff only brief
- Organizing around advocacy issues - moving from problems to issues for building power
Data for Organizing: Campaign Progress Tracking
May 21, 2025
This discussion builds the skills to successfully use Excel with member data from databases such as NEA 360. This session focuses on the tools and functions that support the analysis of issues, evaluation of likely engagement, and tracking outcomes. The basic skills needed for each session will be reviewed at the beginning, ensuring participants of any skill level can join at any time.
Online Course Modules (Staff and Members)
The NEA Center for Organizing and Affiliate Support is pleased to offer a series of course modules – both synchronous and asynchronous - hosted on our learning management system. The topics will be aligned with the skills and issues UniServ Directors and Organizers need to be successful in their affiliate work. Completion of these is ungraded, but participation can be tracked so that individuals have a record of the programs they have participated in.
More information about course offerings, registration and access to this learning management system will be provided by December 1, 2025.
All Online Courses will be located on the NEA Course Platform: https://neapartnera.learnupon.com/users/sign_in
To get started:
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Log in to the course platform using the link provided above.
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Search for “Campaign Lab”
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Explore the course materials at your convenience.
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Engage with the content, apply your new skills and, reflect on your learning.
