By invitation only, Campaign Academies are designed for affiliate staff and members that are currently in the NEA Campaign Lab. There are three levels of leadership within the NEA Campaign Lab: Organizing Team Leads, Campaign Coaches, and Mentor Coaches.
Team Leads are local member leaders who have submitted a Campaign Lab application and have been working with a Campaign Lab Coach. They are focused on developing an Organizing Team and leading that team in designing and implementing an issue campaign cycle.
Campaign Coaches are members who have experienced leading an organizing team through at least two issue campaign cycles. Campaign Coaches commit to growing the capacity of at least one Team Lead to successfully implement a campaign cycle.
Mentor Coaches are either affiliate staff or members who have broader experience with leading teams and locals implementing issue campaigns. Mentor Coaches are committed to growing the capacity of coaches to move their Team Leads through campaign cycles.
Each Campaign Academy begins on a Friday morning at 8:30 a.m., lasts for two and a half days, with return travel on Sunday after 4:00 p.m.
Registration
The registration process for Campaign Academies begins with an invitation from NEA Campaign Lab Staff to Team Leads, Coaches, and Mentor Coaches. Managers of staff who are invited must complete the Manager’s Recommendation Form for any affiliate staff that plan to attend a Campaign Academy. For those staff who are bringing member teams, they should provide the full member team list with First Name, Last Name, and Email of each person for the Manager to include on the Recommendation Form. Please note, the form must be completed by the manager for any Academy sessions that you approve your staff to attend, and for any that include member teams.
Find more information about Registration and participant expectations
Campaign Academy Schedule
In the 2025-26 Program Year, there will be three Campaign Academies.
Coaching and Leading Winning Campaigns
June 20-23, 2025 and May 15-17, 2026
Affiliate Staff, Members, and Leaders understand the necessity of member recruitment via one on one conversations. To build power to win on issues that matter most, they must also build a culture for organizing. A culture for organizing and continually campaigning goes beyond foundation work, it also includes issue identification, goal setting, strategic actions, distributed leadership, and data that informs progress. This NEA Center for Organizing training is designed to build skills around coaching all aspects of a campaign cycle. Participants will learn how to help themselves and others:
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Develop core coaching skills that transform individual and team agency into action within an issue campaign
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Build strong leadership teams with defined boundaries and roles
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Develop skills around strategic planning, leadership tests, data collection, and narrative development.
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Move away from episodic mobilization of the already engaged – to the deeper work of moving people to “our” side.
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Focus on long-term campaign planning around organizing issues.
This training is appropriate for affiliate staff, members, and leaders who are already Team Leads, Coaches, or Mentor Coaches in the Campaign Lab System. Participants should leave with a level of confidence, knowledge, methods, and resources allowing them to coach and lead an issue campaign cycle.
Coaching and Leading Strong Structures and Leaders
November 20-23, 2025
Affiliate staff, members, and leaders who want to build powerful locals are responsible for identifying and developing leaders through strategic issue campaigns. Strong local affiliates have a high ratio of engaged leaders to rank and file members and structures that allow for rapid response, relationship development and collective action. This NEA Center for Organizing training is designed to build skills around coaching leadership identification and development. Participants will learn how to coach towards the establishment of differentiated and innovative structures that increase member engagement and union presence by continuously participating in campaign cycles. Participants will learn how to help themselves and others:
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Develop key coaching skills and apply them for appropriate interventions and growth of leaders within an issue campaign
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Coach for the growth and agitation of leaders and activists in ever expanding structures
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Understanding the methods for developing and supporting coalitions
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Design strategic alignment of leadership tests and tactics using scenarios and case studies.
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Understand “organizer math” for the number of people needed at each strategic point of a campaign and how to coach teams towards those metrics.
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Focus on long-term campaign planning around organizing issues.
This training is appropriate for affiliate staff, members, and leaders who are already Team Leads, Coaches, or Mentor Coaches in the Campaign Lab System. Participants should leave with a level of confidence, knowledge, methods, and resources allowing them to coach and lead an issue campaign cycle.
Coaching and Leading from Single-Issue to Multi-Issue Campaigns
March 12-15, 2026
Affiliate staff, members, and leaders in a growing number of affiliates support multi-issue campaigns that create multiracial alliances with communities. These affiliates and their alliances understand the importance of centering social justice in their work. Multi-issue, coalition driven organizing requires a shift in how we think about issue identification, power building, bargaining, partnerships, and the wins we achieve.
This NEA Center for Organizing training builds understanding for more advanced coaching and campaign leadership around four key areas 1) defining what social justice unionism is and what it takes to achieve this; 2) broadening union leadership and expectations for what the union can win; 3) developing and testing leaders, structures, and tactics that result in power building; and 4) using internal and external structures to fight systems of injustice. Participants explore case studies where these concepts and practices are being applied at varying levels – introductory, developing and advanced. Participants will learn how to help themselves and others:
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Refine coaching skills that move single-issue, single-constituency campaigns into the next stage of coalition building, and alignment with other justice seeking groups.
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Assess affiliate readiness and capacity to focus on multi-issue, multi-constituency work
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Develop a shared understanding of institutionalized and structural systems of oppression and apply power analysis and research methods
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Establish community partnerships with allies sharing common interests
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Build and practice the skills of social justice demands, narrative development, communication and multi-issue campaign planning.
This training is appropriate for affiliate staff, members, and leaders who are already Team Leads, Coaches, or Mentor Coaches in the Campaign Lab System. Participants should leave with a level of confidence, knowledge, methods, and resources allowing them to coach and lead an issue campaign cycle.
