2025-26 National UniServ and Organizer Academy Program
Manager Recommendation Form
2025-26 National UniServ and Organizer Academy Program
Manager Recommendation Form
(To be completed by a manager)
The NEA Center for Organizing and Affiliate Support is pleased to announce our schedule for affiliate UniServ, Organizing staff, and Campaign Lab participants for the coming year. We are providing these descriptions and dates to you for planning purposes with your Affiliate Staff. Please note, there is a significant change this year. **The only training programs that will be Affiliate Staff ONLY are Foundations Academies and Online Discussion Groups.** All other programs will include Affiliate Staff AND Member Teams; these teams will be working on issue campaigns with the Campaign Lab or planning their applications to enter the Campaign Lab.
All UniServ grant funded staff (UniServ directors, Organizers, and UniServ specialists) or staff and member teams that are part of the NEA Campaign Lab are eligible to participate in these programs:
The NEA National UniServ and Organizing Training Program encompasses the following:
- Foundations Academies – Staff Only (Under three years of experience)
- Focus Academies – Staff and Member Teams
- Campaign Academies – Staff or Members in Campaign Lab (Leads, Coaches, Mentor Coaches)
- Online Discussion Groups – Staff Only
- Online Course Modules – Staff and Member Teams
- Online Campaign Modules - Staff or Members in Campaign Lab (Leads, Coaches, Mentor Coaches)
- Organizing-Focused Tracks at NEA’s Constituency Conferences - Staff and Member Teams
- Retired
- Higher Ed
- NCUEA
NEA reimburses affiliates for costs associated with participation in both these events according to NEA’s UniServ Travel Guidelines. Registration for any staff planning to attend an in person event begin with their manager completing this Manager Recommendation Link.
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FOUNDATIONS ACADAMIES (In-Person) - Staff Only (Under three years of experience)
FOUNDATIONS ACADEMIES are designed for affiliate staff in their first and second years of UniServ staff work. The NEA UniServ Guidelines state that new UniServ staff shall attend the Foundations Academy within their first two (2) years of employment. Based on our experience, UDs who wait beyond their first two years have a more difficult time building basic organizing skills into their routines. All Foundations Academies include a worksite organizing experience, and focus on supporting new staff in their work of building high functioning locals that can recruit and engage members, organize around issues that our members care about, and develop emerging leaders. Foundations Academies are five full days – Monday through Friday, beginning at 8:30 AM, with travel being on Sunday and after 4:00 PM on Friday evening.
- September 15-19, 2025, Montgomery, AL with K-12 Worksite Organizing Experience
- October 6-10, 2025, Salt Lake City, UT with K-12 Worksite Organizing Experience
- May 4-8, 2026, Grand Rapids, MI with K-12 Worksite Organizing Experience
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FOCUS ACADEMIES (In-Person) Staff and Member Teams
FOCUS ACADEMIES are designed for experienced affiliate staff and are on topics that are timely across our organization. They are identified at the “Transitional Level,” or “Refining Level” of affiliate staff work. These levels are context specific – you may be Refining in one topic area, but Transitional in another. Those who choose Transitional Level Focus Academies are working with locals that are just beginning to move from basic membership recruitment and servicing towards leadership and team development for the purposes of organizing and building power. Those who choose the Refining Level Focus Academies are typically working with affiliates that already have strong leadership, effective structures and a track record for using power to make meaningful change.
Each Focus Academy begins on a Tuesday morning at 8:30 AM, lasts for two and a half days, with travel out late on Thursday after 4:00 PM. Detailed descriptions can be found in the Focus Academies section of this document. (All locations are TBD, pending hotel contracting):
- Organizing on HBCU Campuses, November 5-7, 2025
- Advancing LGBTQ+ Justice, December 2-4, 2025
- Advancing Racial Justice, January 13-15, 2026
- Winning School Board Elections, February 10-12, 2026
- Organizing Strategies for ESP Members, March 25-27, 2026
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CAMPAIGN ACADEMIES (In-Person) Staff or Members in Campaign Lab
Campaign Academies are designed for affiliate staff and members that are currently in the NEA Campaign Lab. These are by invitation only and include three levels of leadership within the NEA Campaign Lab: Organizing Team Leads, Campaign Coaches, and Mentor Coaches. Each Campaign Academy begins on a Friday morning and lasts for two and a half days.
- November 21-23, 2025, Coaching and Leading Strong Structures and Leaders,
- March 13-15, 2026, Coaching and Leading from Single Issue to Multi-Issue
- May 15-17, 2026, Coaching and Leading Winning Campaigns
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ORGANIZING-FOCUSED TRACKS AT NEA’S CONSTITUENCY CONFERENCES (In-Person) Staff and Member Teams
The NEA Center for Organizing and Affiliate Support will be providing a track on constituency-focused organizing skills for affiliate staff and teams of members. Participants who choose this track will learn key leadership identification and development skills and how to identify organizing issues and develop an escalation of tactics to build power and capacity for winning. Teams will leave with well-developed campaign plans.
- March 6-8, 2026, Higher Education Conference
- March 15-17, 2026, Retired Conference
- March 27-29, 2026 , ESP Conference
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(See Program Description at https://www.nea.org/UD-Org-Support)
We ask that managers ensure staff schedules are adjusted so that your staff can attend and fully participate in the entire program. Participants are expected to be present and engaged for the full time as outlined above. We encourage you to have conversations with your staff so that the attendance expectations and time commitments are clear. Any schedule conflicts should be shared with NEA staff in advance.
NEA may incur considerable cost for individuals who cancel. Therefore, in the event of cancellation, the UniServ Director’s employer (affiliate) agrees to reimburse NEA for the full cost of direct-billed airline tickets and/or change fees that cannot be recovered. This may also include the cost of hotel rooms if NEA is unable to cancel the room without penalty. All cancellations must be in writing from the staff person and a copy to their manager. These cancellations must be emailed to Karla Medina (kmedina@nea.org) with a copy to Kyle Serrette (kserrette@nea.org).
**You may enroll multiple staff for multiple trainings on the same form.**
WHAT’S NEXT (Please share with your staff)?:
STEP 1: As the Manager, complete the Manager’s Recommendation Form. (Organizer Network Programs is a separate form) Please note, the form must be completed by the manager by the deadlines listed below for the Academy sessions that you approve your staff to attend.
STEP 2: Participants are recorded as “accepted” unless it is noted on the form that there is a waiting list. Please let your UDs know that they have been approved and should save the dates on their calendars.
STEP 3: Approximately two (2) months in advance of the program, participants will receive a separate email with the formal, individual Registration Form for them to complete.
STEP 4: Once they register, they will be provided with instructions to make their travel arrangements through NEA’s travel agency - AmTrav. (NOTE: NEA will not reimburse for travel arrangements made independently of AmTrav).
Detailed information about each Academy will be sent to all participants approximately one month prior to each session.
The number of participants for each in-person program is capped at 40 per session. Therefore, forms should be submitted as early as possible, and no later than the listed deadlines. Additional applicants can be placed on waiting lists. Managers interested in sending more than five (5) Affiliate Staff to any single program should talk with our program coordinator (Ellen Holmes, eholmes@nea.org) in advance to review expectations.