COFI Center for Action and Learning

Catalyzing a national parent-led movement for economic and racial justice

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Parent leaders are at the center of a powerful and quickly growing movement for economic and racial justice – and we invite you to join us!

COFI offers a regular series of workshops in Chicago for individuals and organizations that are interested in incorporating The COFI Way into their own social justice mission and efforts. We also encourage organizations to join The COFI Way Cohort to benefit from ongoing COFI training, coaching and peer support over the multi-year organizing process of building a powerful organization of parent leaders. We will also continue to offer training sessions individually.

So, if you are interested in engaging parents to drive change in their communities, read on to learn how.

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The COFI Way, One Step at a Time

The interactive and dynamic workshops, which follow the The COFI Way, are designed specifically for staff and leaders in community groups, schools, and agencies. Join the more than 800 community organizers, social service providers, school administrators, advocates, policymakers, and veteran parent leaders who have attended COFI Center for Action and Learning workshops to-date!

We offer the following:

Orientation to The COFI Way

This two-day hands-on and participatory session serves as a general introduction to The COFI Way. Participants will meet COFI parent leaders and will gain firsthand experience with the model.

Phase 1: Self, Family & Team

This four-day session (which includes the two-day orientation) is for people who plan to incorporate The COFI Way, or parts of it, in their own community groups, schools, and agencies. Participants learn how to recruit parents and use COFI’s training curriculum for leadership development, as well as explore in-depth the first year of COFI’s three-year organizing process with hands-on practice.

Phase 2: Community Outreach & Action

At the 3.5 day Phase 2 training, you will learn how to build a parent team and work with them to do one-on-one relationship building interviews, map a community, choose an issue campaign, and win tangible victories in their schools and communities. It includes in-depth exploration of the second year of COFI’s three-year organizing process and a community field trip.

Phase 3: Policy & Systems Change

Learn to implement Phase 3 in this 3.5-day workshop by bringing together a number of parent teams to work on their first policy change campaign aimed at creating change on behalf of families. We will teach you COFI’s five-step process to policy and systems change, the values behind this work, the first steps of building a parent power organization, and how to implement the advanced parent leader curriculum.

Upcoming Trainings

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Upcoming Trainings

Ready to sign up for COFI Center for Action and Learning workshops?

We invite you to learn more about The COFI Way Cohort today! Or if you prefer to sign up for individual workshops, click below:

Individual Workshops

Consultation & Training Services

In some cases, COFI may be available for further consultation on implementing The COFI Way or to conduct offsite workshops outside our regular schedule, including training in Spanish. Please reach out to Jennifer Little, COFI Center for Action and Learning Manager, at jlittle@cofionline.org.