Peer Learning Network

1
Peer Learning Network

• Organizing People, Power, ChangeInternet
  Alumni Networking, 2001-02

2
Organizing at Harvard

• 1994 at The Harvard Kennedy School of Government,
  19 students enrolled in Organizing People,
  Power, Change (PAL 177)
• Course developed by Marshall Ganz from a workshop
  sponsored by Caucuses of Color.
• 1996 in the Harvard Sociology Department, Ganz
  began teaching The Community Action Research
  project (sociology 96).

Since then, 439 students from the Kennedy School,
Divinity School, School of Education, Harvard
College and elsewhere have completed these
courses.
3
Learning to Lead

• As the course has grown, class "alums" have taken
  part in the teaching.
• By taking responsibility for working with their
  own section of students, each member of the
  teaching team became part of the leadership team
  for the course -- modeling the approach they are
  teaching.

Aside from Ganz, teaching staff has included 18
other people Susan Crawford, Liz Steinhauser,
Lisa Boes, Andrea Sheppard, Matissa Hollister,
Julia Greene, Carlos Diaz, Aimee Carevich, Dan
Zubari, Shelly McDonough, Dina Abad, Tony Mack,
Devon Anderson, Metta McGarvey, David Harding,
Jenny Oser, Heather Harker, and Mary Hannah
Henderson.
4
How to Combine
The Knowledge of

• The class offered the opportunity to learn
  reflective practice participating in a community
  devoted to learning while doing.
• After completing the course, alumni kept checking
  back, offering new ideas, looking for new
  recruits, reflecting on organizing opportunities,
  and looking for help grappling with the
  challenges of organizing in the real world.
• People were looking for ways to keep learning as
  they were doing.
• So we asked people if they wanted to "combine"
  and keep learning on-line.

5
Overwhelming Response

• Of the 349 people for whom we found addresses,
  82 wanted to participate.

With funding from the Harvard University
Provost's Fund (a special fund to support the
development of technological learning tools), and
with the leadership of Jennifer Fey (HDS 2003),
we set to work creating the infrastructure to
organize this global alumni community. 
6
A Look at the Homepage
7
The Web Interface

• Spotlight
• We will feature a different person every two
  weeks, offering them an opportunity to share
  their story, the story of their current project,
  and to pose questions with which they are
  struggling

Discussion We can respond to these questions by
going to the "Discussion" page. There we can
offer suggestions, reflect on our own experience
of these challenges. . . or start a new
discussion
8
The Heart of the Community

• By going to "Profiles" we can learn more about
  each other as individuals and even arrange real
  or virtual "one on one" meetings.
•  
• Each person has an individual page with
• Photograph
• Personal biography
• Address, phone, and email

List can be sorted by Last Name, Location,
Mentors, School
9
A Look at Profiles List Pages
10
Searching the Profiles
This is the search page, where the user can look
for people in our network based on location,
sector, interests, background, etc.
11
The Search Result
I searched for all the people from Harvard
Divinity School who were interested in Youth
Organizing. The search returned all 6 people who
fit the criteria.
12
Other Website Features
Reflections can be submitted by community members
as sources of inspiration and renewal --and can
be forwarded by email to friends.

• "Tools" has organizing resources, including the
  class organizing notes
• "Links" contains other organizing websites of
  interest. 

13
Other Website Features

• "Careers" offers information about organizing
  opportunities
• Job announcements can be submitted online.
  Viewable by sector and location

14
Who Are We?

• Of our 285 participants, 37 are men and 63 are
  women.

15
What is Our Ethnic Background?

• Ethnically,
• 64 are European Americans
• 10 Asian American
• 6 Latino/a
• 4 African American
• 1 Native American
• 3 whom we do not know
• People from outside the US include
• 3 from Latin America
• 3 from Southeast Asia
• 2 from Europe

16
Where do We Live?
In all, 11 live outside the US in 20 countries

• Of the 246 in the US
• 47 live in Massachusetts
• 11 live in California
• 10 live in New York
• 3 live in Washington DC
• 14 live elsewhere

17
Where Did We Go to School?

• Although 39 of us were enrolled at the Kennedy
  School
• 21 Harvard College
• 15 The Divinity School
• 13 The Ed School
• 2 The School of Public Health
• 2 GSAS
• 2 Law School
• 9 attended other schools
• 10 were admitted as Community Fellows

18
Where Do We Work?

• Of those who are no longer in school
• 61 work for non-profits
• 19 for the government
• 19 in the private sector

19
What Do We Do?

• Of those working who are no longer in school
• 34 are managers
• 13 are organizers
• 11 are consultants
• 8 are teachers
• 6 are researchers
• 4 are clergy
• 4 are fundraisers
• 4 are public administrators
• 17 do other kinds of work

20
Interpretation
The diversity of occupations, sectors, regions,
and backgrounds of this community -- and the
shared values, interest in organizing, and desire
to keep learning -- offers a unique opportunity
for us to continue learning from each other. We
are not now beginning something new we are
building on and deepening our learning capacity
by participating in a network built on
classroom-fostered face to face relationship.
Because we began to develop these relationships
in class, we can now build on those relationships
and continue learning by actively participating
in this peer learning community.
21
It is I who must begin... Once I begin, once I
try--here and now,right where I amI suddenly
discover,to my surprise, thatI am neither the
only one,nor the first,nor the most important
one to have set out upon that road...Whether
all is really lostor not depends entirely
onwhether or not I am lost...
Statementby Václav Havel