Summer Advocate Training Series

Dive into the nuts and bolts of making change happen with veteran WABA organizer Garrett Hennigan in a new weekly webinar series.

Come for as many sessions as interest you. No experience is necessary. Trainings will use specifics from DC, but most will be useful for advocates all over the Washington area.

Understanding and Using the Bureaucratic Process

May 13, 6:30pm

In this session we’ll take a look at how the District Department of Transportation moves a project from idea to construction, and talk about how to provide effective feedback along the way.

Note: This will be a DC focused session.


Understanding and Transforming Street Space

May 20, 6:30pm

Bring a tape measure and a moral compass—in this session, we’ll talk about the geometry and limitations of space on streets.

We’ll cover the measurements and trade-offs of the most common of bike and pedestrian improvements, then dig in explore some nifty tools for visualizing new street configurations.


How to Talk About Safe Streets

May 27, 6:30pm

In this session, we’ll tackle one of the most fundamental parts of winning campaigns: understanding how to talk about what you want.

We’ll cover people-centered language, discuss integrating transportation equity into your ask, and unpack some of ways that common words in transportation advocacy mean different things to different people.


Making The Case for A Project

June 3, 6:30pm

So you want a protected bike lane, but how do you get other people on board? In this session, we’ll walk through how to make a compelling case for new bike infrastructure.

We will look at different ways to use language, stories, data, and visuals to define a problem and present a solution.


Effective Tactics

June 10, 6:30pm

We’ll talk about how to build support for a project, and then demonstrate that support to the right decision-makers. We will explore a variety of tactics from canvassing to online petitions to public testimony, and discuss some of the tools WABA has that can support these tactics.


Working with Advisory Neighborhood Commissions

June 17, 6:30pm

In this session, we’ll look at the ups, downs and idiosyncrasies of the District’s hyperlocal elected bodies. ANCs are critical to advancing safe streets projects in DC.


Who Decides?

June 24, 6:30pm Postponed – new date coming soon

In this session, we’ll take a look at some of the factors that affect whether or not a street safety improvement gets built — master plans, engineering considerations, politics, public input, and others (sigh, parking). We’ll discuss strategies for building buy-in and minimizing unforeseen roadblocks.


Planning to Win

July 1, 6:30pm

Changing the status quo is hard, and having the right answer is only half of the struggle. In this session we’ll talk about strategies for winning campaigns—power-mapping; understanding the processes and biases of people (and agencies); setting goals and measuring progress; and connecting the right tactics with the right people at the right time.