TOLA: Has it really been a year?

It’s hard to believe that little more than one year ago we founded The Organizing and Leadership Academy (TOLA).  Indeed, in just 14 months we’ve graduated 22 fellows.  Some have left the Bay Area to do great things and others have stayed here and are doing important work on their own or on projects in partnership with our firm.

The strength of TOLA lies in a number of factors – but it shines brightest among our graduates.  Those who’ve trained in TOLA know how to get things done.  Here are just a few examples:

Stephanie DeHerrera, a TOLA 1 graduate, is now a lead organizer on the California Cancer Research Act campaign, a dollar-a-pack tax on cigarettes designed to raise hundred of millions of dollars to fund cancer research.  Big tobacco will spend millions of dollars gobbling up television to overwhelm the underdog CCRA team.  Stephanie is in the fight of her life, pushing a disciplined field program to combat big tobacco.

Karina Rivera, a TOLA 2 graduate, is a field organizer for County Supervisor Wilma Chan in the San Lorenzo area.  Karina, who experienced the thrill of her first political campaign through TOLA, is now actively organizing in unincorporated Alameda County to bring the power of county government directly to the people it serves.  She isn’t waiting in an office for people who need help to drop in, she is out in the community finding and solving problems.

Melquis Naveo, a TOLA 3 graduate and a proud native of Lawrence, Massachusetts (but now representing the East Bay!) is organizing Oakland residents around a package of citizen initiatives created to infuse innovation and new ideas into Oakland city government.  Look for him in a neighborhood near you!

These are just three examples.  There are many, many more.  The point though, is that in the East Bay and throughout the Country; TOLA fellows are taking what they learned in our academy, here in Oakland, and making things happen.

TOLA graduates, as 2011 draws to a close, we salute your efforts and thank you profusely for your dedication to doing the work, not just talking the talk.