One of the projects of the Coali­tion is the Advo­cates for Com­mu­ni­ty Empow­er­ment (ACE) Project. This project is an oppor­tu­ni­ty for com­mu­ni­ty-based orga­ni­za­tions to par­tic­i­pate in mean­ing­ful train­ings and peer exchanges to advance their work on behalf of South Asian communities.

The ACE Project works towards the following goals

• Par­tic­i­pat­ing in mean­ing­ful train­ings around social change approach­es in the South Asian community
• Acquir­ing prac­ti­cal skills to enable the use of strate­gies relat­ed to advo­ca­cy and com­mu­ni­ca­tions into ongo­ing work
• Liais­ing with peers, men­tor orga­ni­za­tions, train­ers and lead­ers in the social jus­tice movement
• Enabling staff to par­tic­i­pate in Project activ­i­ties and train­ings through a mod­est stipend
• Iden­ti­fy­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties to incor­po­rate tech­niques and skills into ongo­ing work through one-on-one tech­ni­cal assistance
• High­light­ing orga­ni­za­tion­al work through the report about the out­comes of the pilot project

The ACE Project com­bines inten­sive train­ings and ongo­ing tech­ni­cal assis­tance to assist par­tic­i­pat­ing orga­ni­za­tions incor­po­rate pol­i­cy advo­ca­cy, doc­u­men­ta­tion and com­mu­ni­ca­tions into their exist­ing work. Orga­ni­za­tions attend two in-per­son train­ings as well as iden­ti­fy ongo­ing projects that can be enhanced through month­ly tech­ni­cal assis­tance calls.

ACE Cohorts

SAALT is pleased to announce the Advo­cates for Com­mu­ni­ty Empow­er­ment Project cohort for 2012!

The 2012 cohort is (list­ed alphabetically):

• Adhikaar (New York, New York)
• API Chaya (Seat­tle, Washington)
• Chhaya CDC (New York, New York)
• Maitri (San Jose, California)
• The Sikh Coali­tion (New York, New York)
• South Asian Pub­lic Health Asso­ci­a­tion (Wash­ing­ton, DC)
• Westch­ester Square Part­ner­ship (New York, New York)

SAALT is excit­ed to work with these six orga­ni­za­tions in the fourth year of ACE as they strength­en their abil­i­ty to engage more deeply in advo­ca­cy, com­mu­ni­ca­tions, and inter­sec­tion­al analy­sis (such as gen­der and eco­nom­ic devel­op­ment lens­es) through peer exchange and trainings.

ACE Cohort 2009
SAALT brought togeth­er the sec­ond group of ACE Project par­tic­i­pants in 2009: Apna Ghar (IL), Shak­ti Peer Group (NY), South Asian Coun­cil for Social Ser­vices (NY), South Asian Net­work (CA), UNITED SIKHS (NY). The first train­ing took place in July 2009 and incor­po­rat­ed cur­ric­u­la and exer­cis­es around social change work, strate­gic com­mu­ni­ca­tions plan­ning, spokesper­son train­ing and the core con­cepts of inter­nal and exter­nal advo­ca­cy. Before the first train­ing and in antic­i­pa­tion of the sec­ond (Jan 2010), SAALT checks in with par­tic­i­pat­ing groups about advo­ca­cy and com­mu­ni­ca­tions goals via tech­ni­cal assis­tance calls.

ACE Cohort 2008
In 2008, SAALT worked close­ly with five orga­ni­za­tions that have a focus on women or wom­en’s rights issues. The five par­tic­i­pat­ing orga­ni­za­tions are Adhikaar for Human Rights (NY), Andolan (NY), Coun­selors Help­ing (South) Asians/Indians (MD), Daya (TX) and Rak­sha (GA). The two in-per­son train­ings were held in the Tako­ma Park/Silver Spring area in July and Novem­ber 2008. The train­ings gave par­tic­i­pants the oppor­tu­ni­ty to share expe­ri­ences and best prac­tices as well as engage in dis­cus­sions and skills-build­ing around polit­i­cal edu­ca­tion, pol­i­cy advo­ca­cy and com­mu­ni­ca­tions. Par­tic­i­pants reflect­ed on the val­ue of the expe­ri­ence and shared their inten­tion to use com­po­nents of the train­ing with Board mem­bers, vol­un­teers and oth­er staff.