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Leadership positions in the Kalispell Education Association have been elected by acclamation in all elections in the past decade with the exception of one challenged treasure election. My capstone challenge is to develop and implement a plan to build a sustainable leadership pipeline to engage members of our local and build capacity in our organization.  KEA frequently identifies members that show interest at first but are unsure of their role or are not prepared to take on a responsibility such as building representative or an elected position. Because they don't see themselves as qualified they don't volunteer. We miss out on capturing their early attention and enthusiasm  because they see the leadership as fully invested and they just aren't ready or want to do that.  

Stakeholders include educators filling a diverse set of roles throughout the district including primary, intermediate, and early K elementary teachers. Special educators, speech and language pathologists, school psychologists, middle school teachers, high school teachers, librarians, counselors, and nurses are among the many other educator positions within our collective bargaining unit. These various positions of course have sub categories that can be organized many different ways but building location and length of career in the district are two major categories.  Engaging district administrative leadership is also key when identifying leadership candidates. 

Our union is only a union if we truly represent all of our members. When certain departments or categories of staff are undervalued or lack representation and voice, our union loses credibility and standing with the district administration, the families we serve, and even our own members. 

At its core, this challenge fundamentally requires a diverse population of leaders that actively engage in the creation and maintenance of support structures,  promoting equity and cultural contributions.

Communication always seems to be a stumbling block that topples organizations. Simple, clear, consistent communication is paramount when delivering organizational information that requires membership action.   

Group processes are yet another area that should be a strength of a union but can be divisive when common ground and understanding is not first sought. Facilitating a process that values a diversity of experience and empowers a solutions first mentality helps guide groups through conflicts and challenges. Having a diverse population represented within the negotiation committee potentially creates competing proposals that benefit different groups. It is through respect and communication that a cohesive plan can emerge. The goal is also to train an entire cadre of leaders that have competencies in group processes so that they too can lead new groups.

The association leadership competency of building capacity of others shall be my focus. The creation of the negotiation advisory team, a local rapid response team structure along with the recruitment of new TLI fellows has been a major step in growing the leadership capacity of our local organization. We must grow our new leaders at a rate faster than our veteran generation of educators retire. 

In order to accomplish my goal of building the capacity of others I must also embark in improving Organizational Effectiveness, Leading with Skill. Leaders need to not only recognize what is needed but be able to engage and motivate others to to take action and not expect others to provide all of the solutions. 

It is important to engage with all classifications of job descriptions, building locations and experience levels but an added area of focus will be reaching out to underrepresented populations that are frequently marginalized in the Flathead Valley including the LGBTQ community and ethnic minorities. Parents, administrators and school board members all will have a role to play in creating organized opportunities for teacher leaders to flex their developing leadership muscles outside the confines of the four walls of their classroom. Outside the educational community I am networking with local political leaders that have an interest in supporting the issues that many of our members are passionate about. 

As a member of MFPE, I feel blessed to have a state organization that supports the professional growth of all of its members. Through ongoing regionals and virtual training in many areas including the TLI program itself MFPE has been more than generous and proactive to facilitate  training.  Additionally through micro credentialing specific skill sets can be developed creating toolkits for new teacher leaders to magnify their efforts. Locally, our KEA has budgeted for training events, and event space. Additionally KEA is undergoing a website and communication renovation to streamline direct communication and the dissemination of information.