Design

Describe your action plan and how each of your four chosen competencies will influence its design and implementation.

My action plan (Artifact #4):

• Recruit and train an EZ-Dues leadership team (Artifact #6, #8, #16)

• Design the EZ-Dues communications (Artifact #5) and the BTU bargaining survey (Artifact #7)

• Engage in ongoing, layered communications with BTU members (Artifact #5). These included emails, physical postcards, one-on-one conversations, and Hustle text messages (Artifact #9, #10, #11, #12, #13, #14, #15)

• Plan and execute a Day of Action for enrolling members (Artifact #17)

• Follow-up with any members who did not enroll in EZ-Dues during our one-week sign-up window (Artifact #18)

• Use the bargaining survey to prepare for the 25-27 bargaining session (Artifact #19)

Overarching Competency #1: Group Processes. I used this competency to build and lead meetings with diverse stakeholders and BTU members (Artifact #6, #8, #16). I also used this competency during one-on-one conversations (Artifact #4, #18) and the empathy interviews (Artifact #20) as all of these interactions required me to navigate difficult conversations while respecting a diversity of opinion and styles. 

Overarching Competency #2: Communication. This competency was core to developing and implementing my action plan. Butte School District #1 is a large district with nine different buildings. Focusing on the communication competency allowed me to organize large groups of people and individuals while simultaneously connecting EZ-Dues to shared union values and debunking and misconceptions/misinformation (Artifacts #5, #9, #10, #11, #12, #13, #14, #15).

Leadership Pathway: Association, Leading with Vision. I, along with other leaders, members, and diverse stakeholders, used this competency while designing the communication plan and rollout of our EZ-Dues push (Artifact #4, #5). We connected the 'why' of EZ-Dues to BTU's and MFPE's mission, vision, and values (Artifact #2, #3). By organizing and activating members around EZ-Dues, we pursued our strategic goal of EZ-Dues conversion. For this to be successful, a critical mass of members needed to invest themselves in support of our union's mission and goals. 

Foundational Competency: Exploring and Challenging Inequity. This competency influenced my action plan design by figuring into how I conceptualized my empathy interviews (Artifact #20) and the BTU bargaining survey (Artifact #7). For the survey, I was aware of how people's socio-economic situations, which are influenced by a host of diverse factors, impacted the priority needs the bargaining team needed to address through proposals. 

How will your leadership leverage the strengths and address the needs of diverse stakeholders to support the action plan, develop capacity, broaden decision-making, and learn collaboratively?

What I'm most proud of in this plan is that it required many diverse stakeholders to pull off. It organized people around the very real, local threat of our legislature ending paycheck deductions as an act of union busting. Through requiring collaboration and crafting a sense of purpose, this action plan brought more people into union leadership and broadened our capacity for organizing members to action and collaborative decision making (Artifact #8, #14, #16, #17). 

How will you use collaboration, questioning, data, and reflection during the implementation of your action plan?

Data was crucial during the implementation of my action plan. The sign-up window for EZ-Dues was only one week long, so we needed real time updates (which MFPE's team provided) on which BTU members made the EZ-Dues switch and which did not. In working with members who had not yet enrolled in EZ-Dues, we needed to use collaboration, questioning, and reflection in order to understand and address that member's concerns or hesitations (Artifact #4). 

How will you address obstacles that you may encounter in implementing your plan?

Computer/Technology Obstacles: 

• Used a contact list of who to contact for various technology issues so that we could resolve the issues as quickly as possible. 

• Had a small group of local leaders enroll in EZ-Dues before the official enrollment window opened in order to test-run the sign-up software. Fixed any issues before opening enrollment to everyone. *MFPE ran this troubleshooting; the state locals did not. 

Communication Obstacles: 

• Made sure that our list of member contact info was up-to-date before we began the communications rollout. 

• Had local leaders (for example, department heads and building reps) check in with the members in their jurisdiction and keep track of whether or not their members received the EZ-Dues communications. This helped us double check that no one fell through the cracks.

• Anticipated and responded to member hesitations or misinformation. BSD1 went through a rough hacking issue last year in which the hackers obtained private and sensitive staff data. With this, many teachers were wary of any change in financial exchanges. Therefore, we needed to include comms information about how the EZ-Dues system is run through the safe and secure Bank of America. 

Member Concerns or Hesitations:

• Provided department heads and building reps with a FAQ list (Artifact #8).

• Approached members one-on-one for conversations about their concerns or hesitations. 

• Listened with openness and to understand where the member was coming from. Validated and asked follow-up questions. 

How will you know if your action plan is successful?  What evidence would support your claim?

My action plan will be successful if at least 75% of BTU members enroll in EZ-Dues during our enrollment window. The data of who enrolled will support my claim. During BTU's enrollment winder, 94% of our members enrolled in EZ-Dues.