Program Overview
In 2010 Ann and Larry Tramutola, recognizing the need for “grassroots organizers” who could take on tough issues from education to health to water quality to electing better representatives at all levels of government, decided on a bold experiment: recruit and train a new generation of organizers not beholden to special interests or political parties.
Larry Tramutola remembers: “We had an idea but no funding, no students, no curriculum. What drove us was the memory of my mentor, Fred Ross, who always taught that if you wait until you have all the resources to do something, you will never start.”
Collectively, our bilingual staff has over forty years of experience and success. From leading boycotts and strikes with Cesar Chavez and the United Farmer Workers, to training neighborhood leaders to increase voter turnout in minority neighborhoods in the Central Valley, to inspiring hundreds of youth leaders throughout the state to fight Big Tobacco and end the sale of flavored tobacco, to winning elections generating billions of dollars for schools and healthcare districts — our approach to social, racial, political, and economic challenges is to first understand the local community, then set and reach measurable goals to improve the local community, and build people power that is sustainable over time.
We are proud to have developed a 14-unit curriculum that we use for our training programs based on TOLA founder, Larry Tramutola’s book, Sidewalk Strategies, A practical guide for organizers and activists. The book provides a guide for people who are seeking to make a difference in their communities through grassroots organizing.
Those who have benefited from TOLA trainings are inspired and encouraged to apply the skills they learn from TOLA to improve communities wherever they live. TOLA graduates also find time to stay connected and reach out to fellow alums to share organizing job opportunities, including work on local campaigns and with local governments.