Webinar: Building Winning Coalitions

Coalitions are one of the most effective tools for winning on hot button issues. Building and leveraging coalitions, however, can be a daunting task. It doesn’t have to be.

Sign in to watch this session, and learn more about how you can  build more effective coalitions to win your important campaigns.

This event is hosted by Plural’s Wintana Melekin with special guests Grace Waltz of the Minneapolis Regional Chamber and Julia Freeman of Voices For Racial Justice.

The discussion touches on the big aspects of coalition building including establishing and maintaining trust, leveraging expertise, and coordinating the work. As legislation moves faster and in more places, coalitions are a vital piece of legislative strategy in any organization’s toolbox.

Speakers:

Grace Waltz
Grace Waltz is Vice President of Public Policy, Minneapolis Regional Chamber. Grace joined the Minneapolis Regional Chamber in July 2020. Waltz came to the Chamber directly from working at the Minnesota Department of Health where she supported Commissioner Jan Malcolm in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to that she served on the presidential campaign of U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar and as an advisor to U.S. Senator and Lt. Governor Tina Smith. Waltz is a graduate of the University of St. Thomas.

Julia Freeman
Julia Freeman is the Director of Community Engagement at the Voices For Racial Justice. Since 2007 she has led the Education Equity work using a healing and racial justice lens. Julia has helped Districts and Schools use co-created tools that put students and parents in the center of equity solutions. The narratives and policies that come out of the Education Equity Coalition work are very powerful. She is a racial justice trainer and organizing is her passion, which she brings to her work coordinating shared learning opportunities for the Education Equity Parent Fellowship and the Women's Circle.

Wintana Melekin
Wintana Melekin is a customer solutions manager at a Plural. She became invested in justice based policy after attending a protest for Trayvon Martin in 2012 that she helped organize. Melekin is a believer of a representative democracy where everyone’s voice is heard no matter their race, religion or sexual orientation. Wintana centers her life around the creation of joy and fighting for justice. She see’s her skills as an organizer and entrepreneur as tools for improving the conditions of her community and others.