Wellstone Action is a Saint Paul, Minnesota

Saint Paul, Minnesota

Saint Paul is the capital and second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies mostly on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the area surrounding its point of confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Minneapolis, the state's largest city...

-based non-profit

Non-profit organization

Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...

 organization that was founded by Jeff Blodgett. The camp trains progressive

Progressivism

Progressivism is an umbrella term for a political ideology advocating or favoring social, political, and economic reform or changes. Progressivism is often viewed by some conservatives, constitutionalists, and libertarians to be in opposition to conservative or reactionary ideologies.The...

 citizens

United States nationality law

Article I, section 8, clause 4 of the United States Constitution expressly gives the United States Congress the power to establish a uniform rule of naturalization. The Immigration and Naturalization Act sets forth the legal requirements for the acquisition of, and divestiture from, citizenship of...

 - and potential candidates for public office - how to succeed in winning election

Election

An election is a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy operates since the 17th century. Elections may fill offices in the legislature, sometimes in the...

s, enacting legislation

Legislation

Legislation is law which has been promulgated by a legislature or other governing body, or the process of making it...

, and passing ballot initiatives. The organization is named after the late U.S. Senator

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

 Paul Wellstone

Paul Wellstone

Paul David Wellstone was a two-term U.S. Senator from the state of Minnesota and member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, which is affiliated with the national Democratic Party. Before being elected to the Senate in 1990, he was a professor of political science at Carleton College...

 of Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

, who died in a plane crash along with his wife Sheila

Sheila Wellstone

Sheila Ison Wellstone was an advocate for human rights, the environment, and peace. She was married to U.S. Senator from Minnesota Paul Wellstone....

 and several members of his campaign staff on October 25, 2002. Its mission is to honor the legacies of both Paul and Sheila by continuing their work.

The group claims a membership of 100,000 members and has trained over 11,000 people in 32 states in political advocacy

Advocacy

Advocacy is a political process by an individual or a large group which normally aims to influence public-policy and resource allocation decisions within political, economic, and social systems and institutions; it may be motivated from moral, ethical or faith principles or simply to protect an...

, grassroots organizing, get out the vote

Get out the vote

"Get out the vote" are terms used to describe two categories of political activity, both aimed at increasing the number of votes cast in one or more elections.- Non-partisan contexts :...

 (GOTV), youth activism

Youth activism

Youth activism is when the youth voice is engaged in community organizing for social change. Around the world, young people are engaged in activism as planners, researchers, teachers, evaluators, social workers, decision-makers, advocates and leading actors in the environmental movement, social...

, voter education and mobilization

Mobilization

Mobilization is the act of assembling and making both troops and supplies ready for war. The word mobilization was first used, in a military context, in order to describe the preparation of the Prussian army during the 1850s and 1860s. Mobilization theories and techniques have continuously changed...

. Specific training programs include the Advanced Campaign Management School, Camp Wellstone, Campus Camp Wellstone, voter engagement schools, Camp Sheila Wellstone, a labor training program, a Native American leadership program and Wellstone Organizing Fellows. As of now, U.S. Representative

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 Tim Walz

Tim Walz

Timothy James Walz is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2007. He is a member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party .The district comprises the state's southern end, running along the entire border with Iowa...

, from Minnesota's 1st congressional district

Minnesota's 1st congressional district

Minnesota's 1st congressional district extends across southern Minnesota from the border with South Dakota to the border with Wisconsin. The First District is primarily a rural district built on a strong history of agriculture, although this is changing rapidly due to strong population growth in...

, is the program's highest-ranking graduate.

Training Programs

Advanced Campaign Management School http://www.wellstone.org/our-programs/advanced-campaign-management-school: This intensive three-day training is designed for individuals with past electoral experience who want to take their political organizing skills to the next level and candidates who are currently running for office. The trainers teach the fundamentals of winning campaigns, building the skills of a new generation of campaign managers and developing leaders and professionals for long-term involvement in the progressive movement.

Camp Wellstone http://www.wellstone.org/our-programs/camp-wellstone: Wellstone Action's signature weekend training program provides hands-on, practical training in grassroots politics for citizen activists, campaign workers, and people interested in running for office.

Campus Camp Wellstone http://www.wellstone.org/our-programs/campus-camp-wellstone: Campus Camp Wellstone trains students nationwide on how to run energized, community building, winning campaigns. It focuses on campus and community organizing and young voter engagement.

Voter Engagement Schools http://www.wellstone.org/our-programs/voter-engagement-schools: Voter Engagement Schools help non-profit community-based organizations educate, engage, and mobilize voters across the country. These national trainings are held in partnership with organizations who want to connect long-term voter engagement work with the issues their constituents care about.

Camp Sheila Wellstone http://www.wellstone.org/our-programs/camp-sheila-wellstone: Camp Sheila Wellstone provides domestic and sexual violence movement leaders with skills in strategic planning, organizing, communications, and political advocacy.

Labor Training Program http://www.wellstone.org/our-programs/labor-training-program: Customized to meet the needs of individual unions, this program partners with progressive labor organizations around the country to help build capacity, leadership, and infrastructure in the labor community.

Native American Leadership Program http://www.wellstone.org/our-programs/native-american-leadership-program: In partnership with tribes in Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota and throughout the country, this new program will provide leadership and civic engagement skills training, culturally-specific training curricula, highly-skilled Native American trainers, and technical support for the creation of community action plans, to create a pipeline of Native leaders who are ready to step into key leadership positions in their communities.

Wellstone Organizing Fellows http://www.wellstone.org/our-programs/wellstone-organizing-fellows: This program provides leadership training and support for a select group of young leaders of color in Minnesota. Fellows participate in an intensive one-month training and then put their new skills to work in local community-based organizations. Wellstone Action also provides ongoing mentoring and peer support throughout the program.

Organizing Tools

Building a Volunteer Program http://wellstone.org/organizing-tools/building-volunteer-program:

Meaningful Constituent Contact http://wellstone.org/organizing-tools/meaningful-constituent-contact:

Voter Registration http://wellstone.org/organizing-tools/voter-registration:

Voter Education http://wellstone.org/organizing-tools/voter-education:

Get Out The Vote http://wellstone.org/organizing-tools/get-out-vote:

Being a Successful Citizen Lobbyist http://wellstone.org/organizing-tools/being-successful-citizen-lobbyist:

Values-based Messaging http://wellstone.org/organizing-tools/valuesbased-messaging:

Action Planning to Win on Issues http://wellstone.org/organizing-tools/action-planning-win-issues:

Leadership Development http://wellstone.org/organizing-tools/leadership-development:

Neighborhood Voter Contact Program http://wellstone.org/organizing-tools/neighborhood-voter-contact-program:

Holding Elected Officials Accountable to Our Issues http://wellstone.org/organizing-tools/holding-elected-officials-accountable-our-issues:

Notable alumni

Of all the participants in the Candidate track in Camp Wellstone, over 24% have won their elections, and 44 percent are currently running for office this election cycle. They are seeking seats in State House/ Assemblies, City or Town Councils, and School Boards. 73.5% of them are challenging incumbents, while 26.5% of them are running for an open seat - not a single candidate is an incumbent.

Everyday citizen activists are also changing the fabric of this country by organizing and winning on issues that matter. Camp Wellstone alumni from the Citizen Activism track have had many successes: 37% have successfully lobbied an elected official to change public policy, 54% got coverage of progressive issues in the news media, and 43% built winning coalitions with other progressive organizations.

In general, Wellstone Action's thousands of alumni are organizing and winning - electing progressive candidates and mobilizing on issues that matter to communities.