Capacity and Skill Building
In 2007, the Dream Fund commissioned field research to analyze the challenges and opportunities facing the affirmative action field. It found that advocates and experts agreed that building public support is vital to preserving affirmative action and addressing structural race and gender inequalities Strategic communications is a key element of building public support.
In response, the Dream Fund created a strategy for strengthening the communications infrastructure of its grant partners. Grantees may opt to receive help with message development and dissemination, spokesperson training and communications-strategy planning.
The following two phases will promote affirmative action overall while creating understanding of the Dream Fund's work within the philanthropic and other allied communities.
Phase I: Research - Developing positive messages about affirmative action that resonate with greater segments of the public, testing those messages and conducting an in-depth media scan
Phase II: Implementing the research - Components of this phase aimed at empowering and training both grantees and donors include:
- Convening key partners annually to share Phase I research and implement tailored communications and technical-assistance training programs for all partners.
- Enhancing the Dream Fund's website and affirmative action digital toolkit to allow for greater networking and to serve as knowledge-sharing resources for grantees, activists, funders, academic researchers, advocates and other partners in the field.
- Creating cross-site learning exchanges to provide grantees with the opportunity to share their learning and/or technical assistance programs and to strengthen cross-regional relationships among leaders, organizers and other partners.
