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Political Training Academy
Developed through FIREPAC, the IAFF Political Training Academy educates and
assists campaign veterans and political newcomers alike on how to run for
elected office and manage a political campaign. More than 500 IAFF members have
graduated from the Political Training Academy, and more than 325 IAFF members
and spouses hold local and state elective office.
The Political Training Academy includes five days of hands-on political
training taught by outside campaign specialists and IAFF staff. Seminars focus
on issues of concern to politically active fire fighters, such as: developing an
effective campaign plan; targeting voters; recruiting volunteers; polling
techniques; fundraising and budgeting; message development; working with the
press; getting out the vote; and campaign finance laws.
IAFF members or family members who are running for public office, managing a
campaign or implementing a political program for an IAFF local should consider
attending an IAFF Political Training Academy. The skills learned at the academy
are invaluable for all political activists.
Past instructors have included:
·
Celinda Lake – president of Lake Research Partners. Lake is
one of the Democratic Party’s leading political strategists and has worked for
candidates at all levels of government, including Governor Gary Locke (WA),
former U.S. Senator Carol Moseley-Braun (IL) and New Mexico Attorney General
Patricia Madrid.
·
Tom Lindenfeld – president of LSG Strategies, a grassroots
and political telemarketing firm. Lindenfeld has worked for the AFL-CIO, U.S.
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, U.S. Representative Patrick Kennedy (MA)and
Governor Tom Vilsack (IA), and served as the political director for the
Democratic National Committee. Lindenfeld has also worked on numerous mayoral
campaigns across the United States.
·
Rob Engel – currently serves as the project director for
the National Committee for an Effective Congress (NCEC). During the 2000
presidential election cycle, Engel was the executive director of the Democratic
National Committee (DNC). During the 1990s he was the pPolitical director and
national campaign director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC).
He has taught courses on political campaign strategy and planning, and strategic
message development at George Washington University’s Graduate School of
Political Management and served as the deputy director of American
University’s Campaign Management Institute.
·
Michael Matthews – former political director for the
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and former director of the AFL-CIO
National Labor Political Training Center (NLPTC), Matthews worked for former
U.S. Representative and Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy, as well as on the
presidential campaigns for Bob Kerrey, Paul Simon and Michael Dukakis. Mathews
has also been a part of political party and candidate training in Russia,
Georgia and Armenia.
How Do I Apply to the Political Training
Academy?
• All applicants for the IAFF Political
Training Academy must complete the online Political Training Academy application.
• Each applicant must submit a letter of
recommendation from his or her local president. Because each Political Training
Academy is limited to 50 attendees, the IAFF requests that each local only
recommend one applicant per year.
·
The IAFF and FIREPAC pay for all housing, food and materials for
attendees of the Academy. Attendees are responsible for their transportation
costs.
·
Acceptance into the Political Training Academy is based on the
reason for attending, the number of previous attendees from the local,
geographic diversity, as well as any previous FIREPAC contributions by the
applicant and his/her local.
• Send your applications and letters to:
International Association of Fire Fighters
Political Action Department
1750 New York Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20006
(202) 783-4570-Fax Number
• For more information, contact the IAFF
Political Action Department at (202) 824-1582 or pta@iaff.org.
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