campaign and staffer Training
Looking to take your campaign to the next level?
Whether running for the first time, managing a campaign or seeking re-election, NWPC California’s training programs offer comprehensive leadership & campaign training at all levels.
2021 TRAINING Curriculum
Running as a Woman
This course covers reasons women run for office, questions every candidate should consider before making the decision, and the steps to take before the campaign begins, including researching the district and seeking professional advice.
The Campaign Plan & Team
This course reviews the importance of a campaign plan, the elements of an effective campaign structure, and the emphasis on a good team. It also covers descriptions of the different jobs on a typical campaign.
Targeting & Research
This course discusses the areas of research a candidate must cover in order to know what their constituents are concerned about, which voters the candidate will want to target, and how to reach them.
Fundraising
This training begins with a general overview of fundraising for a campaign, followed by a panel discussion comprised of women of color about the challenges of fundraising as a woman of color, and how they overcame those challenges.
Voter contact & Field Operations
This session covers different ways in which to contact voters, such as phone banking, text banking, social media, and door-to-door canvassing, to name a few.
Addressing the Negatives, Wrap up & Winning
The first half of this session covers the dangers and advantages of going negative in a campaign to help voters make decisions.
The second half discusses how candidates, especially new candidates, need guidance after they are elected including the steps involved in properly wrapping up a campaign.
VolunteerS
This session covers the basics of where to find good volunteers and how to manage them, along with the Scheduler’s responsibilities which include scheduling the candidate’s activities.
Social Media
Covers the basics of a good social media campaign, along with the dos and don’ts of engaging in social media.
Technology
This session covers demonstrations of both the PDI and NGPVAN voter contact platforms.
SPEECh & image
You know the saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words”? The same principle applies to a candidate’s image and message. Before she opens her mouth, the public has already judged her. Like it or not, a candidate must look the part. Next, we will cover the five components of a good three-minute speech.
NWPC California also offers complimentary access to our Public Education Resources and Forums for our members. Please consider contributing to the organization in order to help us continue to provide these events.
Each trainer brings her own
expertise and perspective
chelsea Byers
Chelsea Byers is a community organizer and social impact strategist. She’s an ongoing contributor to Beautiful Trouble: Toolbox for Revolution where she studies, supports, and showcases campaigning at the intersection of arts and politics within social movements around the globe. As a Westside renter, Chelsea is dedicated to building people power in support of eradicating the root causes driving LA’s homelessness and housing affordability crisis through United Way’s Everyone In campaign. Her life-long activism with the anti-war and anti-sexual violence movements has led her to work with and through media to raise the profile on critical and overlooked issues, create activist training camps and advocacy programs ushering thousands of people into resistance and solutions work, and put her body on the line for justice. Before moving to Los Angeles, Chelsea worked as Director of Arizona's Coconino County Democratic Party through the 2014 mid-term cycle. Chelsea serves on the board of Abundant Housing Los Angeles and is the Vice President of Westside Young Democrats.
ANGELICA RAMOS-ALLEN
Angelica Ramos (she/her) is a political and public policy professional with more than a decade of experience in strategic planning, policy development, coalition building, project management, and program implementation in the public and nonprofit sectors. She currently serves as lead policy staff for Children, Families, and Strategic Initiatives in the Office of Santa Clara County Supervisor Susan Ellenberg. Prior to taking on this work, Angelica managed Ms. Ellenberg’s successful 2018 campaign. She previously worked as a Policy Associate at the Bill Wilson Center, where she assisted with the development, implementation, and communication of the organization’s advocacy agenda for homeless and runaway children and young adults. In addition to her professional pursuits, Angelica serves as President of the National Women’s Political Caucus of Silicon Valley, helping to recruit, train, and elect progressive women to public office. She is also a Library and Education Commissioner for the City of San José, an Executive Board Member of the National Women’s Political Caucus of California, the California Democratic Party, and the Santa Clara County Democratic Party, as well as an Advisory Board Member of the New Leaders Council Silicon Valley chapter.
Angelica holds a Bachelor of Arts, Law & Society from The American University in Washington, D.C. and a Juris Doctorate with a specialization certificate in Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice from Whittier College School of Law. She was most recently a Spring 2021 CORO Women in Leadership Fellow and has been awarded additional past fellowships from the Center for Children's Rights, the California Center for Research on Women and Families, and the Children's Defense Fund of California. Angelica lives in San José with her husband and has committed to honoring their rescue dog, Josie, who crossed the rainbow bridge in March of 2022.
Sabrina Ashjian
Sabrina Ashjian is a Clinical Supervising Attorney at UC Berkeley’s Environmental Law Clinic and the California State Director for the Humane Society of the United States. Ashjian began her career as a public defender. She was also a consumer fraud & environmental crimes prosecutor, pursuing cases against companies for predatory practices and environmental harms. She served as Chairperson of the State of California’s Cannabis Control Appeals Panel after being appointed by Governor Brown.
Ashjian serves on the national non-profit board of National Women’s Political Caucus (NWPC) and statewide non-profit boards of National Women’s Political Caucus of California (NWPC CA), Emerge California, California Lawyers Association Environmental Law Section, and on the advisory board of Fund Her. For multiple organizations she is the Legislative & Public Policy Chair and conducts trainings statewide on the fundamentals of legislation.
Ashjian received a bachelor’s degree from George Washington University, a master’s degree from University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Journalism, and a JD/MBA from Pepperdine University. She is a certified trainer for NWPC. Ashjian is admitted to practice law in California, New York, and in the United States Supreme Court.