Capacity Building
“We are here to speak for ourselves, to decide our own strategies, and to plan our own futures. We are not here as members of minority groups or as adjuncts to male organizations but as Native women determined to link our peoples in a common cause for self-determination.”
-Haunani-kay trask
programs
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Pacific Organizing Institute
POI is a set of specialized training programs for Pacific Islander leaders to build their skills in taking collective action for indigenous self determination. The 101 Course teaches foundational concepts and practical skills to PI organizing in Oregon. Core concepts of the curriculum include indigenous Oceania, PI self determination, and inequality & power. Participants apply these concepts by developing practical skills on storytelling, issue analysis, and relationship building.
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Ocean Speaks Learning Sessions
Pulling from OPIC’s Ocean Speaks Framework, the Learning Sessions introduce audiences to basic data and information on Pacific Islander conditions in Oregon. These sessions highlight systems of PI erasure and examples of PI community power building, with the goal of offering basic talking points and data that advocates can utilize to support PI self determination.
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Shared Waters Technical Assistance Hub
As part of OPIC’s Membership Benefits, each Member is provided with technical assistance support valued up to $20,000 each Membership Cycle. Through Shared Waters Members collaborate with technical experts, including OPIC staff or vetted professional consultants, to support strategic planning, retreat facilitation, program design or other needs to sustain their organizations.
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Cultivating Self
Cultivating Self is an identity development program available on a limited basis for OPIC Members. Each cohort works to deepen their relationship to the Coalition and fellow Members with a trip to our ancestral homelands. The program integrates the connections between spirituality, ancestral land, and cultural traditions in order to explore the significance between how our work in Oregon ties to our relationships with home.
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Emerging Leaders Coaching Circle
The coaching circle is a leadership development program equipping emerging leaders in OPIC with the skills, network, and confidence to grow into their Pacific Islander community responsibilities effectively and sustainably. Participants engage in facilitated group coaching conversations with expert coaches while building relationships with other Emerging Leaders in the Coalition. Topics include:
Personal Journey Mapping
Energy Management as Cultural Leaders
Embracing the 7 Types of Rest
Navigating Collaborative Ways of Leading
Roles in Social Change
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Executive Director Support Circle
The Support Circle is a space of peer support and shared learning for OPIC Executive Directors, facilitated by professional executive coaches. The circle guides PI Executive Directors to identify their leadership style and roles within their respective PI community and the broader social change movement. These leadership visions aim to honor culture and create space for new, sustainable ways of leading. Together participants create a trusted healing network of Pacific Islander executives that anchor the collective action OPIC takes.