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We offer regular, free, public, and/or custom advocacy training for individuals and organizations interested in influencing the state legislative process in Illinois. Our training begins with a set of basics, including information about how the process works and how to engage in the process in a constructive way. We also offer more in-depth training for seasoned advocates who are looking to be more effective working in partnerships or dealing with tough opposition. While our focus is on criminal justice reform, the training can be useful in other issue areas.
To protect our staff and advocates from unnecessary exposure to COVID-19, we are now offering online training sessions. See below for public sessions in the coming weeks. If you would like custom training for your organization or network, please contact Jobi Cates at jcates@restorejustice.org.
The Illinois General Assembly starts back up this month, but traditional advocacy and lobbying will be impossible given the constraints forced upon us by COVID-19.
Join Restore Justice to review the basics of how bills become law in Illinois, and to learn new techniques for engaging the legislative process and influencing legislation in this hyper-digital world.
The training is open to individuals and organizations interested in advancing change in our state through the legislative process in Springfield. While our focus is on criminal legal reform, we try to make our training useful for any issue.
REGISTER“Thank you again for hosting the Advocacy Camp last week! It was such perfect timing for me as I started my new role at the [gov. criminal justice policy org] only a week earlier and needed a refresher course. I so much appreciate your thoughtful responses to the questions I’d been thinking about. You, Marshan, and Julie are excellent facilitators and I’d love to take part in any other trainings you may have in the future.” – young criminal justice advocate, new to role at government organization
“I think I am still on a cloud after your teaching last Saturday! What a gift you were to our group. … We all learned so much, and you just have a great way of sharing your heart on a complicated topic!” – leader of prison ministry in suburban church
“Thank you! I learned so much. I have a nephew in IDOC facing a life sentence, this was his first offense.” – public health outreach worker
“I was going to write you a letter telling you how good your panel-hosting and presentation were at the recent event at Lewis University, but then I went to Restore Justice’s website and saw something coming up soon. I’m free if you want me to attend [again]. I loved it!” – state senator
“I’ve done this training before but I keep coming because I learn something new every time.” – former juvenile lifer
“I’m glad I came because as a gun violence advocate, I need to understand how this works and how to talk about things in a way that does not hurt other people.” – parent of gun violence victim
Restore Justice offers training, free of cost, to colleague organizations seeking to engage their own staff, board, participants, or constituents in the legislative process in Illinois. Please contact Jobi Cates at jcates@restorejustice.org to schedule a training.
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