Introducing the New Leadership Fund

[Ian David]

from Jass Stewart <[email protected]> \
date Dec 19, 2006 6:26 AM
subject Introducing the New Leadership Fund

A MESSAGE FROM JASS STEWART

I am very proud to publicly introduce the New Leadership Fund (NLF), a cross-partisan community action committee created to support highly qualified leaders at all levels of government through training, funding, and media access. Our core belief is that the community’s voice should and can be the community’s governance.
http://www.newleadershipfund.org/

In just eleven short months, NLF has proved itself as a force for change in Brockton. What began as a small, committed group of citizens willing to act on their concerns to make Brockton politics more inclusive, transparent, and accountable has grown into an organization that endorsed and, more importantly, became deeply involved in helping to mount the unprecedented grassroots campaign that led to Deval Patrick’s decisive victory in the Massachusetts governor’s race.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/politics/candidates/articles/2006/11/08/its_patrick_in_a_romp/

While we are focused on change at the local level, we never underestimated the fact that leadership at the state level would greatly impact life here in Brockton.

NLF’s key role in supporting Deval Patrick’s historic win included:

1.
Getting NLF members elected for the first time (representing 15 percent of the Brockton delegation) as delegates to the State Democratic Convention where Deval Patrick became the party’s endorsed candidate.
2.
Leading the Deval Patrick canvassing campaign in Brockton, knocking on the doors of 1,072 voters.
3.
Partnering with the Coalition for Social Justice and the Democratic City Committee to mount an aggressive phone bank campaign, making calls to 3,031 voters in Brockton.
4.
Directly raising $2,135 for the Deval Patrick campaign through individual solicitations.
5.
Serving as the lead donor and partnering with MIRA, BrocktonVote, Community Connections of Brockton, and numerous community activists to launch a coordinated “vote today” visibility campaign for the 2006 election -- a first for Brockton.

Deval Patrick’s victory shows us that voters are looking for leadership with candor, charisma, principles, and openness. We all know these leaders are out there -- in our churches, our schools, our neighborhoods. At the New Leadership Fund, our motto is simple: Give us one year, and we will give the right individual all the training, tools, and resources needed to transform from a concerned citizen into a new political leader in Brockton.

Please visit our newly launched Web site. Learn more about how we supported Deval Patrick for governor -- the model we plan to refine and use over and over again to support new leadership in Brockton and beyond.

There’s no better time for new leadership than now. Help us find that active citizen who is ready to become the political leader Brockton has been looking for!
http://www.newleadershipfund.org/apply.htm

With regards,

Jass Stewart
Founder, The New Leadership Fund
http://www.newleadershipfund.org/


PS: I also want to give sincere thanks to Thomas Schumacher of New York and Kosmo Kalliarekos of Boston for their very generous seed funding to help NLF get off the ground.

The Jass Stewart Committee | 14 Clyde Street | Brockton, MA 02301 | www.JassStewart.com | 508 345 5518 | [email protected]