Platform |
Overview
My main goal is to increase the quantity and quality of chapters within NCS by bulking up CIA and Expansion, as well as working closer with individual chapters so that they feel more included and have a stronger sense of community within NorCal.
A lot of people specifically focus on conventions because that's the face of the State, but it's impossible to have successful conventions without having a very strong foundation of chapters within the state. I've been working really hard this year in CIA to improve chapters, and next year I would continue that fight by increasing the size of our CIA and Expansion departments. I'd also like to have the publicity department work with CIA to create guides and resources for Chapter Presidents. In addition, I recognize that for a lot of chapters, or potential chapters, financial concerns are a big obstacle to surmount. This year I've worked with a lot of CPs to find solutions to their financial issues, and in the future I definitely would make scholarship fundraising more integral to being on cabinet. Rather than encouraging everyone to raise $40 I would have each cabinet member write a small speech about why we need money that they then would give to family members and other people in their life. Putting a more personal touch back onto fundraising will lead to far greater fundraising returns. I also want to reform the position of Director of Summer School Promotion, and make them a much larger position on cabinet than they are now, with more responsibilities. Summer programs are the only way JSA comes close to breaking even financially at the end of the year, but they are currently severely overlooked.
All together, I want to put NCS back on the map as a power state like we were in the early 2000's, when we had 800+ people at each convention and over 100 quality chapters in the state.
A lot of people specifically focus on conventions because that's the face of the State, but it's impossible to have successful conventions without having a very strong foundation of chapters within the state. I've been working really hard this year in CIA to improve chapters, and next year I would continue that fight by increasing the size of our CIA and Expansion departments. I'd also like to have the publicity department work with CIA to create guides and resources for Chapter Presidents. In addition, I recognize that for a lot of chapters, or potential chapters, financial concerns are a big obstacle to surmount. This year I've worked with a lot of CPs to find solutions to their financial issues, and in the future I definitely would make scholarship fundraising more integral to being on cabinet. Rather than encouraging everyone to raise $40 I would have each cabinet member write a small speech about why we need money that they then would give to family members and other people in their life. Putting a more personal touch back onto fundraising will lead to far greater fundraising returns. I also want to reform the position of Director of Summer School Promotion, and make them a much larger position on cabinet than they are now, with more responsibilities. Summer programs are the only way JSA comes close to breaking even financially at the end of the year, but they are currently severely overlooked.
All together, I want to put NCS back on the map as a power state like we were in the early 2000's, when we had 800+ people at each convention and over 100 quality chapters in the state.
Expansion + CIA
Integral to a powerful state is the individual chapter. Part of why NorCal JSA saw a massive decline in numbers from 2010 to 2017 was because they got too comfortable with their chapters and stopped supporting them as much as they should have. As a result, when there were changes in leadership on State and chapter levels, many chapters slipped through the cracks. In recent years, an increased focus on expansion and chapter intelligence has stemmed the bleeding and slowly began to reverse the tide. One of my greatest focuses next year will be on chapters, and making sure they are not just getting by, but that they are thriving. Specifically, I want to:
All together, a comprehensive overhaul of the Expansion Department and a bulking up of the CIA department are crucial to bringing this state back to its former glory. These two departments will be working closer than ever before under my administration, including mapping expansion zones, traveling to expansion sites, helping existing chapters publicize and expand in their regions, and developing plans of attack for target growth regions. With a powerful Expansion and CIA working as the backbone of cabinet and the NCS, we will see growth that was rivaled only by previous decades.
- Have more expansion agents. Instead of having one agent per geographical region, I would assign teams of agents to areas in proportions based on the ratio of population:number of chapters. Areas of focus would include the greater Fresno area/southern central valley, Sacramento/Stockton/northern central valley, Redding/Shasta/Chico/Northern I-5 area, San Jose/South Bay, Santa Rosa/Northern 101, and the California coastal/Monterey/SLO/Eureka/Hwy 1 area.
- Have specific and intense focus on the Utah and Nevada areas. I want at least three expansion agents focused on the Carson City/Reno area as well as the Salt Lake City/Ogden/Provo area. These areas are the largest untapped potential the NCS has to offer, and will offer hugely different political views from delegates if we can encourage a sizeable amount to start JSA.
- Intertwine CIA and Expansion. Instead of only briefly communicating when expansion hands over new chapters to CIA, the Expansion Director and CIA Director would work in tandem to discuss how they can target new areas for outreach and draw up aggressive plans of attack for expanding JSA to target areas. In effect, Expansion would be incorporated into the overarching umbrella of Chapter Intelligence for all intents and purposes; they would report to the Director of CIA equally as they would to the Director of Expansion.
- Begin more intense expansion. Instead of reaching out via text to the occasional expansion contact that comes in, the Expansion Director would be responsible for actively establishing meetings with school district officials in target areas and reaching out to administrators and teachers at schools. Road trips to establish new chapters would be highly encouraged.
- Hire more CIA agents. Start the year off with at least eight CIA agents so that each one has no more than 10 chapters to focus on, and bring on new CIA agents on a rolling basis so that the 1:10 ratio never changes. A more intense CIA agent application would be sent out so that no agents are removed during the year. Avoiding shifting chapters around to different agents would foster stronger bonds between the CP and their agent. ‘
- Work to district approve all new chapters ASAP. Right now, only school district approved chapters can attend conventions with a district approved chaperone. This policy change had disastrous effects on Fall State convention attendance and prevented higher attendance at Winter State. CIA’s #1 priority at the beginning of the year will be confirming Chapter President contacts and making sure they are all district approved.
- Create more loopholes for the chaperone rule. I recognize that sometimes it is completely out of the hands of the Chapter President to get a TA - extraordinary circumstances may arise, or they simply have started their chapter too late in the year to get district approved. I will fight aggressively on Council of Governors and advocate to repeal this policy, but barring this I want to work with legal to create some way that JSA can be absolved of liability so that these chapters can attend conventions.
- Have agents bond with their Chapter Presidents. Not only should CIA Agents build close relationships with their Chapter Presidents through their weekly calls, they should get to know them personally at conventions. This means more than just a brief chat at COCP meetings, but rather spending time with them during debate blocks, meals, and nighttime activities.
All together, a comprehensive overhaul of the Expansion Department and a bulking up of the CIA department are crucial to bringing this state back to its former glory. These two departments will be working closer than ever before under my administration, including mapping expansion zones, traveling to expansion sites, helping existing chapters publicize and expand in their regions, and developing plans of attack for target growth regions. With a powerful Expansion and CIA working as the backbone of cabinet and the NCS, we will see growth that was rivaled only by previous decades.
Funding
It is financially impossible to sustain such planned growth with parallel growth in our fundraising efforts and development department. A lot of target areas for chapter growth and expansion are also areas that need financial assistance getting off the ground and attending conventions. This is either because distance means transportation is far more expensive or because the financial situation of the area makes it difficult to afford costs associated with JSA. This past year we’ve been burning through our scholarship fund, and will likely be close to dry by the end of the year. We need to place a higher emphasis on fundraising within cabinet, both on a general level and on a department level. Part of my plan to increase our financial resources includes:
In all, we need to put more attention on a grossly overlooked part of our state. Even without the expansion and growth I hope to see, we still need to greatly increase our fundraising efforts. When you add planned growth onto that, we really see the need for a new push on fundraising efforts. There are so many intelligent, amazing, engaged students throughout the state that simply don’t have the privilege of easy access to funds that I and many others have. It would be a crime if these incredible individuals missed out on the opportunities that we have because we didn’t do our part to help them. If a JSA scholarship positively impacts even just one persons life, then it’s worth all the toil it takes to make that scholarship possible.
- Expanding state fundraising efforts to Chapter Presidents. As it stands, the bulk of our state scholarship fundraising efforts comes from Cabinet members - and often it’s a top 10% of cabinet members doing most of the fundraising. I want to work with Chapter Presidents to teach them the importance of fundraising for state scholarships so that they have the motivation to help us raise more money. By doing this, we can expand our fundraising force from ~45 people to ~120 people, and potentially more if Chapter Presidents in turn recruit their chapter members to fundraise as well.
- Improve our ability to get grants. Grants are difficult to get, which is why we need a more coordinated effort to pursue them. Right now, we have one dedicated member of cabinet whose job it is to secure grants. Rather, I propose two Deputy Development Directors who work together to pitch and secure grants. Being able to work as a team will improve their odds of success.
- Changing the cabinet approach to fundraising. Right now, all cabinet members are encouraged to raise $40 for the scholarship fund, but it's not necessarily enforced or required. For one, I would make it so no member could receive a cabinet quarter zip until they raised as least $50 for the scholarship fund. I would also change the way that fundraising is taught at CabCon - instead of simply showing people how to make fundraising accounts and going over the basics, I would go further into depth as to the crucial aspect of raising money for the scholarship fund and have every cabinet member write a short 6-7 sentence speech about why they want donations that they would deliver to family members. Making it personal is crucial - I’ve had great success in my fundraising efforts by taking a personal approach: writing letters to family members, asking them directly, and linking my personal experiences to the importance of scholarships. People are much more likely to donate if you ask personally rather than just post a link to donate on your Facebook page.
- Have the Development Director and Director of CIA run a workshop for CIA Agents. Agents need to be prepared to help their Chapter Presidents fundraise for their chapters and deal with the financial struggles that may arise, and while they may already be fairly equipped to do so with their general CIA training, it can’t hurt to further expand their knowledge. Having a closer working relationship with the Development Department can only serve to benefit the Agents in their efforts to help Chapter Presidents with finances.
- Do more research on available regional grants. Often times, certain school districts will have state or federal grants available for school programs that benefit the community. A handful of NorCal Chapters currently use grants such as these to finance their convention attendance. Unfortunately, our knowledge of these is limited - I just learned of one recently, but it was too late to use it for Winter State. We need to compile a list of these grants so CIA Agents can cross-check the availability with their chapters while giving financial assistance.
- Be more transparent in our finances. This past year, we’ve been using scholarship funds at a higher rate than we’ve been taking them in. This was a common talking point on cabinet, but it was not quite clear to most people what the exact numbers were - this undermined the urgency that the Big Three were trying to express. It was not until I stumbled across a financial report on accident that it became evident the tight situation we were in. This motivated me to really ramp up my fundraising efforts and secure some donations. If we are more open with cabinet and the whole state about the situation of our scholarship fund, we are more likely to increase the chance that we spur more delegates to either donate money themselves or actively campaign for donations from other people in their lives.
In all, we need to put more attention on a grossly overlooked part of our state. Even without the expansion and growth I hope to see, we still need to greatly increase our fundraising efforts. When you add planned growth onto that, we really see the need for a new push on fundraising efforts. There are so many intelligent, amazing, engaged students throughout the state that simply don’t have the privilege of easy access to funds that I and many others have. It would be a crime if these incredible individuals missed out on the opportunities that we have because we didn’t do our part to help them. If a JSA scholarship positively impacts even just one persons life, then it’s worth all the toil it takes to make that scholarship possible.
Publicity
A separate part of ensuring exceptional access to information is a strong publicity team. JSA is not a household name like Model UN, Speech and Debate, or Mock Trial. We need to expand our publicity department to get the word out about JSA so that we’ve laid the groundwork for our expansion teams. Not only do we want to be actively reaching out to potential new chapters via our expansion team, but we want people to start chapters on their own because they heard about JSA and wanted to get involved. Despite being the largest student run organization in the nation, we are relatively unknown. This perception of JSA needs to change, and JSA needs to get the recognition it deserves. If elected, I would increase awareness about JSA by:
Of course, these changes would add greatly to the workload of the Publicity Department, so I would have them start the year off with more members to balance this out. The department is vital to ensuring that JSA continues to exist not just in the literal sense, but also in the minds of the state. Without an aggressive PR and advertising campaign, we will make the job a lot more difficult for our Expansion team. It is crucial that publicity is able to lay the framework for expanding JSA by increasing knowledge about it throughout the state.
- Increasing propaganda distribution. Publicity should be actively sending out (via email and snail mail) advertisements about JSA to schools, libraries, and community centers so that the staff there are knowledgeable about JSA and could talk to students they may know or mentor about the opportunities that JSA offers.
- Teaming up with community leaders. Community centers are a great untapped resource for JSA. We should be reaching out to, and working with, adults to promote JSA at libraries, bookstores, coffee shops, community centers, and other areas where high school students congregate. In areas where JSA has no presence, advertisements at heavily trafficked businesses could bring awareness to the area about the organization.
- Highlighting the benefits of JSA over other organizations. Other organizations such as Speech and Debate, MUN, Mock Trial, DECA, and Comp Civics have amazing opportunities for students, but they don’t have the same opportunities for student leadership as JSA does. Advertising the fact that JSA is entirely student run and what that actually means will draw in more students that want to expand their leadership resume.
- More emphasis on Public Relations. One of the most valuable but underlooked positions on cabinet is the Director of Public Relations. Often, they are not provided with the structure and support they need to reach out to organizations about JSA. Giving that portion of the Publicity Department more staffing and resources will pay off in the long run as JSA gets more media exposure and in turn more membership.
- Restructuring the Northstar. The Northstar is JSA’s newsletter - but I doubt that many people have heard of it. The Northstar should be released monthly, with more testimonies in it from the average delegate about their JSA experience. Not only should it be a resource for current JSAers to learn about what’s happening in their state, but it should be a tool that gets sent out with other recruitment materials to advertise for JSA. It is a great way for delegate voices to be expressed to the world outside JSA, and give more value to the organization as more people are exposed to the genuine, positive impacts that JSA can have.
- Targeting parents. We need to reach out to or subtly target parents more. The Publicity team should be joining local parent Facebook groups, using apps like Nextdoor, and contacting parent organizations in target areas. Then, they should work to distribute information about the organization to the parents and stress the incredible leadership opportunities that JSA offers. By doing this, we will have tapped into the desire of parents for their kids to participate in intellectual and productive extracurriculars. Every parent knows about MUN or Speech and Debate, so we should make sure they know about JSA and can pass information along to their kids.
- Work with CP’s to advertise their chapter. Publicity should produce at least one guide a month to distribute to Chapter Presidents that explains one aspect of how they can expand their chapter. Whether that means a guide on how to get businesses to work with you to advertise at their store, or a guide on reaching out to parent organizations about JSA, there should be more concrete resources for how to publicize, other than just having to rely on their CIA Agent for help and ideas.
- More Summer School/Program promotion. Right now, most delegates exposure to Summer Programs is limited to a brief speech during opening or closing session at conventions. Summer Programs are the only way JSAF breaks even, so we need to do more to promote these amazing experiences. Publicity and the Director of Summer School Promotion should distribute Summer School pamphlets and flyers to libraries, community centers, and schools around the State.
Of course, these changes would add greatly to the workload of the Publicity Department, so I would have them start the year off with more members to balance this out. The department is vital to ensuring that JSA continues to exist not just in the literal sense, but also in the minds of the state. Without an aggressive PR and advertising campaign, we will make the job a lot more difficult for our Expansion team. It is crucial that publicity is able to lay the framework for expanding JSA by increasing knowledge about it throughout the state.
More points
Diversity
Ensuring a diverse and inclusive state is a top priority of mine. That’s why I want to ensure equal access to conventions and Summer Programs for all delegates, regardless of socioeconomic background. By focusing expansion efforts on areas in the Central Valley/metropolitan hubs in the Bay Area while simultaneously increasing fundraising efforts, I hope to see an increase of POC delegates and diverse opinions. I also want to work with the Activism Department to make part of their duties ensuring open, respectful, and inclusive dialogue at JSA events. In addition, I want to make certain that cabinet has members from all backgrounds, so that the decision making body of the NCS represents delegates of all types and incorporates everyones opinions and insights. Specifically, CIA and the Debate Department should have more Central Valley representation so that CIA can handle issues specific to the CVR and Debate can represent CVR topics and issues at conventions.
Cabinet
My platform requires a large and powerful cabinet in order to properly execute my goals. I want to create more cabinet opportunities for new JSAers and provide more options for people to get involved in the NCS. For me, cabinet has been an amazing experience and I want to work to give every JSAer the tools they need to get involved and experience what I have. I also want to encourage smaller chapters to get more involved in cabinet, so that it’s not just a handful of large legacy chapters who control the decision making of the state. To do so, CIA and Regional Officials will work extensively at the end of the year to make sure everyone is aware of cabinet and what it does. To a lot of JSAers, cabinet may seem like an elite, mysterious group. I want to break the stigma that Cabinet is an elite club, and publicize it more at conventions so people have a better idea of what it does. Adding onto that, I would get rid of Cabinet ribbons at conventions, since all they do is contribute to the air of elitism that isolates delegates.
Conventions
Conventions are the highlight of the year for a lot of delegates, and are often the only time they really get exposed to JSA on a large scale. The Convention Department has been doing a great job this year, and aside from a few issues that were out of their control, conventions have been going very smoothly. However, I would make a few changes to conventions in order to further realize the goals I have for the state. Firstly, I would incorporate more foreign language debates in order to foster more diverse discussions and include more members of JSA. Second, I would revamp the party system at Winter State to shift back to more specific and less ambiguous ideologies. Thirdly, I would like to introduce a debate tournament at Spring State. For example, anyone who won Best Speaker at a previous convention would be able to sign up for a good natured debate tournament that would be judged by Teacher Advisors. This would give delegates an opportunity to compete lightheartedly with others, without changing the overall non-competitive nature of JSA. Finally, I’d create an independent board for counting Best Speaker ballots that is overseen by the Director of Debate. It would be made up of delegates from each region, with no one from the same chapter. All results would be entered into a spreadsheet, which would then be compiled at the end of the convention and released on the JSApp for full Best Speaker voting transparency. These are just a handful of changes I’d like to try out, and I’m always open to hearing from delegates about what they would like to see at conventions. If there’s something that you think should be addressed but isn’t in my platform, let me know in the form below! I’d love to hear everyone's opinions.
Ensuring a diverse and inclusive state is a top priority of mine. That’s why I want to ensure equal access to conventions and Summer Programs for all delegates, regardless of socioeconomic background. By focusing expansion efforts on areas in the Central Valley/metropolitan hubs in the Bay Area while simultaneously increasing fundraising efforts, I hope to see an increase of POC delegates and diverse opinions. I also want to work with the Activism Department to make part of their duties ensuring open, respectful, and inclusive dialogue at JSA events. In addition, I want to make certain that cabinet has members from all backgrounds, so that the decision making body of the NCS represents delegates of all types and incorporates everyones opinions and insights. Specifically, CIA and the Debate Department should have more Central Valley representation so that CIA can handle issues specific to the CVR and Debate can represent CVR topics and issues at conventions.
Cabinet
My platform requires a large and powerful cabinet in order to properly execute my goals. I want to create more cabinet opportunities for new JSAers and provide more options for people to get involved in the NCS. For me, cabinet has been an amazing experience and I want to work to give every JSAer the tools they need to get involved and experience what I have. I also want to encourage smaller chapters to get more involved in cabinet, so that it’s not just a handful of large legacy chapters who control the decision making of the state. To do so, CIA and Regional Officials will work extensively at the end of the year to make sure everyone is aware of cabinet and what it does. To a lot of JSAers, cabinet may seem like an elite, mysterious group. I want to break the stigma that Cabinet is an elite club, and publicize it more at conventions so people have a better idea of what it does. Adding onto that, I would get rid of Cabinet ribbons at conventions, since all they do is contribute to the air of elitism that isolates delegates.
Conventions
Conventions are the highlight of the year for a lot of delegates, and are often the only time they really get exposed to JSA on a large scale. The Convention Department has been doing a great job this year, and aside from a few issues that were out of their control, conventions have been going very smoothly. However, I would make a few changes to conventions in order to further realize the goals I have for the state. Firstly, I would incorporate more foreign language debates in order to foster more diverse discussions and include more members of JSA. Second, I would revamp the party system at Winter State to shift back to more specific and less ambiguous ideologies. Thirdly, I would like to introduce a debate tournament at Spring State. For example, anyone who won Best Speaker at a previous convention would be able to sign up for a good natured debate tournament that would be judged by Teacher Advisors. This would give delegates an opportunity to compete lightheartedly with others, without changing the overall non-competitive nature of JSA. Finally, I’d create an independent board for counting Best Speaker ballots that is overseen by the Director of Debate. It would be made up of delegates from each region, with no one from the same chapter. All results would be entered into a spreadsheet, which would then be compiled at the end of the convention and released on the JSApp for full Best Speaker voting transparency. These are just a handful of changes I’d like to try out, and I’m always open to hearing from delegates about what they would like to see at conventions. If there’s something that you think should be addressed but isn’t in my platform, let me know in the form below! I’d love to hear everyone's opinions.