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“Being a fellow absolutely changed the trajectory of my life. I was a teacher for 18 years. If it wasn’t for this experience, I’d still be teaching. Two parts I’d say were extremely valuable. One, the day-in and day-out with your mentor. And two, the out-of-state organizing training. You could be going to a strike in Massachusetts or a building blitz in Georgia. I worked on Sen. Raphael Warnock’s campaign, phone banking, knocking on doors, and having one-on-one conversations. It was a great experience!”

“In 2021, when my baby graduated from high school, I said I’m graduating too! I actually applied to be an administrator. … Then one of my interviewers called me back and said, ‘You had a great interview, but you have to get out of that teacher mindset.’ They want to see an anti-teacher mindset! Then my local president sends me this email [about NOFA]. I was clicking to apply as soon I read it! The opportunity I had to visit other places, to do this practice that didn’t feel like practice. … It shifted my mindset from teacher, and everything else I put behind my name, to organizer and advocate.”

“NOFA gave me great skills for organizing, for building power and membership. As a [UniServ director], I’m not only dealing with contracts and grievances and all that, I’m organizing members around issues, having one-on-one conversations, and identifying what’s good, what’s bad, what’s ugly. I learned those explicit skills from NOFA.”