Project vision:

• To expand the participation of injured and disabled workers in local leadership, thereby increasing the effectiveness of our organizations.
• To expand our organizational capacity through building support and partnerships.

This project built on our experiences with the Speakers Bureau Project. One issue arose repeatedly as we talked with people during our Speakers Bureau training sessions, as well as with our member organizations across the country: the lack of support and involvement from local membership in injured workers groups. Leadership in many of our local groups is often in the hands of only a few people, often ending in burnout. As a result, critical skills and knowledge are not passed on to other members in local injured workers groups. This project has sought to address these issues by building our capacity to include more members, by improving the skills of present and future leaders, and by building partnerships in local communities. By training some of our present leadership as trainers, our leaders are now able to effectively build the skills of newer members. One of the primary activities of this project was to hold three "Train the Trainer" sessions. During the spring of 1999, these sessions were held in Edmonton, Alberta; Moncton, New Brunswick; and Montréal, Québec. We developed workshops on a number of topics that our new trainers can now deliver in their local areas. One workshop in development, as a partnership with the Canadian Labour Congress, is to train group leaders and union reps to use the video and workbook, "Together We Can Win" to build support for local groups. Workshop and Training packages that these new trainers can deliver include:

• Peer helper training.
• Leadership development.
• Board development.
• Survivors Forum.

Participants of our recent "Train the Trainer" sessions may be available to share the knowledge that they have acquired from their experiences.To find out who may be available to facilitate (or assist you in facilitating) workshops in your area, please contact us.