Moving from Research to Campaign

So you have finished your profile, have a robust analysis of an industry or company and recommendations for how to move forward with a campaign. Now what? Too often, as strategic researchers in labor, we give a presentation to staff and leadership on our findings, then crickets. From your position as a researcher in the organization, how do you get the decision makers to understand and commit resources to actually build a campaign? In this workshop, we will dig into that question, talk about common hurdles and challenges, and tools and strategies to overcome them.

Bianca Agustin is the co-executive director of United For Respect. Bianca has nearly 20 years of experience advancing strategic corporate social responsibility campaigns and facilitating popular education training and workshops for frontline workers and community activists. She is the former Research Director of SEIU Local 32BJ, the largest property services local in the United States, where she managed a team of campaign researchers who developed and executed research-based strategies in support of low-wage worker organizing campaigns in the janitorial, security, residential, and airport sectors. Bianca lives in Albuquerque, NM, and devotes a substantial amount of her spare time to gardening and hiking with her pup, Mora. You can reach Bianca at Bianca@United4Respect.org.

Sara Myklebust is the Bargaining for the Common Good (BCG) Research Director at Georgetown University’s Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor (KI). She focuses on building strategic research and campaigning capacity for common good work at local unions and community organizations, as well as researching real estate. Previously, she worked for the Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers (BAC) as their Deputy Director for Research and Education and as a Senior Lead Researcher in the Organizing Department of the AFL CIO. Sara is originally from Tucson, Arizona and has worked with the Ironworkers as a strategic researcher organizing immigrant rebar workers across the Southwest. She has experience in legislative campaigns, advocacy work and community organizing, and extensive knowledge of municipal planning and procurement processes. She earned a Master’s Degree in Public Affairs from the University of Texas at Austin, where she focused on immigration policy. She loves backpacking with her partner Noah and discovering new recipes to cook and bake for her family and friends. You can reach Sara at sara.myklebust@georgetown.edu