The Young Democrats of America International Officers are calling for participants for our virtual leadership workshops! Join other young activists in sharpening your soft skills through expert input and hands-on practice.Â
These workshops are a place for dialogue, connection, and mutual learning. Please choose a topic you feel comfortable actively engaging in!
Youth Activism and Social Media: The Case of Kenya
Sept. 21, 11am CT
Guest speakers: Davis Oluoch and Janet Musotsi
Co-hosted by the Africa Liberal Youth for Freedom, this workshop will explore the power of social media and the unique opportunities for activism that it presents. Earlier this year, youth-led social media backlash against Kenyan lawmakers led to the government dropping a tax bill and awakened a generation, ready to mobilize for protest. Participants will hear from leaders of that movement and discuss how social media has been used in the past, audience engagement, message crafting, and effective outreach.
Speaker bios: Davis Oluoch is the Chairperson of the ODM New Generation, the youth wing of the party, and Secretary General of the Inter-Parties Youth Forum (IPYF). Davis is also a youth activist who believes in liberalism and Democratic rights of all mankind. He is currently 26 years old and a graduate of Bachelors of Commerce - Entrepreneurship. Janet Musotsi is the Secretary General of the ODM New Generation. Janet is also an assistant lecturer of Biochemistry at the Technical University of Kenya. She is 28 years old and passionate about governance and youth inclusion in decision- making processes.
Public Speaking: Connecting Through Joke Writing
Sept. 21, 1pm CT
Instructor: Comedian Audrey Jonas
In this fun, fast-paced workshop, participants will gain an understanding of the writing process of stand-up comedians and how to write jokes from a premise. After a few creative writing exercises, participants will try their hand at stand-up comedy and come away with tools to communicate ideas through non-linear thinking and convey humor and creativity in their writing. By gaining an understanding of how stand up comedians craft jokes in their sets, writers and communicators can feel more confident editing themselves or others to inflect humor, relatability, and creativity.
Speaker bio: Audrey Jonas is a stand-up comedian and stand-up instructor. She has been doing stand up in the Midwest since 2014. She joined the Second City Training Center in 2017 as a member of the Faculty, where she taught Levels 1 and 2 of stand up comedy. Audrey teaches Fem Com, Chicago's only all-female stand-up comedy class and the Wedding Toast Warm Up, where she teaches people how to write the perfect wedding toast. Audrey has a Masters of Science in Communication from Northwestern University, and has a day job that she loves, directing communications for a bureau of the local government in Chicago.
After signing up for a workshop, you will be emailed the Zoom link.
