Two years ago, the Toledo Federation of Teachers launched a new class designed to give younger members the skills and knowledge necessary to make them the union leaders of tomorrow. Some of the biggest lessons learned from that class, however, were reserved for class instructor Dal Lawrence, the former TFT president whose union leadership experience extends back to the days of former AFT president Albert Shanker.

To enlist new leaders and activists “you have to be ready to delegate real power and authority,” explains Lawrence. And that was the tone adopted from the opening in his “Future Leadership in TFT” class, which focused not on traditional things like labor history, but on a simple problem-solving exercise: Next fall, you’re going to be president of the local—what do you plan to do?

The TFT contract is long on delegating real power to elected building representatives and building-level committees, Lawrence stresses. Delegating authority to this level of the union has definitely put the wind at TFT’s back when it comes to identifying new leaders. “These races are almost always very competitive,” Lawrence says. “There is real power at the building level.”

That aspect was a big draw for Kevin Dalton, the building rep  at Birmingham Elementary. Outreach to younger leaders “has to be about more than just menial tasks,” he says. “Every year, we get a whole handful of people who want to run” for building-level union posts. That’s not surprising, he says, because they know they will be weighing in on matters ranging from the curriculum to school dress standards.

AFT state federations and locals are implementing new member programs, all geared toward educating, engaging and activating the newcomers.

“I want [new members] to understand that 35 years ago there was some question about maternity leave, that adoption leave isn’t given—it’s negotiated—and that teachers aren’t guaranteed participation in discussions about curriculum and text books,” says Bill Pasztor, president of the Oregon City (Ohio) Federation of Teachers. To that end, the local offers a program called “The Future, the Union and You.”

After studying the personalities and values of the post-baby boom generation, Education Minnesota, a merged AFT-NEA state federation, changed its approach to member outreach. The union launched MVP—the Membership Vitality Program. The focus is on creating “a culture of welcome” that transforms members into activists by engaging them in activities based on their interests, says Jim Petrie, manager of field operations.

Providing new members with assistance—even before school starts—is one pillar of New York State United Teachers’ New Member Program, according to Frank Ciarlo, new member projects’ coordinator. “In the past, people have always gone to someone with experience to help them learn the ropes,” says Ciarlo. Now, it’s the veterans reaching out to the new members.