Exciting new opportunity to build MAPE's political infrastructure

MAPE’s Political Council has launched a pilot program to create local officer positions to help further the political and legislative work at MAPE. The new Community Engagement Officers will help build a local community engagement team and educate members about MAPE’s legislative priorities and platform.

Community Engagement Officers will serve as the point persons for MAPE’s political and legislative work at the local level. They’ll also recruit and train members to effectively participate in Lobby Day at the Capitol.

When the Political Council was formed in 2019, Council member Nicole Juan held a series of town hall conversations at the local level to hear about members’ thoughts on political work. One consistent theme included a desire to have consistent updates and dialogue at the local level, and to have a point person that can help anchor MAPE’s political work within locals.

“The Political Council is the only major statewide body within MAPE that does not have a local/regional counterpart; we thought that establishing an officer position at the local level could help bridge our work and further the Political Council’s aim of creating and maintaining a statewide political infrastructure, defeating toxic narratives around politics and state service and building MAPE’s political power and competence,” Juan said.

Political Council Chair John Ferrara added, “We want to finish some of the things we started at the Legislature this year. Some members are interested in climate change, others may be interested in housing or health care. These issues may not directly impact our contract, but housing costs and health care costs all affect your wallet. There is more to getting a good contract than getting a good COLA.”

Members will also have the opportunity to become more involved on campaigns for labor-friendly candidates endorsed by MAPE’s Political Action Committee.  

If you’re interested in learning more about becoming a Community Engagement Officer, contact the Political Council at action@mape.org. Please include your name, your local, a personal email address, and a phone number at which you can be reached.

There will be a Community Officer Training on Dec. 8. After the pilot phase, Community Engagement Officers will be elected to two-year terms in odd numbered years​.