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Lunch and Learn - Pat McFarland

Keisha Robinson grew up on the north side of Milwaukee and like many people in her community, she experienced hardships like poverty and discrimination while job searching. She eventually worked her way up to her current role as Program Director at Black Leaders Organizing for Communities (BLOC) where she uses her personal experiences to help the people in her neighborhood get involved in the political process. The team at BLOC believes that change needs to happen from within the community because sharing experiences creates a deeper level of trust.

Robinson’s perspective changed on campaigning.. Early on in her role, she came up with the Ambassador Program which teaches residents about the political process so that they can go out into their communities to teach others the importance of participating. BLOC specifically focuses on the North Side of Milwaukee and the 53206 zip code because of its historically low voter turnout. In the program, these ambassadors learn about things like election cycles, general elections versus primaries, the candidates and how to register to vote. They then use that new education when they knock on doors and make phone calls. They encourage their communities to vote, but more importantly, they empower them with knowledge so that residents can make their own informed decisions.

BLOC and their ambassadors knock on doors and reach out year-round, not just around election time. Because these leaders are from the neighborhood, they know that the only way to gain trust is by continuously showing up and listening to what the people have to say. The original 15 or so ambassadors that BLOC hired are now lead ambassadors who are training 50 new ambassadors from the community. “We employ from the community,” says Robinson. “I see the visions and I see how we can include the community.”