Examples of Leadership in Advocacy

Leadership

Community organizing, changing public policy, and organizing nonunion workers all takes extensive teamwork. I want to emphasize that the two examples of my advocacy leadership cited below was the result of a collaborative team effort. I could not have achieved anything worthwhile in life without the help and support of my fellow advocates.

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has. Margaret Mead

Case Study

Organizing Asbestos abatement work in Alaska to be performed by members of Laborers Local 341

In the early 1980s, in Anchorage, Alaska, it was discovered that a majority of Elementary, Middle and High Schools had been built using sprayed on Asbestos as a fire retardant, and due to Alaska being a seismically active state, (earthquakes causing cracks which led to releases of Asbestos fibers in the schools) a determination was made that the Asbestos needed to be removed.

The cost of this enormous undertaking was estimated at the time to be over $50 million dollars, which presented an opportunity to make sure this work was done safely by highly trained union workers.

Working with the training school of Laborers Local 341, a rigorous 40 hour training program was created and implemented, producing workers who upon completion of the class became certified Asbestos abatement professionals, capable of safely removing asbestos from the workplace, protecting the students, the environment, and the workers.

With this training program in place, we began lobbying the Alaska State Legislature to pass legislation requiring Asbestos abatement work in Alaska be performed by workers who had attended a 40 hour certification class, with the specifications for the training meeting requirements used by other states, which happened to match closely the specifications of the training put in place by Laborers Local 341 at their training school.

Passage of the Asbestos Abatement Training Certification legislation by the Alaska State Legislature was by no means an easy feat, it was the result of a powerful coalition composed of educators, union contractors, and environmental activists, and in fact was one of the earliest examples in Alaska of the environmental community working closely with the organized labor community, something that is often called a Blue-Green Coalition, that is often formally recognized by the AFL-CIO.

I was extremely proud to be part of this team and to help implement the successful coalition building required for passage of the legislation.

Case Study

Changing the way that Sexual Assault was dealt with in Anchorage

The work resulted in compassion and support for the sexual assault survivors, gathering better forensic evidence, and increasing the rate of convictions for sexual assault, an extremely difficult crime to prosecute.

During my tenure as President of the Board of Directors of Alaska’s largest rape crisis center, Standing Together Against Rape, (S.T.A.R.), I was fortunate to have recruited a powerful Board of Directors, composed of community leaders in the women’s movement, medicine, law enforcement, elected officials, and representatives from the Alaska Native community.

These leaders, combined with a staff of insightful, dedicated professionals in the field of sexual assault advocacy worked together to change the way that sexual assault was dealt with in the state of Alaska.

Prior to our efforts, when a person was sexually assaulted, they often ended up in the emergency room, bloodied, disheveled, and traumatized, and had to wait in a public setting while the emergency room staff tended to gunshot victims, people who had been in car accidents, numerous other emergencies that were deemed to have a higher priority than rape victims.

After often waiting for hours, they were seen by an admitting nurse, who may or may not have been trained in gathering forensic evidence, a doctor who often was similarly untrained, then a police officer, perhaps then someone from the District Attorney’s Office. The rape survivor was often there by themselves with no one to comfort them.

The traumatized survivor often had to tell their story again and again to four or five people, having to relive the trauma over and over again. Their clothes were taken from them, and these victims who had done nothing to deserve being sexually assaulted were incredibly traumatized by the process of seeking help.

The Board and staff at STAR came up with the concept of a hospital-based Sexual Assault Response Team, (SART) and have this team located in a private, separate area in the hospital, the SART Center.

In the SART Center, a sexual assault survivor was met by a team of highly trained, compassionate professionals, and an advocate from STAR, who was there to comfort and advocate for the sexual assault survivor and inform him or her of their rights, services that were available, and a brand-new set of comfortable undergarments and workout gear (unisex sweat pants and tops in all sizes).

So instead of having to relive the trauma multiple times, a sensitive group interview was conducted, the forensic evidence was gathered by highly trained nurses and doctors, and the survivor was then allowed to bathe and be safely escorted home, if the individuals were homeless, they were taken to an appropriate shelter.

The Anchorage Police Department officers doing the investigation and helping gather evidence as part of the SART team were part of a specialized sexual assault unit, created as part of the Sexual Assault Response Team approach. These were highly trained officers, empathetic and compassionate while professionally discharging their duties.

The result of this radical new approach to dealing with sexual assault in Alaska (then as now leads the nation in sexual assault per capita, a disgraceful distinction), was that better evidence was gathered, survivors were treated with compassion, and the conviction rate of rapists increased. None of this happened overnight, or was done inexpensively, it required cooperation from professionals in law enforcement, elected officials, medical providers, and the men and women on my team from STAR, the driving force behind this effort.

I consider the leadership role that I was lucky to have had in this effort to be one of my most proudest achievements.

Testimonial

Below is a letter written by the former Executive Director of STAR, Trish Gentle, who I hired to be the Executive Director of STAR:

I met Mr. Bobrick in 1992 when I became the Program Director for Standing Together Against Rape (STAR). In 1994 I became the Executive Director of STAR and remained in this position until 1999, I then moved to Juneau to accept the position of Executive Director for the Council on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault. I am currently residing in Washington, DC, where I am the consultant on national mentoring project focused on sexual assault and domestic violence programs. During my tenure at STAR Mr. Bobrick was the Board Chair and therefore my direct Supervisor, contact and support. We worked hand in hand to stabilize and expand the important work of the rape crisis center. Mr. Bobrick was true leader for STAR and brought many qualified and dedicated community members to serve on the Board and to support the work of STAR. He demonstrated his commitment to the work and serving the all needs of victims of rape through his devotion of time, talent and resources.

Just one example of his diligence was the establishment of Alaska’s first Sexual Assault Response Team, (SART) This program was created to improve the criminal justice response to sexual assault and ensure sensitivity to the needs of rape victims. Its establishment would not have possible without the continued leadership of Mr. Bobrick.

In my experience he was always there for those in need, I only had to make a request for his assistance and he would immediately step up to help. All of this hard work was unpaid and often unrecognized and was simply a contribution made from the heart on behalf of those less fortunate.

I know him to be a tireless involved and dedicated citizen of Anchorage and Alaska as a whole….

Trish Gentle, Nov 4, 2007