Like many Camp Wellstone graduates, Richard Mantz wears several hats.  Currently Richard is Chair, Democratic Party of Fond du Lac County; member of Carpenters Union Local 731; and involved with the Democratic Party of Wisconsin-County.  To help train and prepare him for his active responsibilities Richard attended two Camps; first, "Working on a Campaign: Tools & Tactics for Success" then; "Citizen Activism, Advocacy & Organizing."  Richard loved both camps, however given his day-to-day responsibilities he felt Citizen Activism prepared him for his 3 roles.  Richard said for his jobs it's important for him to "organize around issues, not candidates." In Richard's daily routine he deals mostly with policy and said the activism track gave him the tools to build a sustainable organization which caters to larger set of goals.  Richard said the camp opened his eyes to the perspective that you need to organize a sustained message in order to achieve your goals.  Richard conveyed with a strong sustainable message the organization is able to rally and become more effective.

 

In particular two items struck Richard while attending the training; the importance of leadership development and relationship building. Richard is responsible for training individuals and said the concept of taking people from volunteer to "super-volunteer" helped him learn to identify and foster willing people to a particular cause.  Also, at the camp Richard said role-playing was an important exercise, especially in building relationships.  Richard mentioned building relationships is an active process and takes patience but is immensely important to an organization's long-term goals.