Few people did work calls earlier in the morning than Jane McAlevey. Shortly after taking office as president of United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) in 2014, I was struggling with a group of members who argued that educators did not need training in organizing because teaching was similar to organizing, and, therefore, teachers organized intuitively.

I will not forget Jane’s words to me in one of those early calls, which she reiterated in an email: “Organizing takes discrete skills that people learn — just like people learn discrete skills, and practice them over and over, to become a teacher, a nurse, a carpenter, a top athlete. Some people already have some of the skills — and we need everyone to have the full set. If we are serious about building power, then we train people in organizing, and we adapt as we learn more.”

As usual, Jane followed this by mentioning mentors she learned from — in labor from the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) 1199 New England, and in racial justice community organizing from Anthony Thigpenn of California Calls. She was a learner, teacher, and adapter.