Missy DodgeEducate · Empower · Advocate
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Educate · Empower · Advocate

The Advocate

Showing up for public education and the people whose voices deserve to be heard.

Purposeful projects ✦

Ideas are lovely.
Doing something with them? Even better.

These projects are where creativity meets follow-through. Different missions, same habit: spot a need, build a plan, bring people together, and get to work.

Grant development · educator retention
$18,750

Investing in New Educators

Personally secured an NEA grant in spring 2026 for a planned 2026–27 retreat supporting non-tenured educators, professional connection, and retention.

Milestone: funding secured. Retreat implementation is forthcoming.
Identity · communications · engagement

Giving Our Union a Little More Personality

Led TEA logo redesign work and helped expand the online merchandise shop with apparel and accessories that members would actually want to wear.

The big idea: a sense of belonging should be visible.
Educational program development

Finding Their Voices Through Forensics

Founded a middle-school forensics program that helped students develop public speaking confidence and contributed to the growth of four additional programs.

Why it matters: give people a stage and watch what happens.
Campaign communications · design

Words, Graphics & a Little Strategic Spark

Designed original digital advertisements and social media posts in the 2024 Online Truth Advocate program so other members could share campaign messages.

My philosophy: how you deliver a message matters.
Campaign operations · Oakland County · 2026

Mighty Oaks: Making Organizing Happen

Contributed to MEA Battleground Michigan’s Oakland County organizing efforts through member outreach, campaign flyer updates, and coordination for planned community mobilization events. The work involved the unglamorous but essential details: communication, materials, follow-up, and helping people get involved.

Behind the scenes: Meeting notes document flyer updates and plans for the Commerce organizing event. No election outcome or personal impact is claimed.
Explore the actual editions

Evidence over emotion.
Context over headlines.

Browse original graphics from Michigan Education Explained. Select any issue to view the full-size publication. This is a portfolio archive, not a live fact-check of earlier statistics or legislation.

A Little More Missy… ✷

Education policy is complicated. That doesn't mean understanding it should require a law degree, a decoder ring, and three cups of coffee.

Service & community care

Beyond the job title.
Still showing up.

For me, service isn't a footnote. It's another way to turn compassion into action—and to stand behind the causes and communities I care about.

♡

Make-A-Wish Michigan

Volunteer Wish Granter, supporting meaningful experiences for children and families.

✦

Animal Rescue Leadership

Served concurrently as Midwest Regional Coordinator and national board member for Chihuahua Rescue and Transport (2018–2019), supporting operations, fundraising, volunteers, and adoption. Additional animal welfare service includes fostering, transport, and fundraising or event support with other rescue organizations, including Romeo Rabbit Rescue.

✚

American Red Cross

Regular platelet donor. Some acts of service happen quietly—and still matter.

The through line? Don’t just talk the talk. Walk the walk. Live the life.
References with real working relationships.

Professional recommendations are available on request. Publicly attributed excerpts will be added after approval from the people who wrote them.

Trusted to communicate · selective highlights

More than a seat
at the table.

I've been invited to participate in local, statewide, and national education conversations—in person, in print, and through campaign communications.

Historical public education campaign materials featuring Missy
01 / National

NEA public communications

Selected for photography and short video clips intended for NEA's 2026 national get-out-the-vote campaign. Individual placements and distribution remain to be confirmed.

02 / Statewide

MEA-endorsed candidate communications

Invited to be featured in MEA-supported communications during the 2026 Michigan attorney general primary. The endorsement was for a candidate who did not win the primary.

03 / In print

MESSA newsletter features

Featured twice in member-oriented print stories, around the 2025 holiday season and October 2026. Sensitive personal and family health details are intentionally omitted.

04 / At the mic

Educator and union forums

Participated in NEA Representative Assembly Days of Learning and MEA conferences, with a focus on member leadership, organizing, and effective communication.

Campaigns & collective action

Advocacy, in real life.

Campaign graphics and events tell different parts of the same story: I contribute to the messaging, the member engagement, and the work of organizing people around public education. These are examples from past campaigns, not current endorsements or election information.

Missy and fellow volunteers at an NEA campaign table
Connecting with fellow delegates and members at an NEA campaign event.
Three people in sunglasses at a Yes for Oakland Kids campaign event
Showing up for the Yes for Oakland Kids campaign.
Union campaign volunteers gathered together in Denver
Organizing alongside fellow union activists at a national gathering.
Historical Yes for Oakland Kids campaign graphic
Historical campaign design: Yes for Oakland Kids.

Published campaigns and organizing

Photographs and publicly distributed campaign materials from my participation in education-focused advocacy and organizing. The materials document past campaign involvement.

Missy with public education advocates at an Oakland County enhancement millage campaign gathering
NEA early-voting campaign mailer featuring Missy Dodge; recipient address removed
Missy holding an education-focused Karen McDonald campaign mailer

Featured in MESSA DiscoverYou

My writing and member perspectives have appeared in MESSA publications, including a family traditions story and a member benefits testimonial.

Published MESSA DiscoverYou magazine page featuring Missy Dodge’s Generations bonded by holiday baking story

Generations bonded by holiday baking

A personal reflection on family, baking traditions, and the connections passed between generations, published in MESSA DiscoverYou.

Member perspective: “You Need Peace of Mind.” My separate MESSA contribution is documented here without publishing my child’s medical history. The original page can be added with the level of detail I choose to share publicly.