CP May Workshop: 2020 Launch Recap
We had a terrific positive workshop this past Saturday. We want to highlight items 3, 4, and 5 as they are the heartbeats of how we go forward over the next 18 months. Please become familiar with our organizational website, cpnow.org. It is the place for information on our WA state civic engagement, our across-the-country state teams, and our educational events. We will be updating this site regularly!
Democracy is a verb. It requires action. We have a lot to do. Start now with the fieldwork options on tap, noted in Session 4 below.
Rather watch a recap than read one? Check out the video below.
We had a plan for an audio recording of the workshop. It didn't work out. So you're getting this super awesome video instead. Enjoy.
RECAP OF 5-18-2019 WORKSHOP
Kickoff for 2019-20
Session 1: Three key leadership team members – Maria Abando, Larcy Douglas, and Bert Greenwood -- talked briefly about why they are part of Common Purpose and their work for the organization. Their remarks provided valuable insights into how we are growing as an org.
Session 2: Maria led us through a community session in which participants talked with 3-4 others about “One civic action that you have done for the first time, or the first time in a long time, with Common Purpose.” To start this exercise, on 3x5 cards people chose civic action categories, and then elaborated in writing on the meaning of one of them. They then engaged for a few minutes in small-group discussions. Afterward, people put their first names on cards if they were fine with doing so, and we collected them. If you were not at the workshop and are willing to take 2-3 minutes to share about your civic actions with CP, please click here: https://commonpurposenow.org/cpfirsts. Special thanks for CP Community member Douglas Coutts who helped us think through and build this activity!
Session 3: David introduced the community to an overview of our 2019-20 voter fieldwork plan. The “2019-20 plan” is a document we handed out to workshop attendees. This document is intended as a summary to be kept at home in a folder or on a refrigerator. It has the framework (four lanes of action) for our voter fieldwork, a listing of workshop dates, and the states of focus. Please also see the “WA State 2018-19 Voting Justice Laws” document created by our Washington State Strategist Jamielyn Wheeler, which shows what our progressive pro-democracy work can achieve.
Here’s a little about our states with upcoming plans for 2019 activity.
Session 4: This was an introduction of the leadership for our key national states over the next 18 months. The attachment “2019-20 states summary” is a document we handed out to workshop attendees. We have two key GOTV states for 2019: Virginia and North Carolina; for these, we spent a few minutes discussing partner orgs and planned dates of travel, in this coming August, September, and October. We will continue our work in Virginia and North Carolina in 2020, along with 11 other states. For all of these we will be engaging in LOTS and LOTS of voter registration over the next 16 months, followed by a 2-month all-in push between Labor Day and Election Day in 2020. Our first voter-registration trips will be in Florida and Maine! Please go to our Fieldwork tab and add your names to states that you might be interested in working in.
David goes in-depth on 2020 focus states, and gives a little motivation as we head into action.
Session 5: This was a final community session, led by AJ Musewe and Audrey Vaughan. The focus was on “risk and sacrifice” – specifically, what are each of us going to risk and/or sacrifice over the next 18 months to help us toward a just and inclusive democracy? Both of the Audreys had powerful words calling us to step forward and up.
