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Plenary #4

What are we doing in Communities?

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Who we are

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Steve

Howdy!

I am Steve Saltwick and I lean RED. I wear BLUE today in honor of all my ‘non Red’ friends (Blue and others).

Several years ago, I help found a team specializing in support of field volunteers.

Now, I’m a red (...wearing blue…I know, I know…) and I knew the Braver Angel Way required me to actively seek a complementary co-chair.

Since Donna Murphy (Hi - Donna!) talked me into the job (if you know Donna, you know what I am talking about…), I asked her for help. She helped me find a fantastic Blue co-chair - Riley Hart - (Hi - Riley!). Riley and I began a journey together which has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.

As the field grew, we knew that we needed more help and that we needed to create a culture of leader transition to keep the team fresh. So, Lynn Heady ( - Hi Lynn!) joined me as the Blue co-chair of the OFFICE of Field Operations. We had a blast growing a team and supporting the field. We then transitioned out and Barbara and April CC transitioned in to lead the team going forward.

That left me free to wander the tumbleweed plains of Texas - carrying my sign of hope. And a note to those in the room - ALWAYS carry a sign - you never know when Utopia will present itself.

/C/ to advance to the next slide.

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Who we are

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Barbara

BARBARA

And I am Barbara Thomas. I lean BLUE and I wear RED in honor of all my ‘non Blue’ friends (Reds and others). I want to give a shout out to one Red in particular - my husband Rick. We were both very concerned about the polarization that was tearing families, communities, and the country apart. So, when we retired, we both wanted to look for a way to be some small part of the solution.

Rick discovered Braver Angels and we jumped in with both feet. We started doing public outreach to spread the word. This photo is from our trip to FreedomFest, a national gathering of libertarians, to staff a Braver Angels booth in their exhibit hall. It was a great experience, and we got to see Mount Rushmore in the process.

After that, as Steve mentioned, April Chatham Carpenter and I joined the Office of Field Operations. We spent the last two years supporting our volunteers all over the country. We have now passed the baton to the new leadership of that team and I am excited to be here today, offering a glimpse of the many amazing people who help work the Braver Angels magic.

/C/ to advance to the next slide.

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Desired Outcomes

Appreciation for the breadth and depth of our grassroots organization

Recognition of their impact

Excitement about our plan to support scaling to a Civic Renewal Movement

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Community First! Village (Tiny Homes)

Austin TX

Steve

If you know Bill Doherty, then you know that you CAN NOT start a presentation at BA without having /C/ Desired Outcomes.

They are NOT goals - they are things you ‘walk away with’ from the presentation.

And, for this plenary these are OUR desired outcomes:

/C/ An APPRECIATION for the breadth and depth of our grassroots organization. Braver Angels has about 100 local chapters, called Alliances, and this number is GROWING. That gives us incredible opportunities to touch the lives of local communities and show the impact of the Braver Angel way. And, it takes not just a village of volunteers - but an entire community of supporters. We will present them to you this morning.

/C/ RECOGNITION of their impact. BA volunteers are ACTIVE in the community - NOT as advocates of any particular position -- we are not lobbyists. We are catalysts of a method which engages across political boundaries, avoids toxic, polarized engagement, and forges common ground whenever possible. You will hear three separate examples of that THIS MORNING.

/C/ And finally, we hope you share our EXCITEMENT of scaling our local actions to help ignite a movement - a movement of Civic Renewal.

How will we accomplish our desired outcomes??

/C/ to advance to the next slide.

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Agenda

Who are our Braver Citizens?

Proof Points of IMPACT - TODAY

Our plan to scale from Community to Nation

Special Award

Steve

With this agenda.

First, we will present some key roles and responsibilities for our field volunteers - we will highlight some personal stories to ‘make it real’

Second, we will have a panel discussion involving three separate teams progressing the mission with IMPACT. One will involve solutions for HOMELESSNESS, another will involve outreach to school communities (both teens and school boards), and the final will involve real politicians adopting real Braver Angels skills for legislative interactions.

Third, we will sketch our approach to scale. We can not do it all within Braver Angels. We need a NETWORK of organizations to complete our mission and change the culture of political engagement. Our goal here is to set the stage for the afternoon plenary with David Lapp and the BRAVER NETWORK organization.

Then, finally, we have some special announcements and an award.

So, hang on, buckle up and get prepared for a tour of THE FIELD

/C/ to advance to the next slide.

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Barbara

Braver Citizens /c/ are the volunteers at the heart of Braver Angels. They fulfill a variety of roles - which we will describe in just a moment. They are supported by other teams of volunteers and small number of staff - /c/ some focus on event development and delivery and some /c/ focus on field operations.

In the next set of slides, we are going to present a range of volunteer roles. EACH role is significant to the delivery of the BA mission. Many in the audience may not be familiar with these roles - so we define their essential characteristics. For the long-term members who know these roles well, we ask that you support us in answering questions from those who wish to know more (-- but AFTER our talk!...;).

Each group seeks MORE volunteers - there is more information on our national website and online training is available to fit most lifestyles. If anyone would like to help progress the mission by taking on one of the roles - we would welcome you!

Also - each group and each individual we present is worthy of applause - but we ask that you HOLD your applause until the end of this segment when we can recognize ALL ROLES together.

/C/ to advance to the next slide.

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Moderator Volunteers

“He drew a circle that shut me out - Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout. But Love and I had the wit to win. We drew a circle and took him in.” - Edwin Markham

Randy Freeman (R)

Mary Thomas-Vallens (B)

Barbara

Moderators lead our signature workshops both in person and online. They deliver content, facilitate structured conversations, and lead a variety of well-tested exercises by establishing and enforcing ground rules.

Moderators create an environment in which participants can explore challenging political topics and learn more about themselves as well as the issues. /C/

Moderators are experienced in group facilitation - they're comfortable in group processes -- across a wide variety of citizens. We show here a workshop with teens.

Moderators are people who have respect for BOTH sides -- who won't respond to getting their buttons pushed -- they create a space where everyone feels respected.

Moderators do need experience in facilitation but a professional license is not required.

We would love to show you a picture of all of our moderators, but the squares would be VERY small - there are about 700 moderators active in Braver Angels right now. SO -

We've picked two moderators to give you a glimpse of the type of people they are.

/C/

Randy Freeman is an active moderator who lives in New York State. Randy joined BA in 2017. She has six grandchildren and has presented Braver Angels workshops to them to practice her moderating skills!

/C/

Mary Thomas-Vallens, universally know as “MARY TV” is a moderator who lives on the ‘other’ coast - California. Mary joined BA in 2019. Mary is active in both Online and IN-PERSON workshops - especially in School Communities and is known for offering a Greek dance lesson when people need a break.

We asked Randy and Mary for a quote that best reflects their experience in Braver Angels. We’ll do that for EACH pair we present today. Randy and Mary felt the poet Edwin Markham captured the essence with these lines:

/C/ “He drew a circle that shut me out - Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout. But love and I had the wit to win: We drew a circle and took him in.”

/C/ to advance to the next slide.

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Debate Chairs and Support

“Creating a place where controversial issues can be discussed in a respectful manner is key to renewing the habits of good citizenship. We are thrilled to be part of that -- from college campuses to national forums”

Rek LeCounte (R)

Esther Cash (B)

Steve

Debates are the other signature offering of Braver Angels -- again, both in person and online. Participants collaboratively search for the truth -- in a exciting AND FUN way. Debates are especially active on college campuses.

Debates use resolutions that might be controversial to encourage speeches from both sides. Unlike some of our workshops, these are not associated with Red and Blue, but Pro and Con.

/C/

The debate chair ensures a balanced and LIVELY debate which runs SMOOTHLY using a modified parliamentary format. Debate whips interact with potential speakers and answer questions from participants.

Debate chairs are comfortable in a high-energy public atmosphere and debate whips are adept at multitasking among participants.

Again, we would love to show you a picture of all of our debate volunteers, but there are about 400 active in Braver Angels right now. SO -

We've picked two to give you a glimpse of the type of people they are

/C/

Esther Cash lives in California and joined in 2020. Esther is active in in-person debates at Biola University, where she is a student and she is also a dance choreographer.

/C/

Rek [La Count] lives in Georgia and joined in 2022. Rek is active in online national debates and he has lived in nine states and on three continents.

We also asked Esther and Rek for a quote that best reflects their experience in Braver Angels and they said: /C/

“Creating a place where controversial issues can be discussed in a respectful manner is key to renewing the habits of good citizenship. We are thrilled to be part of that -- from college campuses to national forums”

/C/ to advance to the next slide.

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Organizer Volunteers

“Like a fine swiss clock, organizing a workshop has a lot of moving parts. We have learned to love the thrill of the unexpected.”

Yvonne Boyd (B)

Bruce France (R)

Barbara

So how do people get INTO THE ROOM OR ZOOM where the moderators lead a transformational experience??

BECAUSE OF THE WORK OF ORGANIZERS! /C/

Organizers are those DETAIL ORIENTED planners who make the magic happen to get the people THERE and READY for the experience.

Without ‘em - experiences would not happen, or would not be advertised, or would be just too chaotic to be impactful.

Thankfully, organizers have great people skills and use the Braver Angels’ Way to keep everyone informed and engaged while being flexible and maintaining a sense of humor when things inevitably don’t work as planned.

We currently have about 150 active ones and we thought this pair was a good example:

/C/

Yvonne Boyd lives in Washington state and joined in 2020. Yvonne is an active part of BA’s core organizer team, and has played critical roles in its development over time. A little known fact about Yvonne is that she played Touch Rugby in her 30s, and represented England in the World Masters in 1997 and 1999.

/C/

Bruce France lives in New York and joined in 2018. Bruce co-led the organizer effort in the early days of Braver Angels with Lynn Heady, then Ron Heady, and finally with Mary Beth Stibbens. Bruce and his wife Wendie were gymnasts in college and performed in shows in the Northeast. Later, they entertained at parties by having Wendie stand on Bruce’s shoulders!

Yvonne and Bruce say: /C/

“Like a fine swiss clock, organizing a workshop contains a lot of moving parts. We have learned to love the thrill of the unexpected.”

/C/ to advance to the next slide.

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Zoom Event Managers (ZEM) Volunteers

“We love the camaraderie of working without regard to political leaning on a team to make these events run as well as can be. We love pairing up random strangers from across the political spectrum and watching them leave the workshop as friends.”

Abe Dana (R)

Sarah Yue (B)

Steve

In an ONLINE WORKSHOP, once the organizers have worked their magic - and BEFORE the moderators can work THEIR magic - there is ONE MORE STEP:

�THE ZOOM ROOM /C/

One role that keeps the Zoom Room from being the Doom Room is that of the Zoom Event Manager or ZEM for short.

ZEMs work a variety of tasks in order to make an online experience WELCOMING as well as PRODUCTIVE.

They do the basics - like letting people in from the waiting room.

They also do work of managing breakout rooms - including dealing with people who drop off -- AND -- people whom zoom refuses to put into breakout rooms!

A subset of ZEMs help manage interactions with Participants during sharing - they assist moderators with calling on people and ensuring a balance of voices are heard.

Other ZEMS help manage participants in DEBATES - by interacting with people who wish to speak - which is called WHIPPING -- not for real! Just in the parliamentary sense….;)

It can be intense - but it is also intensely rewarding. There is nothing quite like managing a large zoom room of people who learn a skill that will help them in their lives, in their community as well as the nation.

Today, we are lucky enough to have over 300 volunteers in these rolls. They are AWESOME. We thought you might like to hear from these two…

/C/

Sarah Yue lives in Virginia and joined in 2017. She is active in supporting both local and national workshops. Sarah and her husband come from different political parties. Early on, she gave him a mix tape of folk songs labeled “Alan’s liberal indoctrination mix”. Her subtle ploy did NOT work and they have been a happily married Red-Blue couple for 18 years.

/C/

Abe Dana lives in Texas and joined in 2019. He is active in supporting national ONLINE workshops. Those who know Abe know he has a severe disability with spatial orientation and gets lost easily. He once got pulled over for missing headlight. When he assured the cop he was almost home and gave his address, the cop gave him a SOBRIETY test - which he passed. The cop said, "I figured nobody sober could be that clueless as to his whereabouts!"

Abe and Sarah’s quote is: /C/

“We love the camaraderie of working without regard to political leaning with others on a team to make these events run as well as can be. We love pairing up random strangers from across the political spectrum and watching them leave the workshop as friends.”

/C/ to advance to the next slide.

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Alliance

Co-chairs

“We care deeply about bringing the BA Way to as many people as we can–because every encounter can have meaningful impact, whether it is recognized in the moment or not. We value our teams–everyone’s contribution to the effort and the reciprocal benefits of enduring friendship and inspiration are never-ending.

Karl Schmalz (R)

Ellie Sears (B)

Barbara

The beating heart of Braver Angels is our grassroots organization. The local community chapters are called “ALLIANCES”

Alliances are where CITIZENS COME TOGETHER /C/ to progress the mission - to bridge the partisan divide - to strengthen our democratic republic.

Alliances operate with a large amount of freedom - so that they can best engage their community. They MUST have balanced leadership of red, blue and other. They follow a set of guiding principles. They aspire to a balance of membership.

But, in the end - they engage in discussion, in skill building, and in building capacities for good citizenship.

Alliances also demonstrate the impact of the Braver Angel way in community life. You will hear about three examples of this TODAY.

Alliance co-chairs are members who wish to make a PERSONAL difference in the civic life of their community. They advance the mission by demonstrating that progress - and hope -- are possible. The work is intense but personally rewarding at an intimate level. Co-chairs strive to rotate --to share the experience -- and the load -- across the membership of the Alliance.

Today, we are blessed to have over 200 volunteers in these rolls and we thought you might like to hear from these two…

/C/

Karl Schmalz lives in Texas and joined in 2018. Karl is the Red Co-Chair of the Braver Angels of Central Texas Alliance and once, when competing in a local horse show, received a 2nd Place ribbon DESPITE getting bucked off over the final jump. He landed on the ground PAST the finish line, so the round counted! The ribbon remains a prized possession.

/C/

Ellie Sears joined in 2021. She lives in California and is the Blue Co-Chair of the San Francisco Alliance. In her freshman year at UCLA, she was invited to the Hollywood premiere of “Lawrence of Arabia” and sat directly across the aisle from Omar Sharif, who starred in the movie. She says he was so handsome, she could hardly concentrate on the film!

Karl and Ellie say: /C/

“We care deeply about bringing the BA Way to as many people as we can - because every encounter can have meaningful impact, whether recognized in the moment or not. We value our teams - everyone’s contribution to the effort and the reciprocal benefits of enduring friendship and inspiration are never-ending.”

/C/ to advance to the next slide.

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State Coordinator

and

Regional Lead

Volunteers

“We enjoy the challenge and the experience of expanding the grassroots at the state and regional level. We value the relationships and friendships that BA helps foster - and the work restores our hope for America.”

David Joseph (B)

Carlos Hernandez (R)

Steve

Now - what about the rest of the field leadership structure -- the states and the regions??

Here the overall goals are to nurture well-functioning Alliances which are in synch with our mission and vision -- and to represent Braver Angels as an organization within the state or region.

/c/

State coordinators are the FOCAL POINT of our organization within the state. That DOES NOT mean that State Coordinators leads all activities - but it does mean that they are aware of them. Many do choose to lead service projects, as shown here, to raise awareness of our mission.

Regional leads help sustain the mission over an AREA of several states. As of today, we have nine regions to cover the US.

Regional leads help ensure that the states and Alliances in their area share best practices (and avoid worst practices…). They mentor the field leadership in support of the formation of new Alliances AND the development of the volunteer base.

There are almost 100 senior volunteers in Braver Angels fulfilling these roles as we speak. They are essential in the power of the Braver Angel way and key to our success….

we wanted you to hear from these two…

/C/

Carlos Hernandez lives in California and joined in 2019. Carlos is the Red Lead for the Pacific Region and he has finished four marathons - three in NYC and the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington DC. He says the fun part was training with others!

/C/

David Joseph joined in 2020 and is the Michigan State Coordinator. David graduated from the University of Detroit in 1992, the same year that it became University of Detroit-Mercy. So he received two diplomas - a Red one from the University of Detroit, and a Blue one from Detroit-Mercy. The Red and Blue diplomas were foreshadowing his future work!

Their quote is: /C/

“We enjoy the challenge and the experience of expanding the grassroots at the state and regional level. We value the relationships and friendships that BA helps foster - and the work restores our hope for America.”

/C/ to advance to the next slide.

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Event Development

and

Delivery

Volunteers

“We come from project management and product development backgrounds. We are frequently in awe of the experience, talent, and dedication of the Braver Angels volunteers. They are the reason why our offerings will have impact and help the country.”

Stan Levine (R)

John Schwenkler (B)

Barbara

So by now, you probably are getting the feeling that managing the development and delivery of this range of offerings is COMPLICATED - AND YOU WOULD BE RIGHT!

/C/

There are 71 different types of events, coordinated over a dozen teams - what could go wrong - eh?

And how about ensuring that the workshops are kept up to date and optimized for delivery?

Well, that is the function of MANY support teams collectively called EVENT DEVELOPMENT AND DELIVERY.

This area has volunteer teams for the maintenance of workshops and offerings, the development of TRAINING for moderators, organizers, and other communities, as well as the coordination of planning across a growing number of people and subteams.

Many in BA might not know of their existence - but it is not an overstatement to say that these groups are CRITICAL for us to grow, progress the mission, and ignite that Civic Renewal movement.

we thought you might like to hear from these two…

/C/

Stan Levine lives in North Carolina and joined in 2020. Stan currently heads up the “DEV Team” that does workshop development and maintenance. Stan is fondly known as the BA “trouble-maker” because he always likes to ask questions to improve our processes and products - in a uniquely ‘Stan Way.’

/C/

John Schwenkler lives in Georgia and joined in 2020. John oversaw the workshop development team before Stan and has been integral in the faith-sponsored workshop effort. John is known for making time for BA even when he is taking care of his FOURTEEN grandchildren.

Their quote is: /C/

“We come from project management and product development backgrounds. We are frequently in awe of the experience, talent, and dedication of the Braver Angels volunteers. They are the reason why our offerings will have impact and help the country.”

/C/ to advance to the next slide.

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Ambassador

Volunteers

“Our dedication and commitment to fostering unity through dialogue in Braver Angels truly embodies the words of Frederick Douglass: “I will unite with anyone to do right, and with nobody to do wrong.””

Linda Beck (B)

Ron McFarland (R)

Steve

While we hope EVERYONE in this room is an ‘ambassador for Braver Angels’ -- we feel that a formal program with training and support is critical to our continued success.

We need to inform people and partners about Braver Angels and reach out to people who, at first, might not be willing to come to a group workshop or other offering.

/C/

Those in the Ambassador program have a passion for the mission and a comfort in public speaking - they like participating in Toastmasters, or giving elevator pitches, writing OP-EDs and even running for public office - like Greg here.

There are over 200 Ambassadors -- and we wanted you to hear from these two…

/C/

Linda Beck lives in Pennsylvania, joined in 2019, and founded our Ambassador program. Linda once won a toenail painting contest by writing, “Vote Nixon” on her toes (with her dad’s help, since she was in the 1st grade). She used her prize money to buy a pair of go-go boots!

/C/

Ron McFarland lives in Iowa, joined in 2019, and is part of the Ambassador Leadership Team. Ron has a blog with over 250 stories about faith. He also has a unique DISlike for chocolate!

Linda and Ron worked together on this quote: /C/

“Our dedication and commitment to fostering unity through dialogue in Braver Angels truly embodies the words of Frederick Douglass: “I would unite with anyone to do right, and with nobody to do wrong.””

/C/ to advance to the next slide.

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To all our Volunteers…

Barbara

So - all told we have about 2,000 volunteers in the organization TODAY -- we have highlighted the roles of many - but there are many more who give of their time and talents in independent projects too numerous to list.

They have our heartfelt thanks…

They are young and they are old (Steve and I prefer the term ‘seasoned’...;)

They are urban and they are rural

They are conservative --they are liberal --and they are independent

They are brown -- and they are black -- and they are white

AND MANY ARE IN THIS ROOM.

If you are a volunteer for Braver Angels- would you please stand if you are able.

We ask that the delegates reflect on this visible commitment of Civic Renewal and give them all a round of applause! /C/

THANK YOU ALL! THANK YOU ALL!

now..Please be seated….

/C/ to advance to the next slide.

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Why we volunteer…

Barbara

We have presented a large array of volunteer roles and representatives of those roles.

All are contributing to progressing the mission of Braver Angels.

All contribute to a spirit of volunteering unmatched by other organizations.

But - there is a more fundamental reason we all contribute.

It is to help real people with real challenges - the Braver Angels way.

Sometimes, it is people in their families and personal lives.

Sometimes, it is people in their community.

And - in time, it will be people all across the nation.

Let’s hear a story about Braver Angels’ impact on a family /C/ - the Fergusons.

Erika and William please come up on the stage and share your story about how Braver Angels and its volunteers touched your lives and as well as your family.

While they come up on the stage, I want to say we are interested in hearing your stories of impact as well. /C/ We have a way of collecting these stories on the Field Leader’s Portal. You will find instructions on how to submit your story if you go to the poster session here at the convention. We’ll explain where to find that at the end of our talk. But, first - /C/ let’s hear from the Fergusons.

/C/ to advance to the next slide.

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The Fergusons

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Proof Points

of

Impact

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El Sobrante Alliance for Action on Homelessness and Fire Safety

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Braver School Communities

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Civic Renewal in NH Legislature

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Proof Points

of

Impact

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Field Operations

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Exciting to say that workshops with teens started with teens and parents reaching out to us -

After a yearbook controversy that made Fox News – Northwood High School parents and students reached out to me to bring Braver Angels to their school –

Result – 6 moderators trained their 600 high school seniors in a teen version of “Skills for Bridging the Divide.”

Josie Reich, a Washington DC high school senior, was dismayed at how teachers and fellow students treated a conservative student at her mostly liberal high school. Even though Josie’s views didn’t align with the other student, she reached out to set up a “Depolarizing Within” workshop – reaching out to teens from several states. They have continued to network with each other.

James from Irvine and Josie from DC both shared their BA experiences in their college applications – both received scholarships to their respective schools – Cornell and Yale - and credit their BA essays for those funds.

Working with teens has led us to workshops with teachers and other adults – they are one access point.

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What I love about BA is we do not shy away from touchy subjects. These students from YouthSERVE, a teen leadership group from both public and private schools reached out to us to discuss of all things – getting sex education in schools. In front of their parents, school board members, and civic leaders = we conducted a Common Ground Workshop about HOW sex ed should be taught and what it should cover – It was amazing to see how brave these students were to have these conversations. One young man said, “I want to know the difference between giving a girl a compliment and sexual harrassment. Another said, “I want to find out how to stop the spread of chlamydia in our city – the highest rate in the country.” YouthServe won a major award for the work they did to make this event happen.

At other schools – had a fishbowl discussions about dress code and how teaching should continue during Covid – what they learned, they presented to their school boards and changes were made accordingly. In fact, Braver Angels was mentioned in these discussions.

Parents in Lower Merion, PA could see the rising tide of anger in their community – about transgender issues, teaching about racism, and banning books – as a team, they worked with our BA

School Community group to create a special version for Depolarizing Within that takes the red/blue focus out and replaces it with an issues based focus.

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Field Operations

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Field Operations

“I didn't expect that we would be able to let down our guards, and open up to dialogue with one another. But that's exactly what we did. It was eye-opening to hear everyone's stories and to see one another as imperfect humans, with so much in common. I look forward to continuing to listen with empathy, and work across the aisle with all my House colleagues."

-- Rep. Rebecca McWilliams D

“Braver Angels demonstrates that collaboration and cooperation across party lines is possible, even now. But, it will take more work, and focus on different approaches to develop a deep understanding on why either side thinks how they think. Participants developed unexpected relationships and found things in common they never thought they could with polar opposites.”

-- Rep. Tim McGough R

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Field Operations

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Field Operations

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Field Operations

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Scaling from Community to a National Movement

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Barbara

So, lets review where we are:

You have heard about the Braver Citizens who fill our volunteer ranks -- thousands of them in many different roles - more of them here on the slide as well.

AND - remember we DO need more volunteers. If you find the urge to help in ANY of the roles we discussed (or have ideas for NEW ONES) please talk to us - or someone in your state. They are all accessible on the WHOVA app.

And, we talked -- at a DEEP LEVEL -- about the ACTIONS -- of individuals in a family (the Fergusons) -- as well as three separate teams.

But - many of you might be thinking - That’s nice, but how is that going to change AMERICA?!?

And that is a good question. Thank you for that question. It is a good BA WAY question…(speak fully and fearlessly!)

SO, let’s try to answer that question NOW.

We will talk next about our strategy to address the challenge - drawn from our Annual Report. We will focus on how our field volunteers contribute to that strategy. We will then foreshadow how the field contributions will tie into the BRAVER NETWORK plenary you will hear this afternoon.

Make sense? then let’s go!

/C/ to advance to the next slide.

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Igniting

a

Civic Renewal Movement

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Grassroots Focus

‘going deep’

Steve

There is a journey to Civic Renewal

It starts with EACH OF US - taking on the challenge by deciding to be part of the SOLUTION. Most people in this room have taken this step - THANK EACH OF YOU FOR DOING THAT - whether you are a Braver Citizen or in the Braver Network - the journey starts with this step.

The journey then progresses to using the BRAVER ANGEL WAY. The way is mapped out in our Annual Report and on our website - it is a set of principles and tools for building capacities in the habits of good citizenship. For example, speaking fearlessly - but also with respect and according the other speakers the dignity of good faith. The goal here is to continue to increase a critical mass of practitioners at many levels of community.

We then take our skills, our experiences, and our fellow citizens into action at the personal and the local level. We show change is possible - that there is demonstrable hope for the future. We share our best practices (as well as how to avoid our worst…). Nothing expands the mission more than seeing proof of a better community via BA in action.

Finally, we address bringing change to the anchoring institutions of America. As we saw on a previous slide - there is a large deficit of trust in the institutions of government. We must turn that around to ignite Civic Renewal. That is something Braver Citizens CAN HELP do - and most importantly - that is what a Braver NETWORK CAN do.

/C/

The first three steps of this journey are centered around the citizen and the local community. It is a focus of our grassroots organizations - going ‘deep’ into the fabric community engagement at a personal. Of course, they work and contribute to changing institutional norms. But change is PERSONAL at its bedrock.

/C/ to advance to the next slide.

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Going Wide - with Braver Networks

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Going Wide - with Braver Networks

CSA engages at NATIONAL LEVEL on issues of importance to to US CONGRESS

Braver Angels Alliances engage at LOCAL level to establish common values, solutions and concerns on CSA issue

Alignment between local and national level incorporated into Congressional Briefings

Steve

The first step in the joint project is for CSA to do what CSA does best /C/ -- engage at the national level in selecting issues that are of importance to the US CONGRESS

The second step /C/ is then engage LOCAL Braver Angels alliances using CSA-supplied briefing materials. At meetings like this - the Alliances review, discuss and establish common values, solutions and concerns using the well-tested structure of the Braver Angels’ COMMON GROUND WORKSHOP.

Finally, /C/ we then share the locally generated perspectives with the national CSA organization. The alignment (or lack thereof) is incorporated into future briefing of Congress. This helps progress the legislative agenda and expand understanding of the issue from many different perspectives.

/C/ to advance to the next slide.

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Braver Networks - going wide

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Braver Networks - going wide

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Braver Networks - going wide

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Braver Networks - going wide

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POSTER SESSION

Hauser Athletic Complex

OPEN ALL CONVENTION

Barbara

If the information today on the ACTIONS and EXPERIENCES of Braver Citizens has piqued your interest - then please be aware of a POSTER SESSION in the Hauser Athletic Complex /C/ - a short walk from this room.

Here you will find over two dozen ‘posters’ (remember you science fair project??) of impactful projects done by individuals, alliances, and communities. It is a great opportunity to understand more about our field teams and we have a CALL TO ACTION for each of you in the room today - GO SEE THE POSTER SESSION WHILE YOU ARE AT THE CONVENTION.

Many of those who developed the posters are ATTENDING. If you go today between 4:30-5:30, you can meet them in person. You can also connect with them using the conference app. DON’T PASS UP THIS CHANCE TO CONNECT and progress the mission.

/C/ to advance to the next slide.

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Friend

of the

Field

Award

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2023 Friend of the Field Award

Andrew Stillman CTO

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Plenary #4

What are we doing in Communities?