National Field
Meeting
17 April 2023
1
Welcome Theme
“Opportunities for Growth”
2
Desired Outcomes
3
Red/Blue with students from the American Heritage and Waterford schools in Utah. H/T Erika Munson
4
Who is invited to this call?
Expect an Event Summary Soon
5
N.B. Action Network will send a PICTURE - click on that picture to get to the SUMMARY!!
NOTICE! PLEASE FILLOUT
6
Did you know?
You can SAVE CHAT to your computer - at anytime…..
Placed into your ZOOM folder
New Teammates
7
New Teammates
New Alliances:
New Alliance Co-Chairs:
New Regional Lead:
8
“Thumbs UP”
(L-R):Sue Lani Madsen (R), Barbara Farmer (OFO-R)
We have ‘scrubbed’ our list
HELP!!
(Residence in State preferred but not required)
9
Agenda
10
17 APril 2023 NATIONAL FIELD CALL | Who/Why | Time (mins) | Cumulative (at end of segment) |
Welcome, Good News, and Shoutouts | Desired outcomes of call Theme = Opportunities for Growth | 8 | 8 |
Headline News and Insights | Steve and April | 1 min*2 | 10 |
A heartwarming RESULT from a person you should know | New Alliances from Congressional Districts AND new ground rules for RED ENGAGEMENT Tim Gustafson, Sam Noah, and Steven Gartland | 6 | 16 |
A new idea for SYNERGY |
| 10 | 26 |
Power of LISTENING to one another |
| 10 | 36 |
New tools that MAKE A DIFFERENCE |
| 10 | 46 |
Helping Hands for YOU |
| 10 | 56 |
Check out - NFC Survey | Steve | 4 | 60 |
POST NFC ‘Q+A’ | Steve and available speakers | 30 | 90 |
Steve’s
Minute
11
Field Operations
April’s Minute
12
“A heartwarming RESULT from a person you know…”
13
�Growing Alliances using
House-District territories��Tim Gustafson
Sam Noah (R)
Steven Gartland (B)
West Suburban Alliance—MSP
14
Field Operations
�Growing Alliances using
House-District territories
Step 1 - form a team���
15
Field Operations
�Growing Alliances using
House-District territories
Step 2
Determine your target areas and how many meetings you can conduct���
16
Field Operations
�Growing Alliances using
House-District territories
Step 3
Run the recruitment meetings with a BA sampler and a request for involvement���
17
Field Operations
West Suburban Alliance—MSP
�
18
Field Operations
Creating Civil Space
�
19
Field Operations
Braver Angels and BridgeUSA: �Exploring a Deeper Partnership
Barbara Thomas
and April Lawson
20
Field Operations
Who is Bridge USA?
The largest student movement fighting polarization
Constructive Engagement: We teach students how to have constructive discourse across lines of difference by practicing empathy and understanding.
Ideological Diversity: Partisanship is our opportunity. To be a better champion for our own beliefs and find solutions, we need to understand the other side.
Solution-Oriented Politics: We want solutions, not sound bites. It’s time to work toward long-term progress.
Our Work Together So Far
For the last 3 years, the College Debates & Discourse team has been composed of 3 organizations: Braver Angels, ACTA, and BridgeUSA
�Aligned in outlook and practice:��BridgeUSA points to BA as a model for depolarizing: �the BridgeUSA 2022 summit featured April, Moni, and John as speakers ��
HOLD: Picture from 2022 Summit
Templeton grant work
Why Explore a Deeper Partnership? ���1. To create an intergenerational movement ��2. To build upon each others’ strengths and focus on addressing growth areas��3. To send a signal to the broader depolarizing field that collaboration is essential and possible�
What are the possible outcomes? ����1. Continue current partnership��2. Deeper partnership with field cooperation
�3. A fully integrated organization �
Process:��Partnership Team meets
Due diligence on admin, decision-making and field cooperation�Brainstorm Collaboration Potential
Upcoming field meeting�Report on Recommendations
For decision by convention
Collaboration Potential �for Outcomes 2 or 3��Where there are chapters but no alliances�Where there are alliances but no chapters�Where there are both chapters and alliances�Pipeline of leadership�
Please Join Us to Brainstorm�on Ways for Bridge Chapters and Braver Angels Alliances to collaborate��on April 27th at 7pm CT
Results
of
Field Survey
Jennifer Hall-Witt
OFO
37
Who responded?
Note: in cases where co-chairs gave different dates, the oldest date was chosen. Establishing the date when an alliance starts is not clear-cut, as an exploratory meeting date could be different from when co-chairs were named and an alliance registered, and that is different from when a first alliance meeting, workshop, or event was held.
Year alliances were founded
40% of alliances have 4 or fewer active volunteers
67% have 7 or fewer active volunteers.
Note: When 2 alliance co-chairs gave different estimates, I used the higher number. When 3 alliance co-chairs gave different estimates, I used the number chosen by 2 out of 3. In one instance where an alliance was just starting back up after being on hold and reported 25-30 at its picnic, I chose one co-chair’s estimate of “21-40” instead of the other’s estimate of “41-60.” In one case where the co-chairs estimates included one category in between their two estimates, I entered that in-between number.
Note: in the next slide, only local/regional alliances were labelled as discussion- or workshop/event-oriented. State and multi-state alliances were not asked about this, as they often don’t fit either category. In the future, though, they should be asked, as a later slide will show that many state alliances are hosting a lot of workshop.
Alliances that are still forming were not counted in the bars above, as many were either undecided, not clearly committed, or had had so few events/meetings that it was hard to classify them.
Many alliances are interested in combining small-group discussion on political topics with hosting workshops and events
Main challenges in first 6 months as co-chair �where they needed the most support
Interest in potential future trainings/support
Interest in potential new alliance offerings
Co-chairs also suggested many other ideas for new offerings not reported here
Open-ended questions
See the final report for the details – will discuss in next week’s Deep Dive
Some other themes
Getting Reds
“Through the Door”
Maxim Schrogin
Berkeley/Oakland
Alliance
“How deep blues manage to attract reds to monthly meetings”
53
Berkeley/Oakland
Alliance
A bit of our history
54
Getting Reds
Through the Door
by
Provocative Phrasing of Discussion Topics
55
56
Provocative Phrasing of Discussion Topics
Why the ‘Smart’ Party Never Learns
If your views by definition are enlightened and progressive, why should you bother understanding those of the other side?
Berkeley/Oakland Alliance
GROUND RULES
● No cross-talk, debating, or arguing
● Be curious and listen to understand
● Show respect and suspend judgment
● Note any common ground as well as any differences
● Be authentic and welcome that from others. Be purposeful and to the point
● Own and guide the conversation
● We are here to understand each other, not to convince each other
57
Getting Reds
Through the Door
Future Directions:
More people of color
More youth
58
Helping
Hands
for
Field �Leaders
59
Braver School Communities
Field Alert
Vee Cangiano
Mary Thomas-Vallens
Braver School Communities
Next Meeting:
This Wed 4/19 2PM PT / 5PM ET�
braver-schools@braverangels.org��braverangels.org/braver-schools��Mary Thomas-Vallens
Vee Cangiano
Annual Report
Now
Available
Steve Saltwick
Gabriella Timmis
Project Co-Chairs
Annual Report
NOW ANNOUNCED
on FLP and Web
BA Way
In
Action
Special Thanks (L-R/T-B)
Marshall Mason
Katelin Annes
Steve Saltwick (R, Co-Chair)
Bev Horstman
Gabbi Timmis (B, Co-Chair)
Darcy Crosman
Doug Teschner
Courtenay Budd Caramico
David Joseph
Video Available - How to use the Annual Report for Outreach
Photo Library
And
Contest
Gabbi Timmis
Calls to Action
66
Field Operations
Do us a favor - fill out the NFC Survey
�NOW
67
Field Operations
Thanks for all you do
to advance the mission!
68
Field Operations
69
Section Headers
What’s ‘in it’ for my Community?
70
What’s in it for My Role?
71