Thanks everyone for attending last night! It was great to hear thoughts and feedback for Be the Change. Your insights about tapping the potential of young people, including alums of the service movement, will be invaluable in helping to shape this new organization.
This new blog is an effort to continue the dialogue that began at Tent City. Feel free to invite anyone you think will be interested in helping develop this idea. It is our goal that together, as a community, we can build a citizen movement that will redefine our policies and politics, and create a government that is truly "by the people and for the people."
Some key themes that were brought up at the meeting:
Policy:
The idea of wiki policy process and how to flush that out
Trying to build consensus on a policy agenda in an age of individualism
Emphasizing structural change
Mobilization:
How do we engage people and demonstrate impact in the political realm?
Getting alums engaged by attaching this to existing networks (cultural, music, art, service, etc)
Looking at how local community orgs start (i.e. PTA) and try to replicate that model
What are we asking people to do?
Political Action:
A political accountability scorecard
supporting someone running for office
supporting existing politicians who align with the principles of Be the Change
**Ideally, we would love feedback and any other ideas/suggestions you have about building this organization. Especially on the three organizational areas of policy, citizen mobilization, and political action. And on our fundraising strategy, we were thinking of having a "founding member" with a goal of 10,000 members. We originally were thinking of have the founding members donate around $25-$50 annually. Any thoughts on this? Is the amount something you think people would donate to?
We definitely will have more questions and brainstorms that we will post asking for feedback, so keep checking in, regardless of whether you want to comment or just stay informed.
We really appreciate your contributions!
Sincerely,
Be the Change
