The September Brigade workshop will be held on Wednesday, September 30, at 7 pm Eastern / 4 pm Pacific.
For our September workshop, we’re hosting a conversation/working session on on defining a Theory of Change for the Code for America Brigade Network. Meredith Horowski, Senior Director of the Brigade Network, and Ben Trevino, Co-Chair of the National Advisory Council, will lead a conversation aimed at defining how the Brigade Network drives social change in the communities we serve.
Feedback from the first iteration of the pol.is was to:
(1) Discourage AND statements. Avoinding and makes agreement or disagreement clearer
(2) Guide the creation of statements from the network with prefixes:
This was the Original Pol.is language and its update. (it is being modified to focus on prefix and statement guidance)
As a network, we want to deepen our understanding of what DRIVES your brigade. What have those motivations allowed you to accomplish?
Some things we know: Appetite for advocacy and guidance on parameters / Desire for more national projects / Need for easy ways to plug in new volunteers and request volunteers / Direct support of gov is time, relationship, and trust intensive / Onboarding new members is time-intensive; turnover due to lack of engagement opportunities.
We want to act (together) on all of these things, but first, we want to build a shared foundation of basic ideas, lessons, values, motivations, that cause us to converge on the above. This pol.is is one input to a 3 month conversation that will progress through Brigade Congress (https://www.codeforamerica.org/events/brigade-congress-2020) and then through the end of the year.
Our hope is that EVERY SINGLE VOLUNTEER has a chance to weigh in before (or during Brigade Congress). Please spread the word!
NOTE FOR NON-BRIGADE AFFILIATED VOLUNTEERS: Feel free to use “pass/unsure” if you feel a question does not apply to you.
UPDATED Language
As a network, we want to deepen our understanding of what DRIVES your brigade. What have those motivations allowed you to accomplish?
This pol.is is one input to a 3 month conversation that will progress through Brigade Congress and then through the end of the year. Our hope is that every single volunteer has a chance to weigh in before (or during Brigade Congress). Please spread the word!
Note for non-brigade affiliated volunteers: YOU ARE WELCOME HERE! Feel free to use “pass/unsure” if you feel a question does not apply to you.
Tips:
Avoid multi-part statements or statements that use the word “and”
Use these prefixes for adding statements
“MY BRIGADE…” (to express things your brigade currently does)
“I WANT MY BRIGADE TO…” (to express desires or goals YOU have for your local brigade)
“MY BRIGADE HAS SAID…” (to express desires or goals you have heard expressed by other volunteers in your local brigade)
“I BELIEVE…” (to express relevant beliefs about brigades and civic tech work)
“OUR COMMUNITY NEEDS A BRIGADE BECAUSE…” (to express the value of a current or proposed brigade to your community)
@bentrevino, would you post the pol.is results link? Thanks for doing this; I think Polis a great way to collect answers to these questions.
