No Slowing Down Since Historic Election
Our year-end political gathering, the Western Progressive Leadership Network (WPLN), brought together over 140 leaders and legislators who spent a long and surprisingly snowy weekend in Seattle sharing lessons from the 2008 elections across the West and laying the groundwork for a historic 2009.
"What a power-packed group," reported Pat Sweeney of the Western Organization of Resource Councils (WORC). "I definitely enjoyed the chance to make connections with new organizers and leaders." WORC was one of several regional organizing institutions whose participation added to the breadth and depth of experiences reflected in the discussions.
The gathering was a potent combination of on-the-ground experience, state-of-the-art strategy and unique perspectives. Along with folks working on the ground in eight Western states, we were joined by organizing institutions like Northwest Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF), the Northwest Federation of Community Organizations and WORC, along with local and regional funders such as Social Justice Fund Northwest, McKenzie River Gathering Foundation and Pride Foundation.
What parts of the weekend generated the most buzz?
Stewart Acuff of the national AFL-CIO wowed the crowd with his Saturday night, "get up and say amen" talk on what's next for us as a country with a new administration to work with. You can check out his powerful and uplifting speech on Huffington Post.
Aiko Schaefer (Washington State Budget and Policy Center) and Alan Durning (Sightline Institute) drew a crowd with their How Responding to Climate Change Could be a Breakthrough Opportunity for Justice, the Economy, and Nature plenary. For an example of how people are making the connections between the global climate crisis and the need for local economic development, check out this Green Jobs economic development proposal for the Washington legislature.
This innovative approach is embodied in an ambitious pilot project that Joe Chrastil of IAF Northwest presented called Sustainable Work: Quality Jobs for a Healthy Environment.
Peter Cervantes-Gautschi of Enlace and Peter Dorman of Evergreen College explained the Global Financial Crisis and What it Means to Your Work and how the federal bailout may or may not work to reverse it. You can review Dorman's PowerPoint presentation (as a printable PDF).
The Center's Civic Engagement Program Director Nancy Haque led an exuberant panel discussion on 'How We Got Here' -- lessons from the 2008 election cycle. Panelists included Cyreena Boston, who had worked on Barack Obama's campaign in Oregon; Eli Lee from State Voices; Kevin Looper from Our Oregon; and Pat Sweeney.
The 2008 election's lessons were a recurring theme throughout the weekend, especially the effectiveness of new data tools in voter mobilization; the power of collaboration across the spectrum of progressive organizations; and the use of the Internet and social networking tools in engaging and empowering new constituents. You can read Daily Kos' Joan McCarter's plenary speech on how this worked in 2008 here on our site.
As summed up by Western States Center's own Kelley Weigel, "There are so few opportunities to talk cross-issue and cross-state about the mechanics of our work, and also about our values. WPLN came at just the right time for us to have these vital conversations."
