2016 · prayer, movement, or something else. here is a sample meditation to get grounded together....

COMMUNITY

GUIDE

2016

A COMMUNITY GUIDE FOR VOTING WELL

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Our Guiding Principles & Getting Ready Page 3

Welcome 20 minutes Page 4

Arriving10 minutesPage 6

Courageous Conversation40 minutesPage 8

Breaking Down the Ballot30 minutes Page 10

Our Vote 15 minutes Page 12

WHAT IS VOTETOGETHER?It’s a community-based approach to not just turning out the vote, but transforming the vote. It’s a voting tool to support communities in making conscious choices on behalf of the wellbeing of all. We are coming together in the name of love and justice, uniting our voices and votes to help change the course of our society.

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OUR GUIDING PRINCIPLES

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VOTING IS COLLECTIVE CARE Voting is an act of solidarity. We take a community based approach to action that considers the well being of the whole.

IT’S NOT ABOUT POLITICAL PARTIES, IT’S ABOUT US We don’t endorse candidates or parties;

getting engaged.

WE’RE FOR COMMUNITY, NOT CONFORMITY We aren’t here to convince people or change their minds. It’s about listening and connection that encourages people to go deeper in relationship.

EVERY VOICE COUNTS We actively work to include the voices and votes that represent the whole of our country.

START WHERE YOU ARE You don’t need to be an expert on the issues. Just be curious, willing to learn, and open to making mistakes in order to grow.

OPTING OUT IS NOT AN OPTION The system is working against us, but still we must engage. We use our collective power

leaders accountable.

WE’RE IN IT FOR THE LONG HAUL The election is one moment in a long path towards transformative change. We’re committed to continuing to build a world of well being for all beyond the 2016 election.

GETTING READY:

SHARED SPACE - Preferably a home, yoga studio, dharma space, church, coworking space

PARTICIPANTS - A group of 5 - 15 peers

NOURISHMENT - Make it a potluck!

WRITING UTENSILS & PAPER - Provide enough for everyone

BALLOT INFORMATION - Use the Voting Resources on p. 11 to get acquainted with your ballot. Print information and/or have devices available for your guests to look up their own ballot information.

REGISTER YOUR CIRCLE - Add your event to the national map & invite friends to rsvp at: votetogether.us

WELCOME

How we show up for this election will de!ne who we are as a community and a country. Get to know who’s in your circle,

what they care about and why they are here.

15 MINUTES

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WELCOMEPeople are facing profound hardships in this country. From !nancial struggles to gun violence, unemployment to lack of health care - people are struggling to survive, much less be well. How we show up for this election will de!ne who we are as a community and a country. We need to reclaim the spirit of citizenship. Choosing to show up and taking responsibility actively creates conditions where everyone can be well. Heather McGhee challenges us: what if America could be a place where all the people in the world didn’t come to compete with each other, but to take care of each other because we have a shared fate?

PROMPT: First and foremost, we are here for one another - to show up with courage and compassion, to lean into the issues that matter and to make conscious choices during this election. Let’s begin by getting to know one another.

VoteTogether is a tool to mobilize our communities to vote on behalf of the wellbeing of all. We are coming together in the name of love and justice, uniting our voices and votes to help change the course of our society.

Every participant has one minute to share:

• Who are you?

• Where are you from?

• Why are you here?


LOVE AND JUSTICE ARE NOT TWO. WITHOUT INNER CHANGE, THERE CAN BE NO OUTER CHANGE; WITHOUT COLLECTIVE CHANGE, NO CHANGE MATTERS.- ANGEL KYODO WILLIAMS

ARRIVING

Come together in a practice of presence, mind-body-connection and community collaboration.

10 MINUTES

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Open with a re"ection that feels appropriate to your group: maybe that is meditation, prayer, movement, or something else. Here is a sample meditation to get grounded together.

MEDITATION: Feel your feet on the ground and plug into the earth. !e more we can source this energy of support, the more we can participate from a grounded, present place. From this connection to earth, grow up and lengthen. Rise tall in your dignity, knowing that you showing up at your best is good enough.

Next, take your breath and "ll into the back, connecting to everything that came before this moment – your life experiences, your history, your lineage. As you breathe back

can you honor all that it took you to get here? Staying connected to back, breathe forward and let it open your heart. Opening courageously to everything that is in front of us that is still unknown. Finally, take your breath wide and stretch it to meet your neighbor to the right and to the left. !is is the energy of interconnection - it reminds us that we are not alone and that this circle is a resource. Now breathe into every dimension, the whole of who you are. Call in all parts of you, so that you can show up in this circle with your full capacity, authentic in your expression and receptive to others.

Share the Guiding Principles from p. 3 with the group, inviting each guest to read aloud.

ARRIVING


LOVING THIS COUNTRY MEANS CARING ABOUT ALL OF THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN IT.- WALEED SHAHID

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COURAGEOUS CONVERSATION

How we show up in this election is going to de!ne who we are as a community and a country.

40 MINUTES

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COURAGEOUS CONVERSATION


JOURNAL: We have all been called to this circle because we long to make a di"erence. All around us, we see a crisis of connection – evidenced in environmental devastation, racism, inequality, families struggling to put food on the table and more. How do we show up in this moment in a way that is courageous and compassionate?

As we prepare to know each other better and share ourselves with this group, I invite you to consider the following questions in your journal:

• What is one major challenge facing our community or world today? Feel the answer in your body - allow it to come as an image, a feeling, a word.

DISCUSS: According to Peter Block, “a citizen is one who is willing to be accountable for and committed to the well-being of the whole.” It a#rms our interdependence - that we are all connected and that our liberation is bound. What would it look like to vote from this place? To acknowledge and include the wellbeing of everyone?

Facilitate a group conversation where all voices are welcome and heard.

• What’s at stake in this election? How might di#erent communities feel the impact of this election in di#erent ways?

• What are key issues that impact the wellbeing of the whole?

• What is our role and responsibility to one another?

COURAGE IS CONTAGIOUS: Seeing others share their beliefs or uncertainties with integrity might just be the encouragement someone else needs to be inspired to get involved in this election. Share the love! #VoteTogether2016

SHARE: Break up into pairs. Have each person share from the heart what matters to them. Encourage the listener to receive and fully listen to their partner; not to respond. Allow 4 minutes per person.

• What values are important to you?

• What do you love that is at risk in this election?

WHEN I LIBERATE MYSELF, I LIBERATE OTHERS. IF YOU DON’T SPEAK OUT AIN’T NOBODY GOING TO SPEAK OUT FOR YOU.

- FANNIE LOU HAMER

BREAKING DOWN THE BALLOT

Let’s get informed, center our values, tackle the issues and make conscious choices.

30 MINUTES

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BREAKING DOWN THE BALLOT


1. DOWNLOAD YOUR LOCAL BALLOTUse these interactive online resources. Send to your circle participants early, or have folks do live from their devices.

• pollvault.com/ctznwell – an interactive ballot platform that enables you to review your ballot, source third party endorsements and share with friends.

• vote411.org – a voters’ guide that features ballot information and side-by-side candidate positions.

• Call your board of elections – each state is unique in its access to voter information and resources.

2. GET INFORMED TOGETHER Break the group up into pairs and have them review what’s on the ballot, crowd-source research and discuss your choices.

• BallotReady.org – available for 25 states, look up basic info about candidates and referenda on your ballot.

• Votesmart.org – look up speci!c politicans or candidates for their voting records, positions on issues, and campaign contributors.

• Look up elected o$cial scorecards from organizations that you trust and are working on the issues that you care about. For example this food system reform scorecard from Food Policy Action: http://foodpolicyaction.org

3. FACILITATE A MINDFUL DEBATE Bring the group back together in discussion. Invite insights from each pair about to what they learned and what questions they have. Allow for uncertainty and con$ict. It is not our job to know everything or tell people what to do. Encourage representation of all perspectives, so that people feel fully informed to make conscious choices from a place of knowledge and values.

OUR VOTE

Now is the time. Make a plan to show up, vote together, spread the word and and pay it forward.

15 MINUTES

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#VOTETO GETHER2016


PAY IT FORWARD! MAKE A PLAN WITH YOUR CIRCLE FOR ELECTION DAY:

#VoteTogether is a project of CTZNWELL and a product of our community of practice. It has been harvested from the learnings and wisdom of so many great leaders, past and present. A special shout out to our mentors including: Taj James, angel Kyodo Williams, Teo Drake, Seane Corn, Waleed Shahid, Marianne Manilov, Dara Silverman, Mark Fair!eld, Carinne Luck, Mark Gonzales, Michael Kink, Brooke Lehman, Justin Ruben, Heidi Sieck, Jenny Waggoner, and Mike De La Rocha who, in some way, has inspired this work.

OUR VOTEWE NEED EVERYONE’S VOICE AND VOTE IN THIS ELECTION! It’s not just about “my vote” is about “our vote”. Peer support and encouragement is one of the most powerful influencers in getting people to vote. Here are some tools to amplify our voices and aggregate our votes:

Make Sure You’re Registered – visit vote.org - scroll down and click on your state election center for voter registration. Here you can !nd your polling place, learn about Voter ID laws, absentee ballot rules in your state, and early voting information.

Pledge to Vote – Pledge online at votetogether.us or text “VOTE” to 305-694-2456

Get voteREADY – Visit ctznwell.org/vote-ready to download tools to spread the word in your community

Know your polling place – Where is it and how will you get there?

Plan to VoteTogether – Coordinate a plan with friends, family, co-workers, etc.

What will you need to vote? – Remember to bring your ID, sample ballot, etc.

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SHARE THE VOTE – Show us what it looks like to VoteTogether by sharing a picture or tweet with the hashtag: #VoteTogether2016

PLEDGE TO VOTE – Get 10 friends to commit to voting well online at votetogether.us

UNITE THE VOTE – Encourage others to host their own VoteTogether Circle

SERVE THE VOTE – Volunteer with community centers and local organizations to ensure that everyone’s voice is heard.

CONNECT THE VOTE – To stay in the know and supported in community, join us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

2016 · prayer, movement, or something else. here is a sample meditation to get grounded together....

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