Committee Updates & More: Congress Survey Analysis; Poor People’s Campaign; WILPF US Racial Justice; Inside & Out

November 2021

The BIG BOLD CONGRESS 2021 Survey of Registrants 

THANK YOU ALL – with an encouraging 34% return rate – for taking the time to answer our three questions with clarity and sensitivity! Bravo!

1a: Was the structure (Zoom) and design of the Congress effective for you?   Participants answered: YES 90%; MAYBE 10% (with 1 NO “I wasn’t able to attend.” Tucson Branch member).

1b: Additional Comments on the structure and design: Zoom worked well for most

“The manner of scheduling, with no concurrent presentations, was brilliant! I could attend as many as I wanted and made a point of going to ones which were new to me. The sheer array of topics and presenters was inspirational and renewed my love for WILPF. When we can meet virtually, I hope the positive aspects of this virtual congress will be retained.”  Jane Addams Branch member

“Zoom made many wonderful things possible that are otherwise not possible. It brings a new level of equity and inclusion.”  Detroit Branch member

“Zoom is inadequate. Does not replace meeting with others in person. Not all have access and are therefore excluded. This is becoming an "acceptable practice".  MN Metro Branch member

“It worked so very well for me as a handicapped person! All of the sessions were excellent and widened my horizon about so many different issues. There is so much work to be done in our world. The Congress in whole truly inspired me.”  Cape Cod Branch member

“That I could view these at a later date meant everything to me.” St. Louis Branch member
Interesting question: “Because we are living in such a time of strongly conflicting interpretations of reality, I wonder how we could tackle the problem of veracity head-on in the next Congress. Could we possibly focus on presenting more short clips of opposing viewpoints, perhaps, to show the gaps? With ways to confront the  misinformation....”  Tucson Branch member

2: How will you share the information, including videos, with your branch, other members, and the public?

“I have plans to share the video of our Political Fashion show with all the models we recruited in 2012. Family and friends as well. And have recommended it to everyone as such a fine experience. It really inspired me with the breadth of our organization, its history and so many actions of worth. I want to show other videos as well with our members and as recruitment tools for a membership drive.”  Cape Cod Branch

“We have scheduled use of a number of videos for our upcoming meetings 2021-22.”  Des Moines Branch

“During congress I shared many things to the WILPF SJ Facebook page.”  San Jose Branch

“We are in the process of planning a day when we can watch together.”  Greater Philadelphia Branch

3. How did you learn about the 34th Triennial? Overwhelming majority said eAlert/eNews; a few, word of mouth, branch meetings

Poor People’s Campaign

On Friday, October 15, the Poor People’s Campaign (PPC) hosted a National Press Conference and Saturday, October 16 the PPC held plenary sessions focused on moral fusion organizing and plans for June 2022. As for Saturday, October 23, the PPC also organized part two of the plenary sessions, which focused on training/prepping grassroots leaders.

Join the National Poor People’s Campaign 2021 Moral Congress - “Building Power: Organizing from the Bottom Up”, the PPC will hold a 365-day mobilization leading to the mass assembly of poor people and low-wage workers during a march on Washington on June 18, 2022. 

Interested in registering? Email: wilpf4ppc@gmail.com

WILPF US Racial Justice Part 3

More history and information on the racial justice work of WILPF US will be provided in the part 3 article of the December eNews! Part 3 will discuss the history from 1996 to 2016. 

Inside & Out Initiative

For the last 8 months, the participating WILPF branches (Sacramento, San Diego, Des Moines, Boston, and Philadelphia) have been doing internal and external work building from the inside & out. This first time trial process has required members to engage in leadership development, learn and unlearn, and be willing to try new things using the Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) Framework. 

Recently, on Saturday, October 24 the 5 branches participated in a professional development training on “De-escalation Starts With Me,” led by Anne Barron, WILPF San Diego & Peace Resource Center and Laverne Olberding, Peace Resource Center. 

An assessment survey for the Inside & Out initiative will be sent to the branches in November 2021 to see how effective the Inside & Outside Initiative has been in providing support to the branches. It is possible, based on the report of the survey for Inside & Out that there may be a second run of the initiative. 

If your branch is interested in applying and learning more about the Inside & Out Initiative, please email: Mary Hanson Harrison - harrison0607@msn.com or Nikki Abeleda - nfortuno.abeleda@gmail.com.