ISSUES & FORUMS

Creative Leaders Forum:

YOU HAVE THE POWER to take your country back. . . Now Get the training before workshops are full! The DFA Training Acadamy includes some of the BEST national trainers – Let's take advantage of the opportunity to learn from them!
Quad-Cities: April 8 & 9, 2006
Black Hawk College Quad-Cities Campus

Two-Day Grassroots Training Seminar:
50 Ways to Turn Red States Blue – Organizing to Take Our Country Back!

Topics Covered:
GOTV Strategies
Social Networking
Neighborhood Organizing
Building Your Base
Planning & Goal Setting
Citizen Lobbying
Coalition Building
Fund Raising
Media Strategies
Online Organizing
Student Organizing

Democracy for America brings their all-star Training Academy Program to Iowa and the Quad Cities.

Speakers, Organizing Strategies, Tactics and Tools, Resources, and Networking Iowa Caucus & Illinois Primary Workshops Social Hour and Saturday Night Party
General Tuition: $60 Advance or $70 @ Door
Students & Low Income: $25 Advance & @ Door
Student Scholarships Available
Breakfast, Lunch, Snacks & Beverages Included!

Sponsored By:
The Black Hawk College Student Groups--
College Democrats * Social Action Connection * Unity Alliance And Democracy for America Quad-Cities / www.dfalink.com

About Creative Leaders:

Doug Dixon (Democracy Institute leader, professor at Western Illinois) and I are co-facilitating a new Progressive Action for the Common Good (PACG) forum, called the Creative Leaders Forum. This forum will encompass leadership development, but our focus is much broader including the development of innovative methods reflective of and suitable to Cultural Creatives and other progressive folks. We are currently establishing contacts with national groups and foundations, such as the Kettering Foundation, Consensus, and Public Policy Institutes for ideas, possible funding, and other resources.

Issue Forums share the challenge of building public support for their progressive agenda. Many issues, such as Health Care Reform, require us to work with others who have different values (perhaps) and certainly different politics (such as Republicans). As Cathy Bolkcom so eloquently reminds us, we need to approach issues in a spirit of love and bringing people together. This will be more effective for us than the divisive process in vogue in politics today.

Okay, but how do you do that? That's where the Creative Leaders Forum comes in - helping forum facilitators and other progressive community leaders to effectively implement these new processes around their particular issues.

Our "kickoff" event was on September 13th which involved working with the organization Consensus on a project involving Scott County Libraries. Approximately 10 individuals came together to discuss and evaluate the booklet and the process which was developed to help local libraries assess the growing and changing needs within each particular city or township, but it was the process we were interested in, not the library issue itself.

We have all sorts of ideas and contacts we'd like to share! We hope to see many of you at our next Creative Leaders Forum meeting.
Next Meeting Date: To be announced
If you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact me. Thanks!
Alta Price
563-332-5051 H
563-421-1140 W