Present to the WDN membership strategic individuals, organizations, and networks which comprise the building blocks necessary to achieve our progressive agenda.

Our Goals

Make visible the “playing field”, its key players, issues, and organizing strategies in order to help WDN members become strategic funders and activists.
Help you see where and how you might have greatest impact, including developing your own voice and power.
Discover allies, collaborators, and mentors in this work.

What We Do

WDN members are passionate about a wide array of issues, including climate change, reproductive justice, peace in the Middle East, and more. As we advocate and fund solutions to our issues, it is important for all of us to understand how the political process impacts and interfaces with our work. The PPI Education Circle helps WDN members learn how, when, and why to engage with political actors, whether they be elected officials at the state or national level, non-partisan organizations doing advocacy or voter engagement, or partisan organizations working on a specific issue or candidate. Understanding where the leverage points are and how to exert influence is important for all the issues we care about. Funding and organizing in the political sphere is a natural and necessary compliment to the other work we all do.

PPI will continue to highlight how diverse organizations work together to get candidates elected and policies passed nationally and at the state level. We will learn from our own WDN members about their leadership role in developing state level organizing strategies. We will introduce WDN members to an array of strategies, organizations, and key leaders.

Possible future education calls and meetings include:

Growing Progressive Power/Getting Progressives Elected

Women and Political Power
Redistricting: Path to progressive majorities?
Developing Your Voice, Influence and Power – in person gathering.

Moving the Electorate and Coordinating Electoral Networks

Building Progressive State Infrastructure: Texas Case Study
2010 Opportunities and Challenges

Working Progressively on the Issues in co-sponsership with appropriate WDN circles

Comprehensive Immigration Reform
Health Care and Climate Change updates

Please join us, participate on our calls and learn more about how you can strengthen your voice and your efforts to achieve the goals on which you passionately work.

PPI Highlights

BUILDING PROGRESSIVE MAJORITY—National Symposia in Boulder, Colorado, New York City, Seattle, 2007-08

Understanding Women’s Electoral Political Power: Opportunities in 2008: Presented information about key opportunities for electing women to state and national office in the 2008 elections.
Changing Attitudes About Women in Power: White House Project.
Building Infrastructure and Changing the Face of Progressive Organizing: Case studies by WDN members who are key players in building progressive power in Colorado, California, Washington, Arizona.
Collaborative Networks: Catalyst Database, Democracy Alliance, Atlas Project.
Understanding the Playing Field: Presentation on key political players, organizations, and strategies by former president of America Votes.

GETTING PROGRESSIVES ELECTED—2008
Presentation of key organizations and networks working for progressive political leadership and exploring strategic investments.

Moving the Electorate: Getting out the vote in important constituencies of immigrants, working women, white working class and youth (co-sponsored with the Election Integrity Circle).
Coordinating Electoral Networks: Presentation by America Votes, an umbrella organization that coordinates and allocates resources among its member organizations, along with some member organizations, Women’s Voices, Women’s Vote and Planned Parenthood.
Media savvy: Blogging and the election.

HELPING OUR ELECTEDS GOVERN PROGRESSIVELY—2009
With progressives in the White House and in Congress, how do we hold them accountable to our progressive ideals and push for our policies?

Understanding the New Ground of Political Power: Deepak Bhargava, Center for Community Change and John Podesta, Center for American Progress.
Building Political Will: How to move progressive policies—healthcare reform by Health Care for America Now and climate change by Sierra Club and Alliance for Climate Change Protection.

GROWING PROGRESSIVE POWER—2009
How do we pull together the myriad of organizations and strategies working for a progressive vision?

Building Power in the States: Collaborations at the state level forming networks of donors, base-building organizations, political parties, (c)(3)s and (c)(4)s, featuring WDN members as key players.

The Progressive/Political Infrastructure Education Circle reflects WDN’s key theme of Civic Participation and Progressive Infrastructure: Strengthening our democratic institutions and community-based organizations to ensure that all people have the capacity to actively engage in shaping the policies that impact their lives. This is one of our seven key areas of work and study.