WDN Members attended an advocacy workshop in Washington D.C., co-sponsored by the Progressive Political Infrastructure and Reproductive Rights circles.
Our Vision
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. Our goal is to increase awareness of these connections and to help WDN members get exposed to top leaders and thinkers in the progressive movement. Ultimately we strive to help WDN members make timely and strategic investments in, or collaborations with, key leaders and organizations of the progressive political infrastructure, helping to further their philanthropic goals.
The Progressive Political Infrastructure (PPI) Circle aims to:
- Make visible the “playing field,” its key players, issues, and organizing strategies in order to help WDN members become strategic funders and activists.
- Help members see where and how they might have greatest impact, including developing their own voice and power.
- Identify opportunities for WDN to participate in, and invest in, organizations and activities that strengthen our progressive political infrastructure, including supporting election integrity work.
Our Impact
The PPI Circle has sponsored several successful in-person gatherings and webinars for WDN members and other allies that have helped inform and shape WDN’s overall strategy.
Educational calls have addressed the role of movement building in our new political reality, safeguarding the right to vote, and building large cross-alliance movements.
In addition, the PPI Circle has helped organize key strategy sessions and trainings, including WDN’s annual multi-day seminar and advocacy training in Washington, D.C., where members learn how to advance their values and advocate for the issues they care about. The mantra of this multi-day training is: “How to use your access, voice, and power!”
In the lead-up to the 2008 presidential election, the PPI Circle hosted a multi-city symposia in Colorado, New York, and Seattle called “Building a Progressive Majority.” Participants delved into critical topics including understanding the electoral political power of women, the changing face of progressive organizing, the power of collaborative networks, and mapping the progressive landscape.
Our Strategy
We expose the WDN membership to strategic individuals, organizations, and networks that comprise the building blocks necessary to achieve our progressive agenda.
Understanding where the leverage points are in the political system 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.
