Progressive Political Infrastructure

One of the greatest challenges we face as progressives right now is understanding how all of our issues fit together – and how we can best support common infrastructure in key areas to build a cohesive movement and make change. Quinn Delaney, Co-Chair, Progressive Political Infrastructure Circle

WDN Members who 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. As an education circle, 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, strategic and impactful 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.
  • Discover allies, collaborators, and mentors in this 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.

Calls in 2011 have addressed topics such as: reclaiming the female electorate, the role of movement building in our new political reality, changing violence in public and political discourse, safeguarding the right to vote, and building large cross-alliance movements.

In addition, the PPI Circle has organized key strategy sessions and trainings, including a multi-day workshop in Washington, D.C. in March 2011, called “Being an Effective Public Woman.“ About 25 WDN members learned how to advance their values and their issues in the challenging environment of Washington, DC. The mantra of the multi-day training was: “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.