Start a Local Alliance
Thanks for considering starting a Braver Angels Alliance in your area! As you probably already know, Alliances are Braver Angels’ “boots on the ground” and help connect local efforts to national ones. Here’s an overview of what it takes to start an Alliance.
First, Know These Things!
You have support! The Office of Field Operations (OFO), your State Coordinator and other, more seasoned Alliance leaders are here to help.
You can go as slowly or as quickly as you like! As the saying goes, Rome wasn’t built in a day. It will take some time making connections. So, don’t get overwhelmed by the process.
Alliances have a lot of flexibility in how they’re run! This helps to make sure the local groups are meeting that area’s needs and interests.
Recommended Next Steps
Get acquainted with Braver Angels
We encourage you to take the following trainings and experiences, especially if you are a fairly new Braver Angels member:
- Skills for Disagreeing Better and/or
- Depolarizing Within
- Ambassador Training
- Introduction to Organizer Training
- 1:1 Conversation
Identify initial planning and outreach
At this stage, you must check in with your State Coordinator or Regional Lead to express your interest—they can offer support and point you to helpful resources (i.e. a preliminary mailing list in your area). If you haven’t yet identified a Red, Blue, or Other/Purple Co-Chair for your Alliance, your State Coordinator can assist; if none is available, reach out to the Office of Field Operations. Meanwhile, consider ways to grow your local group and deepen your understanding of the support available to Alliances.
Begin holding meetings and events
This can occur before or after you register your Alliance.
Register the Alliance
Hopefully, following the recommendations, you have all you need to start your Alliance. Your State Coordinator will officially register you as an Alliance with the Office of Field Operations. If no State Coordinator is available, please contact your Regional Lead(s) or the Office of Field Operations.
Attend orientation
Then, you will go through a required orientation that will provide you with more resources to build your Alliance. While you can take as long as you like to form the Alliance, it will not be recognized as an “official” Braver Angels Alliance until it’s registered.
Build and grow the Alliance
Once an Alliance is registered, the goal is to keep it strong and expand its impact. This stage offers key resources—from leadership tips and event planning to outreach and funding support—to help grow, improve, and deepen community engagement.
FAQs
An Alliance needs a Red and Blue Co-Chair to get started. Alliance Co-Chairs help the local Braver Angels group grow and thrive, providing vision and leadership.
Alliances are the heart of Braver Angels. They bring our mission to life locally, providing a space for respectful dialogue, community building, and leadership development. Alliances offer members a unique opportunity to connect with people across the political divide, learn new skills, and make a positive impact on their communities. Alliances provide:
- An enhanced Braver Angels experience
- Community Support
- Leadership Opportunities
While there’s a great deal of flexibility, Alliances generally fall into one of three types:
- Discussion-based
- Events/Workshops-based
- Hybrid (combination of the above–the most common)
Note: Many Alliances also engage in social activities as well to get to know each other better.
Recruit and welcome new members
- Engage in outreach to recruit new alliance members, with a focus on working towards a Red-Blue balance.
- Spread the word about Braver Angels by engaging with the local media and community organizations. Braver Angels Ambassadors are trained in how to do this work effectively.
- Create initiatives to welcome people who have recently become Braver Angels members, helping them find their own path within Braver Angels.
Host skills workshops, experience workshops, and debates
These Braver Angels workshop and debate events are planned and run by trained organizers, moderators, debate whips, and (if they are online) Zoom event managers. They provide participants with foundational Braver Angels experiences and skills. Alliance members can be trained in these roles, as needed.
Design their own events and initiatives
As alliance members gain experience with Braver Angels workshops and develop their own depolarizing skills, they can begin designing events and initiatives for their alliance, drawing on the principles that make our Braver Angels workshops and debates so effective.
Host a discussion
These groups are led by one or more facilitators who help the group build trust, deepen their understanding of each other’s political perspectives, discuss a range of political topics, and find common ground on policy issues where it exists.
Host Braver Politics events
Braver Politics events seek to reform our politics so politicians will engage more constructively with their constituents and with other politicians.
Work on a policy issue together
- If alliance members find broad consensus on a policy issue, they can decide to engage in advocacy on that issue.
- There must be at least one Red and Blue champion willing to spend time and energy to lead the work on the issue. In addition, at least 75% of Reds and 75% of Blues in the alliance must support the issue.
The Office of Field Operations (OFO) is a volunteer-led leadership team who provides support to Field Leaders (Alliance Co-Chairs, State Coordinators, and Regional Leads) leading alliances and growing activity in their states.
Looking for more info on what OFO does?
