Community Collaborations Network
Leader Resources
Welcome new CCN registrants! This will be your home base for announcements and resources.
Need help now? Contact Julie Boler, Braver Angels Community Collaborations Manager, at julieboler@braverangels.org.
ORIENTATION CALENDAR
Orientations are typically held on Tuesday afternoons at 2:00 p.m., Eastern Time. If this time doesn’t work for you, please contact Julie Boler at julieboler@braverangels.org. We will be happy to find an alternative time!
ABOUT THE COMMUNITY COLLABORATIONS NETWORK
Overview: You are joining a national network of local civic, religious, and campus organizations aiming to decrease political polarization. Braver Angels provides training and resources to local leaders as they develop depolarization strategies for their communities. The network provides opportunities to co-create and learn through connections with similar groups across the United States.
Onboarding: On their own timetable, collaborators complete a 3-phase onboarding process: the Incubation Phase, the Launch Event, and the Action-Planning Phase.
SECTION ONE - The Incubation Phase
We want to help the members of your leader team develop a strong understanding of the Braver Angels approach to engaging across viewpoint. We have laid out a four-step process that we think will help accomplish that. You can follow these steps at your own pace, and please let us know if we can help with logistics, such as scheduling.
- If you haven’t already done so, please join Braver Angels by purchasing a $12 annual membership in Braver Angels. We ask each member of your leader team to become a member.
- Use the schedule and links above to sign up for your Zoom Orientation.
- We ask each leader to attend a free Braver Angels event, such as an online workshop, skills training, or debate. See our What We Do page to read about the choices, and the Events Calendar to find one that fits your interests. (Previously attended events count! Just let us know if you have already attended something.
- Each leader-team member pairs up with another of a different political leaning for a Braver Angels 1:1 Conversation. This structured, self-moderated conversation takes place in two, 1-hour sessions.
SECTION TWO - The Launch Event
What is the launch event?
The launch event is a gathering held to introduce your organization to the Braver Angels Community Collaborations Network, to talk about the current political divide in America, to discuss what your group has to offer in the healing process, and to help members identify actions that they can take.
This event is organized and hosted by your leader team with our support. We provide a Braver Angels event template which you enhance, customizing it with your organization’s own language, culture, traditions, and rituals.
Here are some objectives for the launch event. You may want to add your own:
- Participants have an understanding of the way political polarization challenges each of us—locally, regionally, and across the country—and the impact it can have on relationships, organizations, and communities.
- Participants have an awareness of how this work fits in with the values, spirit, and history of this organization, and how it can have value in many contexts.
- Participants feel motivated to engage in the work of bridging the divide in their organization, their personal lives, their community, and in the wider world. Some of your members commit to taking action in collaboration with Braver Angels.
Launch Event Templates
SECTION THREE - Options for Action Planning
After your launch event, you should have a sense of the level and types of interest your organization’s members have in taking part in this collaboration with Braver Angels. You may gain additional volunteers to help with depolarization events and projects.
When you reach the Action Planning stage, the Community Collaborations Team will be available to help you strategize about next steps for your organization. There are many options to explore. You can develop a plan that works well with your organization’s calendar, priorities, and leadership capacity.
Here are a few ideas to consider:
- Join Braver Angels Alliances where they exist in your area, or learn the steps required to establish a new one.
- Hold a series of Braver Angels workshops, debates, and skills trainings chosen from our available offerings.
- Invite local candidates and elected officials to participate in Braver Angels-designed political community events like our Town Halls and Candidate Debates.
- Host viewing parties to watch and discuss the Braver Angels documentary and/or other films on bridging the partisan divide.
- Form a book club to read and discuss the recommended titles in our Braver Angels library.
- Develop an initiative all your own, using Braver Angels tools and materials to focus on polarized issues important to your organization.
SECTION FOUR - The Network
This is a current look at elements comprising ongoing participation in the Braver Angels Community Collaborations Network. We invite participants in the network to offer suggestions and requests for platforms and events they feel would enhance the value of the network.
- The Braver Angels team will host weekly Round Tables for Community Collaborators, where they can meet with the leader teams of other community organizations across the country engaged in the same work. Time is provided for experience sharing, brainstorming, problem-solving, co-creating, and mutual support. (Calendar will be posted soon.)
- We will host quarterly meetings to provide program news and updates, spotlight organizations, and offer in-depth exploration of depolarization issues most relevant to attending collaborators. (Look for this calendar soon as well.)
- We are in development of an online-meeting space for networking between like groups. I.e., a space for organizations involved with higher education, a space for religious community collaborators, and a space for civic group leaders.
SECTION FIVE - Additional Resources
These resources are freely available to you as collaborators in the Community Collaborations Network. As members of Braver Angels, you may also find useful materials and links in our Members Portal. For further help and support, contact us at ccn@braverangels.org.
Depolarization Readings
Zoom Events Guidelines
Introduce Your Group to Braver Angels
Please bookmark this page and check back often; especially for Announcements, additions to the Orientation and Round Table calendars, and for new resources in Section Five!