What I'm doing

Yesterday, my mom and I piled into a car with a zip-lock bag of trail mix, two sandwiches (one with Dijon mustard... eew), and all the mix tapes I ever made in elementary school. Mission: drive to DC. Method: avoid the GW; take the Tappan Zee.

We were on our way to my dear friend Laura Zax's house, where, with the extremely gracious hospitality of her parents, I will be staying for the next 6 weeks while I work with AmericaSpeaks on the Our Budget, Our Economy project.

Today, I had my first day of work at the AmericaSpeaks office. Mission: be a nonpartisan force to actively include citizens' voices in governmental decision-making on important public issues. Method: organize meetings that engage large, diverse groups of Americans in discussing and formulating informed opinions about a key issue; report findings to elected officials so that actual policy will reflect actual citizens' needs.

I first worked with AmericaSpeaks in Louisiana, where a team of organizers was working to empower Gulf Coast residents who had been affected by hurricanes Ike, Katrina, and Gustav and continued to face the threats of debilitating hurricanes. I talked to people who had just moved out of FEMA trailers. I saw first-hand the effect of hurricane-caused homelessness on New Orleans residents. I served Danny Glover a po-boy at a jazz club in the Tremé (true story for another time). Most importantly, our team of organizers put together the Rebuilding Lives Summit, a 21st Century Town Meeting that took place in January of 2009.

A what?

A 21st Century Town Meeting is a large conference that AmericaSpeaks has been using and perfecting since the organization's inception in 1995. When state or national government leaders are faced with tough decisions on issues that effect many citizens, AmericaSpeaks adeptly organizes diverse, representative groups of Americans to deliberate on what needs to be done. Volunteers facilitate conversations at smaller tables, individuals vote on issues using wireless keypads and send their opinions via laptop to a central data team, and the aggregated results of everyone's conversations are projected on a large screen. This way, literally hundreds or thousands can actively participate in the same conversation at the same time, and ultimately the process produces real data about citizens' priorities.

Our Budget, Our Economy will utilize 6 of these Town Meetings in major cities across the country, in addition to smaller meetings in key congressional districts and smaller communities. I'm working with the Community Conversations team to recruit and support organizers and facilitators who can run these smaller meetings on June 26, the date of Our Budget, Our Economy.

I believe that AmericaSpeaks' approach to citizen involvement has the potential to positively change the way government officials approach policy decisions, so I'm excited to have the opportunity to work with this group in a new capacity at their central office in DC.

I'm here! I'm ready to work! Let's do some civic engagement!