USSF PMA Call January 20, 2014
Facilitator: David
Note taker: Anna
David, Jerome, Walda, Steph, Rose, Spence, Anna
1. Budget
David
– There is a need to be able to hire staff with lived experience
Steph
– It would be important to have staff time devoted to working on PMA process as organizing arm and engine for USSF and there is a need to look over what position will do, e.g., coordination, direct support, documentation
o Agenda building, strategic support, ensuring connection to the political foundation
- Project South has learned that it is important that organizers are housed in organizations. Staff time could be housed in 1-2 organizations or 1 that could really take it on.
- The budget should also include the costs of assemblies – travel, material, food, lodging.
- As the PMA is the central organizing effort in USSF, it would make sense to bring high-end proposal that includes budgetary numbers. Also there should be criteria to access USSF funds. What is relationship between different funds?
- At least part time job over next 2 yrs. Less as national coordination job more and more as organizing job
- Project South wants to have more internal organization conversations before making formal proposal to anyone <p>Rose
- As we don’t have any resources, this is going to require different kind of thought process
Walda
- This should be discussed with the resource dev working group
Jerome
- Going towards hiring staff person for both PMA and outreach is great idea
David
- We have done work to get political agreement on NPC that PMAs are outreach tool and integrate political ed. into USSF process overall.
- Would love to see Project South be the organization that anchors staff. Still open to Move to Amend acting as co-anchor if that makes sense
- PMA toolkit is great to take to funders
- It would be important to have someone from Project South on monthly NPC calls
David
- Sent out rough proposal that is initial thoughts
o Half time staffer for outreach / PMA working group - $1750/mo. (march – dec)
o Pacifica NW process – asking for $10K to help facilitate for Sept 2014 – talking about this as social forum
• Bellingham process opened folks up to more participative PMAs
o $10K for each for each of 3 Move to Amend PMAs – Oakland, Tucson, Boston
o ? SOA watch, Appalachia, Louisville
o How to fund movement schools?
o Materials and resources needed for synthesis work and tracking/collecting of data
Steph
- One of the questions is if there is $ / funders on deck or rather do resource dev crew need budget before going searching for donations.
o Conversations need to be had about how to fundraise for this
o If this is central to process, it needs to be part of the planning /NPC process
David
- Resource dev folks are asking all groups to create own budget
- PMA/outreach is different and so particular – how to come up with budget within the political process
Jerome
- PMA/outreach is part of bigger process
- Foundations may want to fund but they will get it within the broader political process
Rose
- I think this becomes central to NPC understanding political aspect of what we are doing
- The budget is a political document that connect dots that people may not have understood
- Pressing for more complete and full document
Walda
- This is part of overall budget we submitted (not working group)
- Work in close collaboration with NPC to develop budget
David
- Resource dev folks know that PMA WG is planning out budget.
Spence
- #s feel imbalanced - more funding to specific PMAs than towards coordination. Worry that it might generate more focus on one off PMAs and less on creating ongoing process.
Jerome
- Would Project South be interested in housing someone for this task?
Steph
- Project South is interested in the possibility, although it would depend on the job description
- would want to have more internal conversation before laying something down on paper
Conclusion
Steph, Rose, and David will get on a call on Jan 28 (Tuesday) 6pm est, 5pm central to take this info translate into work plan and hash out numbers.
2. Past PMAs
Bellingham
- Turned the work meeting into day long PMA
- 60 people show up (14 people of color)
- Anchors: Community to Community and Move to Amend
- participation from Jobs with Justice, Hip Hop Congress, Global Fam (all of which are coming onto NPC)
- changed process - start with visioning, then current moment, then plans
- first time that almost everyone there had done PMA, eval was positive
- next planning meeting for Pacific NW – going to be in agreement can do this as PMA
- while way behind SMA, can see potential of getting this region in motion
- need better representation of Native American organizations/ African American organizations
o some individuals present and participating but no organizations
o 7th Generation Fund is part of Pacific NW process
o Alyssa Macey who is part of Native Arts and Cultural Council is participating and doing outreach
o Community 2 Community, which does much work with farm workers and Latino population, is anchoring and part of overall process
3. Upcoming PMAs
- SMA: Steph
- Pacific NW: Edgar, David
- Appalachia: Evelyn (Charleston, WV), who has been full up dealing with the chemical fields
o Steph going to try to nest into SMA
- Louisville
Future PMAs
- Need to examine where are we not, where we should, and what processes do we want in process
Rose
- Interested in decision making about how/where we identify folk who should be involved
Walda
- Need to keep an eye on who’s involved – focus on Youth, Indigenous Peoples,
Rose
- SMA is heavily African American
- Should be goal of all PMAs to pay attention to presence of Indigenous/African American/Youth populations
David
- With support from Jerome, Move to Amend is creating entire curriculum focused on colonialism and white supremacy for the base
Other
- There has there been talk about creating an intentional listing of different fronts of struggle/PMAs and anchor groups taking on different fronts of struggle, but it has not yet happened.
- David won’t be on next call