Oct 8-10 NPC Evaluation Meeting Notes Goal Review, Goals 4-5

< National Planning Committee | Oct 8-10 NPC Evaluation Meeting Notes Goal Review, Goals 1-3

4. Deepen our commitment to international solidarity and common struggle (Walda)

In what ways did we achieve this goal?

In what ways did we fall short?

What are the political implications/recommendations/lessons?

Are there other goals implied or needed to move forward?

Goal 4

Deepen our commitment to international solidarity and common struggle

(notes from discussion/meeting)

• Introductions - people shared who they are and what brought them to this discussion. Louis Head, Jamie, Tdka, Ife, Jenn, Mezna, Alfredo, Cindy, Priscilla, Walda (facilitator)

• Who was there?

• Louis: Alot of people from Latin America were represented. There was a relative lack of relationships with Africa. Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Bolivia (the ambassador), Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Panama, Nicaragua, Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras, Canada, Puerto Rico (put alot of emphasis here). Africa - South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Mali, Senegal. Palestine, Iraq, Iran, India, Philipines, Haiti...not sure about other countries. Several people from the international council. it was pretty spread out. alot of it had to do with relationships that were in place. it cost alot of money to bring so many people in. We came up with objectives related to this goal: 1) integrate international people into these spaces (didn't get the rest) - want to put focus on what is meant by solidarity, we discused trying to get out of a constract of "fan-based organizing" and develop concrete workin rekationships to discuss dstrategies and mutual relationshkips. 2) to provide space for international pearticipants to speak to the contitions that are confronting them.

• Cindy - were most of the peopel here as a conscious plan of this committee or part of other organizations?

• Jen - different organizations had peol that they sponsored to come based on their relatinships. and the organizations there or here covered theri needs. Another is knowing about the forum and wrote to us asking for an invitation and we sent them an invitation for a visa and we may or may not have heard for them (or that may or may not have come). then we looked at variou struggles around teh works and part of the PMA process and we though of the strategic movements that we wanted to involve. and in the case of some of these people, conscious invitations were made. and so these were the 3 different levels that we saw.

• Louis - a challenge is that we didn't have money. we became a funds allocation committee, though we didn't want to play that role. there were no assumptions about how we should spend that money. we went with our gut. we w GGJ, which was helpful. It happened with a few others. if they had resources, then we wcould help them out. some people pon the plenaries though we would cover their costs, but we never knew that. So these things affected meeting othe objectives.

• In what ways did we fall short?

• In what way did we acheive the goal?

• What are the political implications/recommendations/lessons?

• Are there other goals implied or needed to move forward?

• Louis: Half of the money had been cut to D2D. They had already identified who they were going to bring in. I would like to get a sense of if these pepoel were NGOs? Or grassroots. This put us in an awkward situation. It led to some tension. In the end, making some linkages..it helped to promote the world social forum. But I think there is room for improvement.

• Alfredo: What is D2D?

• Walda - once we knew the USSF would be in Detroit and the WSF would be in Senegal. American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) and they work with funders. They thought it would be good to have a process of African american based and Africa based - to connect the diaspora. It became a slogan - D2D. Then tehre was funding specifically designated to the process. The integration and coordination - in terms of timing and political integration - wasn't what it couldve been to make it strategic and democratically organized process.

• Louis - it required a tremendous amount of time that we may not have had the ability to do.

• Alfredo - not sure how much came out of it. The techie house in Dakar - a huge thing comes out of it. A number of different activists, especially the indimedia center (in senegal). They were there at the forum and wanted to replicate techiehouse. They have 90 techies lined up for us to go to senegal to train them. We need to find out who will go and how we will get them there.

• Jen - the people who came from senegal came here. Alfredo: They sought us out and held 2 meetings with them.

• Walda - the technology piece is a linkage piece. Maybe it would be good to hear from you all in terms of how projection/streaming can help us answer this question. There aren't very many people who have answers to thse questions.

• Alfredo - when we discuss international participation, there was international viewing of the social forum proceedings, particularly the evening ones. Free Speech TV did a lot of interviewing of participants and it was playing 24 hours. There was some press conference, PMA, workshop coverage that was streaming. Telesur did a lot of streaming and Al Jazeerah was there too.

• Jamie - where we couldve done better - I was forefront of this decision making. We got hit with a huge bill with the internet...we saved the USSF a lot of money by going with DSL.

• Mezna - Amongst Palestinians - a lot watched Jamad Jamal. It was reported in the West Bank and it was in the diasporan newspapers. The most important thing to me wasn't how many watched it, but what the outcomes were. The PMA was translated in arab newspapers. It became a way of talking about international solidarity - why are we under seige? How it limits our ability to create space? The translations were for the national assembly, with a highlight of where Palestine entered into it ands what the diasporians will be held accountable for. And I think it is more important for the PMAs be translated into other languages. It created a reference point for people to discuss certain things. It is working that way. The Palestinian popular conference in Chicago is replicating the PMAs - but they are called the Palestinian Movement Assemblies. In a sense, international solidarity can also be about how we got to the social forum. These are just as important as the events. A lot of questions get raised - why was he selected to speak?

• Louis - going into the social forum there are a lot of possibilities in terms of the linkages that can be made. We did what we could to be supportive of this though we didn't get involved in the plenaries and PMA processes. Later we did. We knew going into this process we didn't want to have happen in detroit what happened in atlanta in terms of the Palestine.

• What happened? Walda - there was a first night plenary (anti war anti imperialism). There was a part Israeli women speaking who took a position on Hamas and ?. And there were no Palestinians on the plenary. So this was problematic that created a public incident. There had to be a statement by the NPC. It put us in a politically awkward position - a learning moment.

• Walda - are there other things that anyone wants to put on the table? Then I want to mention the border issues with indigenous peoples. There were a fair amount of participation of northern indigenous people. How do we think about these things - how does the international and indigenous sections intersect? How do we rethink what international means in a movement context in a movement moment?

• Mezna - Was there any work at the USSF with what was happening with the G20 in Toronto? Some people never came because ...one was arrested...but

• Louis - not enough. We were depending a lot on indigenous people to make the connections. A lot of people went from here to toronto. A lot of people ran into problems getting into canada, but most people were able to go in.

• Walda - do we want to take a stab about how well we achieved these goals. We can sum up what we think we said. In what ways do we think we met the goal of international solidarity defined not as material aid, but as real political solidarity.

• Alfredo - I think the big thing we did was that we were conscious of it. We had a real working group with some good people one it. It was a big improvement over 2007.

• Priscilla - I was at a number of meetings were we discussed the canadian border. There were a lot of people we werent able to get into the country, but I don't know how it played out. There were conversations about it.

• Walda - I think our coversation earlier spoke to specific ways/

• Louis - in terms of Puerto Rico, conversations that took place in the USSF led to rejuvenate/reestablished new relationships that went on around the 23rd independence. The fact that you had people from a significant Puerto rican committee participate on the NPC. That took a lot of conversations in Puerto Rico. It strengthened a lot of relationship building - we'll see how it plays out. Another example was pulling people together from the pushback network - new kind of left electoral organization with counterparts in Venezuela where people can talk about experiences beyond. The discussions about climate justice coming out of cancun, etc. - I want to hear more of substance on this. The social forum helped to increase connections between indigenous people in south america and the U.S. Historically the ties between indigenous people have been critical to developign a new definition of solidarity. This was a continuation of this process.

• Cindy - things I saw in the Asian American comminity. In the 2007 social forum, there was more consciousness given to the pacific Island countries - trying to get their issues surfaced in the USSf and get some representation. But I didn't see it much this time. Then the asian americans involved in the USSF in Detroit, they were conscous about organizing themselves better, but more about the issues they face in the U.S. but little about the struggles in their own countries. There was never any discussion about who can we bring from Asia. It speaks to where this generaion of asian americans is. The lack of relationship with movements in asia and the pacific islands. There is a strong philipine movement support here, but it represents only one voice. I don't really see any other asian movements.

• Louis - this raises the question, why?

• Cindy - Koreans were well represented at the last social forum. But this may be a reflection of the state of the U.S. movement. And the state of those organizations in the U.S.

• Ife - representation of African people in the structure, process,etc.

• Mezna - Felt that the USSF was too inaccessible in some ways. There were others that wanted to come, but opted not to come. There was a reach out and then a pull back.

• Louis - there was outreach in a lot of directions. Letters of invitation were sent out to people. Then the question is how will they get there. You can get someone (in the right amount of time), get them here, put them up and in less than a grand. If you do it from Africa, you are looking at no less than $1,500. Even people working on D2D, the fares jump up, etc. Cochabama (Climate Justice) had a big influence on Detroit. We had to shift gears after people came back. The resources...we have to figure out a better way.

• Walda - we discussed earlier the streaming that went out and also translation into multiple languages, not as an abstract process, but with people involved in the process.

• Mezna - linking in NPC members that can have that translation.

• Walda - in terms of answering in what ways did we achieve the goal

• There was international participation. And we consciously tought to get people involved. There was a conscious decision to have an international committee that then tried to politically agitate other groups. You were all strapped for time and resources. Participation was greater where there were organic connections. Having these connection means that there will be greater participation.

• There was streaming

• There was getting these documents

• So did we "deepen our commitment to international solidarity…"

• Jamie - we did very well - deepening - but given what we were able to do was between slightly and moderately

• Cindy - in the Americas we did well and in the rest of the world not so well

• Alfredo

• Walda - a more discussion on the role of technology and streaming is needed

• Mezna - the Palestinian became a people of color discussion. We have to start understanding Palestinians as indigenous (within this frame)...a bunch of folks. I think Rosa Clemente moderated it.

• Walda - rethinking and broadening indigenous struggles.

• How did we fall short?

• Alfredo - resources/money. I might add, I don't get a warm fuzzy from a lot of foundations about funding this kind of stuff. We are running into this right now. And then a logistical problem with the visa stuff. And then a wider political front - controversial - I don't think the NPC was involved enough. I find it bizarre that we have this level of interest in Africa that they had to seek us out but the NPC didn't have the interest to forge these relationships.

• Louis - by the time the decision got made, it wasn't through the NPC or the international team. Rather the money was raised and there was a deal made. What it did was prevented us from having a broader discussion in the NPC.

• Alfredo - I think that is what I am seeing. It is an NPC problem.

• Jamie - I didn't attend all the NPC meetings. The one in May, I don't know if there was another NPC meeting that addressed international participation.

• Mezna - Was there a discussion on international solidarity?

• Walda - this is one of the many p9olitical discussions that we never took the time to have as a political discussion about what does it mean to be a part of an international process, struggle. When we have the USSF, it is really a place to lift up the struggles in the U.S. And so short of the political realignment...we haven't redefined solidarity as common struggle on your own turf. I can tell you the automatic push back is that if we don't have the plenary being U.S. struggles then it wont serve the purpose of strengthening U.S. struggles. So the idea is how to demonstrate the commonality of struggles around the world.

• Mezna - what are the implications of not having these conversations? And we have not come to some sort of consensus of what solidarity means? What common struggle means? That political conversations aren't just platforms but go back to how we organize.

• Walda - Lack of time to have the kind of integration and coordination, particularly in terms of the D2D.

• Alfredo - there are political decisions...our movement considers Latin American much easier to deal with than Africa. There has to be a place where we admit that stuff.

• That has to have an effect on the decisions we make.

• Walda - even how we understand the Palestinian struggle is conflated with so many things. So I think we need to revisit that question. And you (to Cindy) talked about the absence of Asia.

• Walda - Are the actors in the world thinkign that we are a part of a global movement. The technology question enables us to do a whole lot more than the face to face stuff.

• Mezna - part of this, at least for the Palestine tract - when it comes to certain issues, when there is a sense that solidarity may face pushback, how do you get a commitment among the NPC to fully come on board if there is fear. Knowing that international solidarity isn't easy. There are implications of solidarity that may come back to you. How do you prepare and educate each other about what forces are actually there versus what we perceive to bet there. We need political discussion about international solidarity that is sustainable and that doesn't tear at the fabric of the bases we have in the U.S.

• Jamie - do we think that the NPC's international work is the same as what actually takes place?

• Walda - under the question

• Tdka - who funds NPC? And then who funds USSF? If you get money from corporate sponsors, there are some political positions that are difficult to take. The tension is always there. You asked a question (to jamie) about what the NPC versus what is happening at the forum. On the ground things are happening. But where money comes through,

• Mezna - how may workshops were issue specific - like Palestine-related. And how many workshops tried to bring in different movements.

• Ife - we have a list of workshops and descriptions and whomever goes through this can sift through the data to answer this.

• Walda - the PMAs were the forum to come together to converge. The workshops were proposed by 1-3 organizations...i was thinking that international solidarity was one of the themes. I think there was about 15-20% of the workshops fit in here.

• Louis - there is a certain chunk of people who work on specific issues and themes. One of the things we wanted to do was looking at the workshops going on and who is coming to see if we can do some mixing and matching. In the international team we had to spend time who we would give bits of money to. It was a challenge just dealing with the workshops. We have to really look at workshops, vetting workshops...doing this in the future, is it going to be done? I worked on some cases of getting things integrated, but sometimes you would run into people who are in their comfort zone and aren't willing to work it out.

• Priscilla - this was also done in water rights...we had 2 organizing phoen calls, we combined a lot of workshops, and some were just let go completely because they were repeats.

• Mezna - we had on our website to let us know if you want to submit to the USSF. And we would recommend how to combine. Where they weren't willing, they just went.

• Implications and Lessons

• Jamie - our performance/success is linked to the movement. The movement itself has a lot of work to do.

• Alfredo - the commitment this time is greater than any other time. We did more work in this area. The advances in technology in the world and movement, but also the USSF commitment to use this technology. We also are a part of the movement, and we suffer from its limitations. Some include consciousness on the issues of Africa and the Middle East...not a lot of knowledge. These are 2 genocidal areas. The policy of imperialism in those parts of the world is to wipe people out.

• Ife - invest in technology so that more can participate

• Tdka - how can we focus resoruces in the countries lacking the technology to interface. I didn't sense that there was a sense of urgency with the social forum until the last month. Finally, I hear that people say lets have a political discussion - what does this mean? Is it race, gender, class, etc.? I don't think people want to sit around and talk. I would want to know what ...timing, resources, sense of urgency and enhancing the technological infrastructure of those you would want to be a part of this process.

• Walda - any political discussion we have should be grounded in the movement. Where is the state of the movement and where people are in it. The lack of overall vision and coordination - nobody held the big picture and the coordination of the parts. In proposing plenaries, technology, etc. Workshops we don't have - those are self organized and self submitted. We need to be clear about where is...how open is open? And the question of workshops. And if there is a new social forum, workshops may be less of a part of it. Taking these lessons into practice will inform what is useful in this sort of gathering.

• Louis - I gave a presentation in Alburqueque...i agree with what Alfredo was saying - we created this space. We need to pay someone to work this process.

• Walda - There was no paid staff on international. Staffing should be handled holistically. Not that workgroups make a proposal. This is a political decision.

• Louis - on the Africa piece - whenever I have asked people about Nairobi and grassroots vs NGO participation, people describe it as a big disaster. It was an opportunity over the last few years for relationship building to take place. There is a problem (consciousness) with the kinds of relationships that people have. There is an opportunity to strengthen those ties. Even in Latin America - the ties are stronger there, but we have people who have developed relationships over a long period of time and were held up.

• Jenn - within the global social forum process the politics are very different. The Latin Americans within the inner politics, the left, most radical elements are from Latin America. Smaller numbers of people from the U.S., Africa, Asia, etc. There are a lot of NGOs from these other places, so there is a disequilibrium of who is represented. There are fierce struggles of who is included on the international council.

• Louis - There are a lot of serious patron/client relations between Euro and African people.

• Jenn - there are fierce struggles.

• Tdka - how do you inject what is necessary into the internal movements.

• Walda - we should have a plan that relates back to this goal

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5. Strengthen local capacity to improve social conditions, organizing and movement building in Detroit (Steph)

In what ways did we achieve this goal?

- We advanced this goal from the 07 USSF

- Atlanta/Southeast was not as centered or lifted up in 07

- advanced on both fronts -Detroit struggles lifted up & people from outside Detroit learned more and connected to Detroit to understand their own struggles in that context

Julio / Centro Obrero

- 4 organizations got together and stuck it out

- PMA process - brought individuals and organizations together to ignite

- guerilla approach allows for movement and allowed for more understanding

- Membership got involved and saw the political world through the Forum lens

- In cooperation with 4 campuses, developed a curriculum to offer a course for students

- connected to movement through the anchor groups

- significant change (qualitative & quantitative)

- student groups

- Groups were working in Ann Arbor, Lansing and other places

Maureen / MWRO

- We had a national characteristic through the Natl Welfare rights Union Once the commitment was

- We had a long-time relationship with Centro, met and learned about EMEAC

- Built and learned about each other’s organizations, missions, and members – deeply throughout the journey

- We met people who we thought were significant in the community but weren’t and folks who we didn’t know, who are significant (beyond the phony labor people, who are the churches that will really work, etc.)

- From the standpoint of this being a convergence – we came together and brought our understanding to a new place

- Never had an opportunity to learn so much about so many people / through working together

- Political friendships

- lifetime relationships – getting a building together; collaborating

- Detroit – survival on an everyday level

Oya / DLOC rep

- Acknowledge the work of DLOC and the anchors

- groups coming together who don’t normally come together, stay in silos

- learning how to work differently

- PMAs helped with that

- Impressed by Chicago solidarity and groups showing up and helping

- MEDIA – looking at Detroit through a false perspective

o Coming here changed the way people see Detroit

o We served as our own media

- Changed the views of funders, global movements

Diana / EMEAC

- How did we hold local space –

o We hired local coordinators right away

o Work brigades to introduce Detroit

o Tours

o Endorsed actions that would connect to the politics in the city

o Making the commitment to the local t-shirt cooperative

o Including Sharon George in the indigenous working group as a local leader connected directly to the planning

- Tremendous amount of weight

o Hard to understand what that means – what local work doesn’t happen because there’s this thing coming and happening

§ Hard to communicate that

B / Chicago

- What was the breadth of the Detroit social movements that were engaged and strengthened?

Charity / BFSN

Movement people were holding space but people on the street were not touched

- Levels of social conditions were not improved – how do we take the realities and put a political frame around it?

- How do we take our advocacy and get people in the driver seat for their own lives?

Anchors got naked and jumped out of the silos – but how do we transform lives of folks affecte to connect to movement frames?

- we have language – but does it work on the street

- We are moving forward with each other = food, ej, poverty

3 World Task Forces up and running around food justice

- came out of the Forum

Campaign on right-sizing meeting brought a lot of folks back together

- environmental justice, food justice, social justice, economic justice

- Legacy of the USSF has transformed us on how we’re going to create grassroots democracy

o Planning to hold an Assembly – and invite the neighborhoods

- We are on the move

People from different demographic groups working together / instead of everyone doing their own thing

- Democracy hurts – not easy

- intergenerational / Black communities, latinos, gay folks

Terry / DLOC

Without an organization behind me here, I plugged into local tasks and work

Making connections engaged people and got them in to the Forum

- Coordination of groups - between Detroit and others

People/ artists said the Social Forum changed the way they did their work

- building coalitions between different cities

- going on tours together

- engaging more with communities and group / not just performers

People really saw Detroit and Detroit folks saw the Forum

- transformed people’s experience

- River Paegant

- Chase Bank action / FLOC

- Incinerator action

Still talking about it now within communities

- Even Cobo Hall employees got themselves re-hired afterwards / even UAW worked well together at the end of the day

In what ways did we fall short?

Challenge to work with the NPC

o Difficulty listening to local leadership about what would happen in our city

How do the organizers and local groups on the community/block level get engaged?

o Not just folks who are already engaged in the social justice

- found myself needing to connect to how local grassroots connects to global movement resistance

Communities were wary of being involved (ie African-centered communities)

o Looked elite, white – perception

o But came because of relationships came and saw something good

Important to name the shortcomings so that we are moving better in the direction we’re headed - Key to continuous globalization of the process

o Inform the next social forum on the mistakes and challenges we made

o Don’t have to repeat the same mistakes

Politics: Failure in being overwhelmed <MWRO taking responsibility>

- no idea how to prepare for the numbers

- computers died – we needed more of everything

- Every day was a day of overwhelming / after 20min, chaotic – got to get tactical and manage

- Took on different mode of struggle – Preparedness in order to manage the flexibility that you need

- There was a complete underestimation of what was needed

Capacity = People and time

- we had enough veterans and defaulted to trust

- we need to write this out - assignment by assignment

- For the next Forum site: Don’t duplicate – do it your way, but know these things

- PS Report – showed the immensity and helped orient

Structures that helped and can help further

- Orientation before every DLOC

- Multiple entry points – committees and working group

o We need everyone coming in, and we can’t start over every time

- History is transferred

- We need to build shared language, commitment

o We need to build relationships and know the gifts and skills you are bringing

Healing space

- practicing the other world, didn’t bring everyone with us

- fractures in communication and into old dynamics of western medicine & healing

- create more feedback loops

Security

- trainings, everyone did their best

- not coordinated well enough

- NPC members did not connect to the process

What happened in Detroit is characteristic of US-based individualism and product-based process - “bread and butter movement”

We lack ideology – movements of the past discuss ideology, capitalism, there is a political character - What is the political approach

What are the political implications/recommendations/lessons?

What do these lessons mean about leadership and how to shift the weight of decision-making in the next process?

Where do we see Michigan now? Where is Detroit now?

- Peace group moving forward / needs to know all the groups that came from Michigan

o Encampment and march for peace jobs, cost of the war

- FRAMES – connecting local realities to global realities

o Code-switching to engage folks living on the edge

o Fundamental change

o Don’t assume nothing about what people know / assuming that everyone here is ok

o Meet people where they’re at

Organizing strategies that meet people where they’re at

- Frame is not at the front

- Where are you at right now?

- Dialogue directly

- Art, music, concerts

How do we re-weight the leadership to reflect the purpose and work?

o Re-word “national” and “local”

Rightsizing is a potential tool to keep folks engaged and collaborating

Culture

– local took national process on

- no precedent for the work to be integrated

o Plenaries, PMA, Program, logistics, work projects, etc.

o Cultural work – film festival, childrens’ art space, program, stages, creativity lab, etc.

- got what we asked for and didn’t know the level of that kind of work

- leadership still did the work when volunteers didn’t show

- BUILD A BIGGER TEAM

o Work is essential – How we do it needs to change

o Write it up and get it out

o Need to understand the money and how to use it – last minute planning

Maureen – recommendations:

CONCERTED effort to write down everything that happened and how it got that way

NPC needs to define itself – does not know what it is

- should be an advisory capacity

o restructured / re-labeled as an advisory committee of multiple organizations with multiple goals

o Set goals about the task of the body

o To organize the relationships between national spaces & international

o Term-limited

- false impression that NPC would organize the Social Forum

- internal review of role

- Needs fundraising team that is working to build throughout

If there is another national forum – there needs to be some deliberative conversations with an Organizing Committee that goes to different places – dispatched

- Tell potential organizers exactly what the Forum is – Vision and language

- Expectations about what will happen and how to make it happen

- Every kind of possibility

- What is the Forum? How do we utilize a timeline and build out what is needed in order to achieve the goals?

GOALS – expected outcomes written down / and what were unintended outcomes

3 recommendations: (Diana)

1) Need more local to local work transfer

2) Body that represents organizers of the previous location need to be working directly with the organizers of the next location – clarity of roles / Good to have a document but need to workshop the plans

2) Definitions of principles –

- EMEAC latched on the goals and principles and that made it easy to move

- What does it mean to be led by people of color and the poverty movement?

- Who are indigenous leaders and how are they representing?

Community to community support

- NPC organizations did not support Detroit

- Did not create national outreach plan

- What synergy could have been created between local and regional work?

- Regional gathering worked in the South

- Organize specific roles with communities to hold and create flying squads

o Hold each other up based on proximity

Use smaller, regional forums and assemblies as benchmarks and movement building spaces that lead into a larger US-based movement forum

- Need a three year plan that leads into and builds a stronger forum

- Create benchmarks of program work that we can grow

Recommendations:

- Be intentional – don’t assume we’re going to get along just because we’re movement people

- Define the NPC – what is the goal, what does it create and build?

- Define the Working Groups – clarity about scope, goals, procedures, program, recruitment, skills needed

- Address questions of leadership – purpose, roles / claim it, and who it is

o No more self-selection into leadership positions

- Everyone should be a volunteer who comes to the Forum – build the expectation

- NPC as a culture and a working group need to change – how do we do work in a way that’s not toxic? It’s going to be hard but why does it have to be toxic?

Capacity for local organizers and organizations

- time, skills, emotional capacity, work/life balance checks

- people got burned and exhausted

- sense of urgency in the space was so intense, shocking

Are there other goals implied or needed to move forward?

How is data & organizing handled so that local groups can continue working?

Convergence – means we need to be thinking about After the Forum

o We should be planning ahead the next few months and the next two years

How does the power shift happen?

- How do we respect the leadership of the local bodies hosting?

- Don’t come in paternalistic

- The only way power could be exercised meant to take care of everything

- Create a culture of humility and reciprocity

o Even if the skills aren’t there, can accept support