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Sample
invitation...
Reuniting
America
“A transpartisan
citizen townhall dialogue”
_________________
Event
Co-Sponsorship Invitation
We invite your organization to
participate in Reuniting America: “A transpartisan campaign of
political reconciliation.”
THE NEED:
Left-right political polarization is rapidly undermining the
health of our system of governance. “A house divided against it
self cannot stand.”
BRIEF BACKGROUND:
Reuniting America is a transpartisan national initiative that
has emerged from facilitated conversations that took place at a
private retreat in December 2005 among the leaders of national
membership organizations from across the political spectrum
representing over 70 million Americans. It includes leaders of
Americans for Tax Reform, MoveOn.org, Christian Coalition,
Sierra Club, American Legion and League of Women Voters. The
term “transpartisanship” has emerged to provide a meaningful
alternative to “bipartisanship,” and “nonpartisanship.”
Bipartisanship limits the dialogue process to two political
viewpoints or entities, striving for compromise solutions.
Nonpartisanship, on the other hand, tends to deny the existence
of differing viewpoints in exchange for cooperation. In
contrast to these, transpartisanship recognizes the existence
and validity of many points of view, and advocates a
constructive dialogue aimed at arriving at creative,
breakthrough solutions that meet the needs of all present.
INVITATION:
You are invited to send 5 members of your organization to
participate in a transpartisan citizen townhall dialogue. The
day long facilitated event will address such questions as:
-
"What values do you
hold dear, and how are they honored in political life today?"
-
"What are the
deepest longings of the American people, and what would it
take to meet them?"
-
"What change do you
most think is most needed in America today?"
MEETING FORMAT:
Small and large group dialogue
professionally facilitated by an outside facilitator.
Featured dialogue process –
“World
Café”: When
people are asked where they have experienced their most
significant conversations, nearly everyone recalls sitting
around a kitchen or dining room table. There is an easy intimacy
when gathering at a small table that most of us immediately
recognize. When you walk into a room and see it filled with café
tables you know that you are not in for your usual business
meeting. The World Café format – widely used in government,
corporate and community settings – allows for respectful,
authentic conversation that helps diverse groups explore
questions that matter and begin to identify areas of common
concern and potential cooperation.
WHEN:
Saturday, April 22, 9:00am to 4:00pm.
Registration begins at 8:30am.
Lunch is included.
WHERE:
Large community meeting room, Medford Library, 205 S. Central,
Medford
CO-SPONSORSHIP INVESTMENT:
$100 per organization to cover room, table rental, meeting
supply, meal, facilitation and organization costs.
WHO:
125 Jackson County citizens, 5 members each from 25 of the
following invited co-sponsor organizations.
Responses will be accepted based on the requirement to achieve
balanced participation.
ACLU of Oregon
Americans for Tax Reform
American Legion
American Library Association
Basic Rights Oregon
Carpenter Foundation
Christian Coalition of Oregon
Common Cause
Compassionate Listening Project
Constitution Party
Democratic Party
First Baptist Church
First United Methodist Church
Green Party
Headwaters
Junior League of Jackson County
Kiwanis Club
Knights of Columbus
League of Women Voters
Lions Club
Masonic Temple
Medford Chamber of Commerce
MoveOn.org
Oregon Action
Oregon Bus Project
Oregon Hunters Association
Peace House
Qur'an Foundation
Republican Party
Retired & Senior Volunteers
Rotary Club
Rogue Valley Council of Government
Sacred Heart Catholic Church
Sierra Club
Teamsters Local 223
Temple Emek Shalom
United Way of Jackson County
CO-CONVENED BY:
Democracy in America Project and Mediation Works
______________________________________________________
Co-Sponsor
Registration Form
CONTACTS:
For more information about the nature of the event, contact Joseph
McCormick, Democracy in America Project, 488-4878. For more
information about event logistics, contact Mary Miller, Mediation
Works, 770-2468.
PAYMENT:
Please
return this form with a co-sponsorship check for $100 to Karsten
Peterson, Registration Coordinator, Reuniting America, c/o
Mediation Works, 33 N. Central Ave., #306, Medford, OR 97501.
Make check payable to Mediation Works.
Please designate one person with your
organization to act as the Organization Event Coordinator:
Name of Organization
__________________________________________________________________________
Coordinator Name Address
Email Phone
________________
______________________ ________________ ______________
IMPORTANT NOTE:
This event is designed to create relationships of trust, respect
and communication among people from diverse points of view using
meeting processes that build upon each other, session by session
from 9:00am to 4:00pm. It is therefore requested, for the
integrity of the process and as a courtesy to all participants,
that sponsors ask their participants to:
□
Commit to arriving on time and remaining
for the duration of the event, 9:00am to 4:00pm.
□
Commit to attending in their role as
American citizens, not in their role as formal representatives of
a sponsoring organization.
Participant Name
Address
Email Phone
________________
______________________ ________________ ______________
________________
______________________ ________________ ______________
________________
______________________ ________________ ______________
________________
______________________ ________________ ______________
________________
______________________ ________________ ______________
EVENT LOCATION:
Medford Library (between Ninth and Tenth – 3 blocks south of Main)
205 South Central, Medford, Oregon 97501
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