Larry Ockene broke the ice with his view of the key actions we should focus on in the coming months, informed by the recent DA EMEA retreat and a subsequent meeting with the EMEA Regional Vice Chair. The overriding goals should be to (a) strengthen our membership base, and (b)GOTV (get out the vote) for the mid-term elections. Specific attention areas include:
- Member database clean-up: By end-January, DA requires that the database be purged of any members with whom we have not had contact in two years. Therefore it is imperative that we setup a phonebank campaign to reach those individuals, and keep them active if they still reside in Luxembourg.
- Membership growth: Our current membership (before database cleanup) is ~400 individuals. Luxembourg STATEC estimates that there are approximately 2,200 US citizens residing in Luxembourg. We need an organized effort to reach as many of these as possible. Some approaches discussed include: (1) Reaching out to our individual networks of friends, colleagues, and affinity groups (e.g. AWCL); (2) Leveraging social media channels; (3) Networking at Meetup events (e.g. Americans in Luxembourg) and business associations (e.g. AmCham); (4) Distribution of flyers to relocation agencies and educational institutions (e.g. MUDEC); and (5) Articles and interviews in local English-language news sources.
- Budgeting and fundraising: We recently spent about 1,000 Euros on the Thanksgiving postcard mailing. We speculate that physical mail can reach some who might otherwise ignore email notices. There are other things we can do to gain eyeballs that cost money. Therefore, we need to identify which to pursue, budget for them, and ask our membership base for modest contributions to help fund them.
- GOTV: Later in 2026 we will start active campaigning to get our members and other US citizens to register to vote.
- Membership participation: In order to accomplish all of the above, we need your help. Please come to the first Tuesday meetings to contribute to the dialog, and/or volunteer to help with phone banking and outreach. If you’d like more information on how to get involved, please contact us at info-luxembourg@
democratsaborad.org .
DAL member Dana Rufolo, a member of the Global Women's Caucus, invites members who may be interested to join the virtual Book Blub to be held Sunday, Novemeber 16th to discuss the book Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie. This book recounts an ancient story, Antigone, in modern form. Antigone is the timeless clash of people torn between their cultural identity and loyalty to the state against political and social activists who wish to alienate them. Family, faith, power, and culture played out in modern England. Pakistani Muslim English siblings caught by radicalization and the forces in our society that we are all facing. Call it radicalization, maga-ism, hatred of the Other,
misplaced faith… it’s alas our lot today.
Date/Time: Sunday, November 16, 2025 at 10:00 AM Eastern Time (US & Canada) / 4 PM CET
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/
Meeting ID: 819 8065 2498
Passcode: 321485