ProDA announces our new ProDA Liaison Position Description. The description was emailed to all our global members with a request for comments. Several members took a look, and we didn’t get any negative comments, so the position description is now official!

Please contact ProDA with interest or questions by using the ProDA action survey or emailing [email protected]

Progressive Caucus Local Liaison Position Description:

The ProDA Local Liaison will act as the connection between their local group and ProDA’s global organization.

Note:

ProDA refers to the Progressive Caucus of Democrats Abroad.

“Local” refers to a discrete group, whether in a specific city, region, country, state (members focused on a specific state) or other affinity group, such as a group working on a specific issue or campaign. Local chapters could be a chapter of ProDA, or a general chapter of Democrats Abroad (DA).

A ProDA liaison may also serve as the contact to a DA Country Committee, to share information and opportunities between ProDA global and the country committee.

Goals of the liaisons:

1. activate and strengthen the grassroots approach of ProDA by leading and/or encouraging progressive activity at the local level;
2. represent the progressive interests and activities at the local level to ProDA leadership;
3. and share information to the local group from ProDA leadership

Main duties include:

• to keep their local group informed on the current initiatives and happenings within the global Progressive Caucus and other local groups;
• to inform ProDA leadership about chapter activities, initiatives, challenges and concerns
• to play a leadership role in chapter activities and thereby serve on the ProDA Global steering committee;
• to recruit active members to participate in ProDA initiatives;
• regular attendance at ProDA meetings and local group meetings, and regular participation on ProDA communication channels;
• to ensure local work on behalf of ProDA adheres to ProDA Terms of Reference and standards of inclusion, equity, diversity, democracy, and respectful dialogue;
• and perhaps most importantly, to voice the ideas, concerns, actions and general feedback from their group regarding the progressive agenda to ProDA.

ProDA Steering Committee participation: liaisons would be invited to join ProDA’s global steering committee.  The steering committee generally makes decisions on a consensus basis.  If a voting model is required at some point, it is possible that there might be only one voting member representing each local group.

Liaison election or appointment: Liaisons may volunteer and/or be recruited by ProDA leadership.  Local groups may choose to elect liaisons, however ProDA does not plan to restrict attendance at Steering Committee meetings, which are open to all ProDA members.

Liaison activities: Since every local group is different, the ways in which the liaisons will accomplish their duties likely will vary. Below are some suggestions depending on the size, engagement, and abilities of each group:

• Have monthly chapter ProDA meetings in person or online (via WebEx, Skype, Google Hangouts, etc.).
• Request a block of time at each of your DA chapter or country committee meetings to report on ProDA activity, answer questions/gather feedback from local members, and encourage member engagement with ProDA initiatives, local and/or global.
• Lead local actions to advance progressive issues, such as collecting healthcare stories, gathering signatures in support of Democratic Party reform, writing to elected officials about progressive topics, registering voters for primaries, and other Democrats Abroad initiatives like general voter registration, etc.
• Hold ProDA social get togethers, potlucks, lectures, outreach events, etc.
• Reach out to non-DA progressive groups for collaboration, speakers and/or workshops.
• Work together with other DA caucuses, chapters, country committees and teams.

Contact ProDA about being a liaison to a local group: use the ProDA action survey or email ProDA