Dear Friend,
Here in Washington we are still digging out from the biggest blizzard since 1996. In my neighborhood, 24 inches of snow in 24 hours! So beautiful and peaceful. And, of course, everything came to a complete halt.Snowstorms really do create community. It was wonderful to be out with neighbors shoveling,
sledding, building snowmen together in the park. So much laughter and good will – everybody in it
together facing the challenge. Too bad the United States Congress doesn’t respond to challenges
that way.  Hope you enjoy reviewing AmericaSpeaks/Global Voices Top 10 for 2009!Wishing you wonderful Holidays! And may 2010 begin a decade of transformational change whose foundation is inclusion, equity and justice for all. Wishing you and yours wonderful Holidays and may 2010 bring you all you wish for and more! 
P.S. You may have noticed that in our email to you yesterday there were only 9 out of 10 from our Top 10 List. Unfortunately we experienced a formatting error that resulting in number 1 disappearing from our list. Please accept our apologies for this mistake and for having to send this second email.
|
And now… Our Top Ten!
|
 | 1. Innovative Multisite Meetings Advancing the Future of Adults with Autism National Town Hall. AmericaSpeaks coordinated 16 cities across the country in 2009 for a 21st Century Town Meeting®. More than 1,000 people from 33 cities participated in Advancing the Future of Adults with Autism National Town Hall. Three hundred of the participants were at the central site in Chicago, another 700 people participated at 15 additional satellite sites, and more than 50 people participated at virtual tables hailing from 17 additional cities. Some highlights include fastest key pad voting at a Town Meeting (and it was across 16 sites!), best response to our call for facilitators (thanks!), and participant call outs via Skype from 3 cities broadcasted live to all sites. Read the preliminary report here  More |
|
 | 2. Largest-Ever Global Town Hall Seal the Deal Global Town Meeting. Global Voices, the international arm of AmericaSpeaks partnered with the United Nations Enviornment Program (UNEP) for Seal the Deal, the largest-ever truly global youth town hall on climate change, in Daejeon, South Korea. 700 young people from around the globe called on world leaders to stand up and take substantial measures against climate change. Participants gathered in Daejeon and were joined by young people in 15 sites around the world, who participated through an interactive online webcast program. Global webcast sites included Cuernavaca Mexico, Bangkok Thailand, London England, Pune India, and Nairobi Kenya. The ‘Seal the Deal’ campaign was spearheaded by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. He delivered the youths’ joint statement at the opening of the 64th session of the U.N. General Assembly in September and to global leaders this month in Copenhagen, Denmark, for the United Nations Climate Change Conference. Read the Final Report Watch the video UNEP created of the Global Town Hall
(Let it download fully before you press the play button.) |
|
 
| 3. Web 2.0 and Social NetworkingA Site for All Seasons. During the course of 2009, AmericaSpeaks worked with our technology partner, Fission Strategy, to develop a core framework for deploying sites on the internet for public engagement projects. The first of these was developed for the Envision Prince George’s project, and can be seen at www.envisionprincegeorges.org.Social Media. This year AmericaSpeaks expanded our capacity for recruiting and message amplification on various social networks this year accruing 478 followers on Twitter and 596 fans on Facebook. If your not a fan yet become one today! Online Organizing around the OGD. When the Obama Administration announced a three-phase online engagement to brainstorm, clarify, and draft language for the Open Government Directive, AmericaSpeaks organized a month-long effort to populate well-crafted ideas and drive support for ideas. Our efforts paid off. By the end of the brainstorming phase 6 of the top 10 ideas in the brainstorming phase were authored by AmericaSpeaks. Global Voices Website. Global Voices, AmericaSpeaks’ international arm, got a new online presence in 2009. Global Voices has led projects for the European Union, World Economic Forum, United Kingdom Ministry of Health and more. Visit the website to find out more about AmericaSpeaks‘ work overseas. A special thank you to all of you who made contributions to enable us to do this breakthrough work even during the recession. We are continuing to fund the work by donations and would be deeply appreciative of your continued support. Donate Here. |
|
 
| 4. Federal Work to Strengthen Our Democracy Champions of Participation 2. AmericaSpeaks, Demos, Everyday Democracy and Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, joined forces with 34 federal managers representing 23 agencies and departments to provide input on the remarkable opportunity provided by the President’s Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government. Participants identified top opportunities for and barriers to greater participation and collaboration that must be addressed by the Open Government Directive. Read the Report Senior Champions of Participation Meeting. Continuing our work with Federal Managers. AmericaSpeaks, Demos, Everyday Democracy, and Harvard University’s Kennedy School convened senior leaders from 13 different federal agencies and departments to offer concrete ideas to the Open Government Directive. Beth Noveck, the director of the White House Task Force responsible for creating the directive, participated in the discussions and responded to participant questions and ideas.
More Strengthening our Democracy 2. More than 100 advocates, scholars, federal managers and leaders in the democracy reform field came together this summer to outline an agenda for improving democracy in the United States. This conference, called Strengthening our Nations Democracy II, focused on developing and advancing a unified democracy movement agenda. Participants were scholars and leaders in electoral reform, deliberative democracy, community organizing, collaborative governance, and advocacy. Six members of the Obama Administration participated at critical points during the Conference, including Christina Tchen, director of Office of Public Engagement; Sonal Shah, director of Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation; Beth Novack, Deputy Chief Technology Officer for Open Government; Julie Fernandes, Deputy Assistant Attorney General; and Buffy Wicks, Deputy Director, White House Office. Read the Report |
|
 | 5. Straus AwardDr. Carolyn J. Lukensmeyer was awarded the Straus Innovator Award from the College of the Atlantic (COA) for her focus and continued dedication to strengthening our democracy. The Straus Innovator Award is a yearly honor given by COA to highlight cutting edge practices that make a positive and tangible contribution to the health of our global civil society. More |
|
 
| 6. The Written Word Transforming Governance Through Innovation. AmericaSpeaks’ report on innovative approaches for connecting citizen voices with decision-making approaches that are essential for transforming our nation’s governance. More (908KB) Public Impacts: Report on CaliforniaSpeaks. Report that summarizes three independent evaluations of CaliforniaSpeaks’ 2007statewide conversation. It assesses the Town Meeting’s impact on participants, the policy making process and policy makers themselves.
More (pdf 1MB) Volunteer Recruitment Goals, Strategies and Materials. These tips have guided AmericaSpeaks’ work through the years and we hope they will be useful to you as well.
Download (362KB) Data is Not Democracy. Dr. Carolyn J. Lukensmeyer’s latest article in the GSA’s Office of Citizen Services and Communications’ newsletter. Carolyn’s article can be found on page 14.
Download Open Policy Making 101: 10 Questions To Ask Before Launching Your Online Public Consultation. AmericaSpeaks‘ Vice President of Civic Engagement Joe Goldman, and Joseph Peters from Ascentum wrote a list of ten key questions to consider before launching an online public consultation. More |
|
 | 7. Impact Video In 2009 AmericaSpeaks’ produced a new high impact marketing movie about engaging citizens in decision making. Considering the shouting matches that erupted at many health care town hall meetings this summer, and the necessarily adversarial nature of debates, many decision makers are left wondering: How can I convene a constructive conversation about important policy issues?
If you know people in decision making positions, please think about introducing them to AmericaSpeaks and include the link to the impact movie: www.americaspeaks.org/intro. More |
|
  | 8. CommunityForums Rural People Rural Policy CommunityForum Training. AmericaSpeaks launched a new program, CommunityForum, with the Rural People Rural Policy (RPRP) initiative of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. This new training program teaches rural leaders how to create and manage small versions of our 21st Century Town Meeting®. More Upcoming CommunityForum Trainings. Let us know if you or a team you know of would be interested in attending a CommunityForum Training or if you would just like to stay informed about the time, location and cost of upcoming trainings. Sign Up Here |
|
 
| 9. Visioning Processes Envision Prince George’s. AmericaSpeaks partnered with the Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission and Prince George’s County Planning Department for an innovative and participatory countywide effort to develop a collective community vision for Maryland’s Prince George’s County.
More Power of 32. AmericaSpeaks teamed up with the Power of 32 for a public engagement visioning process in which every resident of 32-counties in 4 states will have an opportunity to participate in creating a shared vision for creating a best future for the entire region. The 32 counties included in this initiative include 15 in southwestern Pennsylvania, 10 in northern West Virginia, five in eastern Ohio, and two in western Maryland. More |
|
 | 10. Welcome to Our Board of Directors Carol Wishcamper has three decades of experience as a leader in the education and non-profit sectors. Carol is an organizational development specialist. She is active in civic life in Maine, serving as Chair of the Maine State Board of Education and on the board of the Maine Philanthropy Center.Lee Hamilton is a former Congressman, representing Indiana’s 9th District for 34 years. Mr. Hamilton served as vice-chairman of the 9/11 Commission, and currently serves as President of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and as Director of The Center on Congress at Indiana University. More |
|
isabel
September 8th, 2011
i dont think they’ll last long at all. dont like him fa her, the wedding was rushed she always wanted to get married… next year dis time they wont b together
Cudo
December 10th, 2010
Been searching practically everywhere on news about this. Really thanks a lot.