DEI: Creating Collaborative Partnerships

Partnerships with different organizations are valuable because they can strengthen your League. It is important to build these connections, especially with diverse organizations, because this expands the reach of your League,  promotes engagement and builds relationships with community groups and other nonprofits which work well in communities of color and disadvantaged communities, building our understanding of their issues. Below there are some questions to consider as you start to find and build these partnerships. These partnerships can help achieve goals and connect with more people, which will be of benefit to all organizations.  Here are some guiding questions to ask yourself:

Partnership

• Does the partner conform to our nonpartisan policies? See LWVWA Non-Partisan Policy https://lwvwa.org/Mission-&-Vision
  

• Does this partnership reach a different or new group of people that you don’t work with now? 

• Have you identified trusted messengers to partner with to connect with the community? 

• Are you listening to your partners about issues and concerns that they have? 

• Will this benefit both parties in the partnership? 

• What are your goals as partners? 

• Does this partner value DEI? 

• How can you make sure this connection will be continuous? 

Outreach

• Showing up to community events is important even if the sponsoring organization is not a partner; it demonstrates support and commitment to the community. (It’s not just the number of conversations or voter registrations that count.   

• Consider community events that embody DEI.  
  

Community building in meetings

There are many ways to build community as a part of retention. Here are some ideas to try:

• Introductions: make sure to allow time for individuals to introduce themselves if they are new to the League
• Food: Food builds community! There’s nothing like sharing a meal (or snack!) together. Make sure you take people’s allergies, religious or dietary restrictions, and preferences into consideration. (Remember that not everyone drinks alcohol or caffeine.)
• Formalized mentoring: Pairing a new member with a long-time member can be a great way to help acclimate new members and help them learn the culture, history, and work of the League.
• Finding things in common: Just simply getting to know people and finding things in common can help people feel more connected. Some of our icebreakers below can help with this.
• Icebreakers:
• • Why were you interested in joining the League?
  • What political issue are you most passionate about?
  • How many siblings (if any) do you have? What is your family like?
  • What is your favorite food and why?
  • Can you share one of your favorite childhood memories?
  • What kind of change do you want to make in the world?
  • Make up your own!
• Activities:
• • Roses and Thorns- Start by having everyone share their rose (any positive that makes them feel grateful, happy, etc.) and also their thorn (a challenge). Both can be League or non-League related.
  • Big Talk- Start meetings with a few minutes of organized “big talk” about global events and news. At the start of the meeting, give everyone a minute to share their thoughts without interruption or commentary. Then, set aside 5 minutes after that for open group discussion.