January/February 09 Partners Project

Janurary 10th 2009 - National Teleconference Call:

+ Missed the call? Click HERE to listen.

+ Download the Jan/Feb Partners Toolkit [PDF]

On the week of January 12th, the Connect U.S. Fund introduced a letter to President-Elect Obama entitled A Call to the New President for Responsible U.S. Global Engagement , signed by many of the organizations in the Connect US network, including Citizens for Global Solutions. The letter urges priority actions for human rights, climate change, nuclear proliferation, diplomacy and development.

On Saturday January 10th, from 1 to 2 PM Eastern, Citizens for Global Solutions sponsored a national Responsible U.S. Global Engagement interactive conference call for activists from many different organizations. We used the Connect U.S. Fund letter, prior to its release from embargo, as a focal point. The goal is to develop constituent networks within communities that will support the Responsible U.S. Global Engagement agenda and communicate their support to the Obama campaign community at change.gov and barackobama.com, as well as to other opinion leaders and policy makers.

Thanks to our co-sponsors:

20/20 Vision

United Nations Association

Women's Action for New Directions

AIDemocracy

SPEAKERS:

Arms Control: John Isaacs, Executive Director, Council for a Livable World

Click for Bio

John Isaacs is the Executive Director of the Council for a Livable World where his work focuses on national security issues in Congress, Iraq, missile defense, and nuclear weapons.

Isaacs is one of the leaders of the nation's arms control community and has long been an expert on the workings of Congress. He has represented the Council on Capitol Hill since 1978. Isaacs previously served as a Legislative Assistant on foreign affairs to Representative Stephen Solarz (D-NY), a Legislative Representative on foreign policy and defense budget for Americans for Democratic Action, and a Foreign Service Officer in Vietnam.

Isaacs has published articles in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Atlanta Journal, St. Louis Post Dispatch, Christian Science Monitor, Nuclear Times, Arms Control Today, American Journal of Public Health, and Technology Review.

Isaacs holds a B.A. from Dartmouth College and an M.A. from the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University.

Climate Control: Katherine Silverthorne, Program Leader, U.S. Climate Change

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Katherine Silverthorne leads E3G’s climate change program in the U.S. In this role she will work to internationalise the U.S. debate in order to identify key areas of conflict and cooperation, build trust among the major actors, and promote a coalition for the passage of ambitious climate change legislation in the U.S. and ratification of an ambitious Copenhagen agreement. Immediately before joining E3G, Katherine served as the director of policy for U.S. Climate Action Network (CAN). CAN is a network of more than 400 non-profit organisations around the globe established nearly twenty years ago to promote sound policy on climate change. As policy director, Katherine provided general strategic guidance for advocacy by CAN members and led efforts to develop collaborative positions, including submissions to Congressional committees and the UNFCCC on U.S. and international climate policy issues.

Prior to joining U.S. CAN, Katherine served as the director for the US Climate Change Program of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Before joining WWF, she established the first climate change program for U.S. Public Interest Research Group in Washington, DC, which represents the interests of a nationwide network of Public Interest Research Groups active in more than 30 states.

Katherine has served as co-chair of the American Bar Association’s Committee on Climate Change and Sustainable Development. She has a Juris Doctor and Masters in environmental law from Vermont Law School and is a member of the bar in New York and Washington, DC.

Human Rights: Sharon Kelly, Campaign Manager, Human Rights First

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Sharon directs Human Rights First’s We Can End Torture Now campaign, an HRF advocacy initiative focused on ending the use of torture and official cruelty by the United States.

Before joining Human Rights First, Sharon worked for the Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid, as the research director and policy advisor for the Senate Democratic Communications Center. In addition to her experience on Capitol Hill, Sharon has worked on numerous political campaigns at the national and state levels.

Sharon graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service in 1998 and received a J.D. from Harvard Law School in 2004. She is a member of the bar of the state of New York.

Development: Todd Shelton, Senior Director of Public Policy and External Relations, InterAction

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Todd Shelton is the Senior Director of Public Policy and External Relations at InterAction. He supervises the Public Policy Unit on budget and policy advocacy related to the goals of InterAction’s 165 member relief and development organizations. Prior to joining InterAction, Todd served in the position of Senior Legislative Associate and lead lobbyist for the Sheridan Group. He was also a Congressional Liaison Officer for USAID from 1998 to 2002, as well as Deputy Research Director for Policy and Public Affairs from 1996-1998 for Mathis & Associates. Todd also worked as Deputy to the Chief of Staff in the Office of Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT). Todd joined InterAction in 2005.

LISTEN TO THE CALL

TRACK LIST:

Don Kraus, CEO of Citizens for Global Solutions begins with some introductory remarks, particularly concerning the Call to the New President for Responsible US Global Engagement letter

Sharon Kelly of Human Rights First speaks about current human rights priorities.

Katherine Silverthorne of E3G covers pressing climate change issues.

Audience Question & Answer time - Part I.

John Isaacs, Executive Director for A Livable World, discusses arms control priorities.

Todd Shelton of InterAction talks about international development and diplomacy.

Audience Question & Answer time - Part II.

Laura Hendrick presents the January/February Partners Project; you will find a link to the toolkit download below.

January/February PROJECT:
Responsible U.S. Global Engagement and the New Administration

"I ask you to believe - not just in my ability to bring about change, but in yours.”
President-elect Barack Obama

We have a new administration coming to Washington and by all accounts, it appears that they areready to hear your voices. Your mission as partners, members and activists, is to review the lettersand policy papers linked below, discuss which priorities are most important to your group, and getinvolved with the national conversation. We ask you to do one of two things in January or February:

PROJECT 1:

Attend an Obama house party or event near you, armed with information and globalcooperation priorities to share with the group. The “Obama Nation” consists of over 10 millionsupporters, many of whom are still consistently getting together to discuss important next stepsfor the incoming administration. If you are not familiar with the Obama house parties, here’s how to find one near where you live:
- Type www.my.barackobama.com into your web browser
- Register with the site if you have not already done so
- Click on the “Find Events” link on the sidebar of the page
- Enter your zipcode to find events taking place near you

PROJECT 2:

If there aren’t any upcoming Obama events near you, or you are not interested in any that areposted online, create your own event! With other CGS members or activists in your area, hosta house party or educational event and invite other citizens in your community to attend anddiscuss current and future global priorities. You can post your event on the my.barackobama.com web site even if it isn’t a specifically Obama-centric event. This is a great way to advertise your event to other like-minded citizens. To post online:

- Type www.my.barackobama.com into your web browser
- Register with the site if you have not already done so
- Click on the “Host an Event” link on the sidebar of the page
- Fill out the form and be sure to mention that it is a Citizens for Global Solutions sponsored event and that the purpose is to discuss global issues to bring to the new administration!

After you have either attended or hosted an event to discuss the issues outlined in the Responsible US Global Engagement Letter with other engaged and globally-minded citizens, we ask that you report your conclusions to www.change.gov. This is an extremely important step in the process, as the Obama administration is making unprecedented efforts to keep Americans involved in shaping our government’s priorities and policies. We need to take advantage of this opportunity to share OUR ideas and concerns with the next President of the United States.

To report your group’s conclusions:

1) Visit www.change.gov

2)Click on the “American Moment – Share Your Vision” link on the top menu

3) Fill out the form and include the changes and next steps you would like to see take place in our U.S. government

Lastly, let us know what your group discussed and who you were able to engage in the discussion.

One of the main objectives of this project is to bring together citizens like you in communities like yours all across the country to discuss the road to global cooperation and to make sure your local representatives hear your voices. Please email me if you have any questions getting started on the project or have any feedback to report!

+ Click to view the January/February Partners Toolkit
(You can also right click on the link and select "save link as" to download.)

Links to More Resources:

+ A Call to the New President for Responsible U.S. Global Engagement - letter from the Connect U.S. Fund, co-signed by Citizens for Global Solutions and others, encouraging new global priorities. Not released publicly until the week of January 12th. See a preview here.

+ Partnership for Effective Peacekeeping Memo

+ Reshape Foreign Policy to Protect Civilians and Prevent Deadly Conflict - Letter to President-Elect Obama

+ Priorities for Creating a new U.S. relationship with the International Criminal Court - a letter to Eric Schwartz, Obama Transition Team

+ How to Pay for these Proposals - a letter to the senate for redirecting funds to human rights

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