Our Working Groups

We have had active working groups during the past year.  At this point (October 2012) most of them are not active.

• END CORPORATE RULE (Roger: roger[at]sconant.net) – work on education and action to end corporate distortion of our economy, politics, education, and opportunity.  The immediate work is on passing a 28th Amendment to overcome Supreme Court decision in Citizens United case. We have compiled many relevant Resources.  The Forum tab on this website invites discussions.
  
• INCLUSIVITY (Jared: schy.jared [at] gmail.com) -  Purpose is to address issues of racism, sexism, etc. in order to make OA as inclusive as possible.  Initial plan is to reach out to groups already organizing around these issues.
• GENE SHARP STUDY/DISCUSSION GROUP (Beth: eadams333[at]gmail.com) to advance the study and use of strategic nonviolent action in conflicts throughout the world.  Flyer. Related website with source material
• CRIMINAL JUSTICE (Gary: tart [at] iastate.edu) with an emphasis on the pending Massachusetts 3 Strikes Law.  Here is a link to a large document about the issue.
• OUTREACH -  Purpose is to let people know about OA and get more people involved.  Plans include expansion of the OA website, flyers, social media, notices to various organizations, radio and newspaper announcements, letters to the editor, etc.
• FACILITATION (Don: don.carew[at]kenblanchard.com) – Purpose is to continue the work of the Facilitation Task Force to organize the agenda and minutes for GA; develop structures and processes to help OA function democratically and effectively; and to help develop leadership and facilitation skills among GA participants.

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In order to be recognized as a WG of the OA, a proposal must be brought to the GA for official recognition and acceptance.  The proposal process for a new GA includes the following steps:
·    At least one week before the proposal is discussed at GA, bring a written copy of the proposal to the GA and post the same proposal on the list-serv.
·    Use the following template as a guideline to write the proposal – in most cases, the length would be less than a page:
1.    Title
2.    Purpose – Main objective(s) of the WG
3.    Rationale – How the WG connects with Occupy outlook, helping to strengthen and expand the 99% movement; how it connects with other Occupy activity in the region or other already-existing community groups.
4.    Activities – Examples of what kind of activities the WG might undertake, which could include research, discussion, outreach, direct action, and so forth.
5.    Launch date – Will the WG start immediately, at a future date, or when a particular number of people have signed on?