#particiaption

Changing the Game; Power Politics and Participation and the Change Design Lab have partnered with the Coffee Party to conduct a four month endevour called CP 2.0 Transition Project.  Here are some clips from Cioffee Party Newsletters that describe our work.

"The Coffee Party 2.0 Transition Team is working hard to lay out the strategy and infrastructure for Coffee Party USA to become a "game changing" national organization and movement that can generate action for sustained impact."

  Inaugural Report from the Coffee Party 2.0 Transition Team

  On March 23, 2011, Coffee Party USA Board of Directors - Annabel Park (president), Chris Rigopulos (treasurer) and Bruce Hoffman - charged the newly-formed Coffee Party 2.0 Transition Team (TT) with the task of establishing the following: set up a process to select a permanent Board of Directors; set up internal committees and processes to manage ongoing business; hire management and administration personnel to perform member services duties; provide process for organizer training; and design a process to communicate effectively with, and integrate the input of, members at large at various levels. The timeline is set for theTransition Team is to achieve its tasks by July 1, 2011,the beginning of our next fiscal year. The goal is to disband by July 31, 2011, once the permanent Board of Directors is put into place and given proper orientation. The deadline is not a legal mandate but rather self-imposed so that the team can deliberate and come to conclusions in an expeditious manner.

At its first meeting on March 24, 2011, the Transition Team members elected Diane Owens to serve as the Chair. She will preside over all TT meetings and serve as the liaison with other Coffee Party constituents. Eric Byler was elected as the Vice-Chair. We also formed our first committee - the Board formation committee, consisting of Lynda Park (chair), Barb Bull (vice-chair), Eric Whinery, and Leah Spitzer, plus two advisers - Ray Hudkins, FL Coffee Party coordinator, and Joanne Richards, a board member of Coffee Party Austin. The Transition Team is also in the process of deciding a list of other committees necessary for achieving our tasks.

The Transition Team has also been charged with making financial decisions for the Coffee Party until the permanent board is selected. The Coffee Party has a CPA on retainer, who maintains our books and issues checks, and a volunteer Treasurer. Because of his professional commitments outside of the Coffee Party, Chris Rigopulos is in the process of transitioning his duties as treasurer to Eric Whinery, a key member of the Transition Team. The Transition Team plans to publish quarterly financial reports. The next report will appear after the fiscal year ends on June 30, 2011.

Regarding the initial Board of Directors, both Chris Rigopulos and Bruce Hoffman had agreed to serve on the board for one year as a personal favor to Annabel Park so that the Coffee Party could file its legal paperwork for incorporation. That one year has expired. Chris, Bruce, and Annabel voted on March 27, 2011 to create a new Board made up of Annabel still as president, Eric Byler and Eric Whinery as treasurer to serve until the permanent Board of Directors is put into place in July 2011.

To help the Transition Team achieve these significant goals and build a solid foundation for the Coffee Party as both a sustainable organization and a movement, in such a short period of time, the TT hiredas consultants Walt Roberts and his team at Changing the Game. Walt has been following and participating in the Coffee Party since the beginning and is an enthusiastic supporter of the Coffee Party movement. Changing the Game collaborated with the Coffee Party at the For the People Summit in January of this year.

Billy Sears has been hired as the Coffee Party's first paid employee to manage our membership drive and services. Billy has been a tireless volunteer as a local coordinator in Illinois since the Coffee Party’s inception. He will start as our new Director of Membership Administration on April 9th. The Transition Team is very much looking forward to working with Billy as a member of the team and in his new role as a full-time employee supporting our membership services.

We will keep you informed of our progress and post bi-weekly reports in the newsletter.

Thank you all for your continued support. We are looking forward to working closely with other Coffee Party volunteers to create a new 21st century movement with a solid organizational structure.

Contact us at e-mail: [email protected] or phone: (301) 259-1869.

--From the Coffee Party 2.0 Transition Team

April Report from the Coffee Party 2.0 Transition Team

  Since the report in the previous issue of the newsletter, the Transition Team has continued to work diligently on all the tasks it has been charged with: design a process to select a permanent Board of Directors; create internal committees and processes to manage ongoing business; hire management and administrative personnel to perform member services duties; provide process for organizer training; and construct methods to communicate effectively with, and integrate the input of, Coffee Party members at various levels within the movement.

The Board Formation working group, chaired by Lynda Park, has begun meeting regularly and have a full set of intermediate goals and deadlines in order for a permanent board to be selected by the July 1, 2011 target date. The working group plans to submit a board formation proposal to the Transition Team in early May.

Other working groups have also been formed to carry out the charge of the Transition Team. Among them are Strategic Messaging and Communications, Organizational Design and Structure, Integrated Strategy and Planning, Communication Infrastructure, and Pathways to Participation. These teams have either just started or will start to meet soon to lay out their purpose and agenda. Look for news of their actions in upcoming issues.

Walt Roberts and his team at Changing the Game have been very helpful in their roles as consultants for the Transition Team. They have given the Team methods to structure their meetings so that they proceed smoothly and efficiently and have provided means of clarifying the already existing vision within the Coffee Party movement. They promise to be a valuable source of expertise in dealing with the issues Coffee Party USA in general and the Transition Team in particular are facing.

During a meeting, Walt Roberts remarked that the Transition Team's work may seem a bit like trying to build a ship while it is already at sea. That sounds difficult, but the Transition Team has so far demonstrated that it is up to this challenging task.

The minutes of the Transition Team meeting can be found on the Coffee Party USA website. Steady growth in membership and support is beginning to provide financial stability for the organization, and we thank all of our members. We are looking forward to working closely with other Coffee Party volunteers to create a new 21st Century movement with a solid organizational structure.

Contact us at: [email protected] or(301) 259-1869.

--The Coffee Party 2.0 Transition Team

Our mission is to shift the dynamics underlying power, politics, and participation in the U.S. Power:   To empower civic organizations and social movements to inspire individual participation and cooperative action for sustained influence that rises to balance the influence of established power structures.   Politics:  To enable our public servants to work together effectively creating policies and programs that build healthy, resilient and responsible playing fields for our business, social and governance institutions. Participation:  To provide processes, opportunities and pathways for people to engage in purposeful conversations and actions that realize their responsibilities as contributing citizens