The nationally broadcasted LWVUS August Community Learning Call focused on partnerships and coalitions.  Guest speakers that offered their experiences and extracted lessons to share with us were: Nancy Williams (LWVSC), Martha Pint and Jacqueline Lightcap (LWVKS), and Debby Gould (LWVTN)!

What a timely discussion filled with so many points that resonated! Nancy kicked us off by reminding us that we must approach partnerships with our power of nonpartisanship and that we cannot be held back by fear, but instead urged us to “jump into the waters” if we want to win!

Martha and Jacquie, from their most recent fight against a ballot initiative in the primaries that would have limited reproduction rights, reminded us of the importance of being flexible, particularly when it comes to understanding when the League should lead and when it should show up in support; acknowledged that it can be difficult to work in diverse coalitions, but not impossible; and lastly, that it does pay off – the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, we will have greater and bigger wins when we move boldly away from our silos to work in partnership with others. Lastly, Debby Gould brought it home by lifting the importance of intersectionality in our fight and coalition building, as each group brings expertise and experience that strengthens the coalition, and our need for a clear-eyed analysis of which relationships will be transactional vs. transformational, with the need to partner up more with groups that are in the long-term fight to gain transformational wins for our communities and democracy! On these points, Debby shared a recent webinar from YWCA TN on “How to be a Better Ally.” 

Watch the recording at the link above.