ADVOCACY TEAM

Indivisible North Coast Oregon's Advocacy Team (A-Team) assesses, recommends, and helps to implement actions in keeping with the goals of opposing authoritarianism, bigotry, and corruption and promoting progressive values. The team provides a means for INCO leadership and members-at-large to propose actions on relevant topics. Based on these proposals and on input from regular A-team participants, the team plans and prioritizes advocacy actions, working to empower members-at-large to become effective advocates for the issues that most concern them.

Everyone associated with INCO is invited to A-Team meetings, held on the first Wednesday of each month at the Seaside Library Board Room.

A-TEAM STRATEGIES:

• Interface with INCO’s community groups and leadership team, sharing monthly action items and coordinating projects.
• Advocacy action levels:
• Awareness within INCO: sharing within the Facebook group and/or through the newsletter; sharing information and/or making presentations to community groups; suggesting action items for community groups; encouraging contact with MoCs and/or state, county, local representatives 
• Public awareness: Letter to the Editor (LTE) campaigns; public speakers and/or forums; social media sharing;
• Priority action: recommendations to leadership and assistance with planning and carrying out rallies and/or marches; interface with Vote the Future (VTF) if a Get Out the Vote (GOTV) effort is needed
• Partnerships and co-sponsorships: efforts and events; focus groups

ASSESSING PRIORITIES:

• INCO goals, values, and what we do best
• Resources of time, money, energy, and reputation
• Protect/expand rights of marginalized
• Winnable fights
• Constituent power would add value and make a difference
• Amplifying through convergence; statewide coordination
• Urgency
• Recommendations from leadership
• Recommendations from community groups
• Brief (5-10 minute) research-based presentations made to the team by INCO members 

ACTION AND EVENT REQUESTS
If you'd like to propose action on an issue, email incoregon@gmail.com for details on proposing action items. If your request includes co-sponsorship of an event, please include the following information:

1. Who is the main sponsor? Are their other co-sponsors? Who are the speakers and what are their qualifications on the topic? What is the format of the program? What is the program description? 
2. Why do you want INCO to be a co-sponsor? 
3. What exactly do you want from INCO as a co-sponsor? 
4. Might there be more appropriate co-sponsors? 
5. In what ways might INCO be of help without co-sponsoring? For instance, INCO might spread information among our membership without actually co-sponsoring. 
6. By what date do you need a decision about co-sponsorship?

Event information goes first to co-leaders for comment, then to A-team for evaluation and recommended action by leadership team. Depending on the timeline for the event, some/all of the process may be done by email. The A-Team will use the following criteria to evaluate co-sponsorship requests:

• alignment with priorities
• economy of resources
• affinity with co-sponsors
• public image and perceptions
• benefits of partnering
• co-leader recommendations