Engagement

As you consider the best level of engagement for your organization, please take a close look at the duties and responsibilities of each role within the network as well as the goal of working groups.

Purpose and values: 

Our purpose is to protect and support children living in mixed-status immigrant families living in the interior of the U.S. We strive to do this together all while: 

• Constantly centering children living in mixed-status immigrant families.
• Reaching beyond the immigrant rights movement to those working with and for children and families and networking them together.
• Building with and for those working every day within immigrant communities on the ground (service providers, attorney, teachers, faith leaders, etc), seeking ways to lift up their wisdom/experience, and supporting their leadership and make their demanding work easier. 
• Countering attacks with a proactive narrative and a positive policy vision.
• Creating multiple levels of entry and engagement. Recognizing the demands placed on people and organizations, creating simple ways to engage in the network that tap into their existing workflows. Creating lots of on-ramps.  Ensuring two-way communication and learning and space for feedback.
• Seeking critical mass; not consensus. Starting with those with the time and energy to be most engaged and ensure they are the right mix of network members with the needed skills/knowledge/relationship. Creating working groups to formulate strategies and ideas for the whole network.  
• Opting into actions. Recognizing that while all who engage in the network agree to the purpose, vision and operating values, each organization and individual gets to determine if and when they would like to sign-on to a particular action.
• Acting in service of the larger movement. Aligning our work and seek to support other collaborative efforts aiding immigrants and/or children and families, such as Families Belong Together, Protecting Immigrant Families, and others. Focusing on places where there are gaps in capacity or need.
   

Network Roles and Responsibilities: 

Active members: organizations or individuals that actively support the purpose, operating values, and long-term goals of the campaign. Active members participate in working groups, lend their organizational expertise and capacity to the campaign whenever possible, sign-on or lend their names to activities, and receive information about the work and opportunities to be engaged regularly.

Allies: organizations or individuals that are interested in lending their support and capacity in key moments and are unable to commit to being active members. Allies engage in specific actions that align with their community or organizational needs, can be invited into a specific working group, and can be asked to sign-on or lend their names to actions. 

Working Groups: 

The role of the initial working groups will be to explore a key question or develop and execute specific strategies. They can be temporary or on-going and composed of network members and others when needed. Each has a chair or co-chairs that help to convene the group, move work, and align with the coordinating committee.