I had my reservations, because I'm not much of a meeting person, and I don't really think of myself as a community leader. I'm an environmentalist, working at the grassroots level, and while I work to engage communities, and lead initiatives and projects, I don't really feel that I rank as a community leader. I choose to do work that I feel is meaningful and important.
The invitation was a forwarded email, and I didn't think I'd get in, but I'm getting better at asking for the things I want, and this sounded worthwhile. While things haven't quite turned out the way I'd hoped since the inauguration, and there are a number of things that I'm frustrated with, I have full appreciation and respect for the work that President Obama's doing. I appreciated the chance to be part of the conversation.
I got the confirmation for today, and woke up this morning excited. From the orientation info, I knew the briefing wouldn't actually be at the White House, but actually at buildings adjacent, like the Executive Office Building. I remember walking past this building as a ten year old, my first few days in DC, tempted to jump the fence and see what was inside. I biked down, earlier than I usually get up, waited a few minutes to stop sweating, changed in a park into dress clothes, and joined the line.
I realize that so far this diary sounds totally fanboy, but I did have a number of reservations about this briefing. It's easy to get all glossy-eyed about a political event, and get sucked into a photo-op, that's something I try to avoid with the organisations I work with, unless there's clear value. I'm also very leery of wasting my time on meetings/conferences/seminars, where I usually end up bored out of my skull while people drone at me. 6 hours stuck inside when I could be out on the river, or working on projects, is not at all appealing to me.
But I do like networking, and this seemed promising. During the W years I gradually disengaged from identifying with politics at a national/international scale and focussed on work that I could do, on issues that I cared about, at the personal/community level. I learned that I found far more satisfaction in working with a shovel, sharing nature with youth, and collaborating with people that I trusted and respected, than I ever did reading the news.
I still read the news, and usually find it disappointing/depressing. But I now spend a lot more of my time creating and supporting meaningful projects and initiatives - schoolyard forests, nature outings, collaborations with allies. I feel a hell of a lot more optimistic now that Obama's president, than I ever did under W, and I honestly can't think of anyone I'd rather have as president - I think he is fundamentally committed to doing the best job he can, and is extremely competent. I work to follow his campaign message of "Be the change you want to see".
There were about 150 other community leaders at the briefing, and most of them had come from farther away. Pennsylvania was well-represented, as was education, but there were people from California and Florida and the Midwest, focussed on topics like youth, women, business, jobs, the environment, and health care. It was a very diverse crowd, committed to their work, and appreciative of the briefing.
We met a number of senior officials from the White House Administration, and then had breakout sessions in the afternoon with senior officials from various government entities, like DOEnergy, DOEducation, EPA, CEQ, and so on. They were generally personable, engaging, proud of the work they were doing, and good at listening to and responding to feedback. They were enthusiastic about this initiative to connect with community leaders, responsive to critical feedback.
It was flattering that so many senior people were willing to spend time with us, and they showed genuine appreciation for the opportunity to talk with us. At least 1.5 hours was spent listening and responding to comments and concerns from the audience, and while I personally would have wanted more time for my cause (environmental programming for youth), I learned a lot from the conversations, learned a lot about existing programs and initiatives, and came away with full respect for the commitment and competence of the government representatives, as well as the work of the other community leaders who spoke up.
The basic theme was that the Obama Administration is committed to doing the best work it can for progressive causes, and is facing significant political opposition. The best possible support for their work was political engagement by the public, and they described numerous situations where pressure from the public in support of progressive initiatives was a significant factor in getting support from Congress.
A number of the comments/requests/questions/concerns from participants were about the fact that people felt they needed more support, whether political or financial, from the White House. These concerns were acknowledged, with a usual response that grassroots support/pressure was the best way to help improve the situation. A number of people with engaging narratives/initiatives were invited to follow up with officials afterwards, and there was a strong general enthusiasm from officials about directing individuals towards programs and initiatives that could provide support.
I did a quick pitch in the breakout session for supporting and promoting environmental programming in schools, but by then, I already understood that I didn't need to ask for anything. It would have been nice if they'd had buckets of cash to dump on the causes that I cared about, but by then it was clear that a lot of good work was being done, and they were working in the right directions, while dealing with significant challenges and limitations. It was affirming to realize that I didn't need anything from the gov't, to keep doing what I do, and reassuring to understand that there were so many competent and committed individuals within the administration, working in the right direction.
The general takeaway is that the White House is looking for support and working to engage communities and community leaders on the issues they care about.
whitehouse.gov/engage
and whitehouse.gov/partnerships were 2 sites that they promoted as ways to connect and engage. These community leader hearings will continue through the summer, and they encourage community leaders to participate. If anyone's interested in doing so, and can't figure out how, leave a comment, and I'll do some research...