This is the top-line overview of what chapters are responsible for and national responsibilities to those chapters; the sections that follow go much more in-depth into specific mutual responsibilities around different parts of the work. These are the most essential pieces to look at, and connect directly with the updated chapter definition above.

• Full organizing cycle - basebuilding, leadership development, taking action:

  • Chapters are responsible for:

    • • dedicated & intentional base building to bring more people in to the chapter, including an intentional & welcoming culture that people want to be part of

      • intentional leadership development that always aims to develop more leaders & recruit/support the leadership needed to build a multi-generational, multi-racial Jewish base

      • taking action in strategic ways and in local partnership & accountability, in relationship with national strategy and accountabilities

  • National is responsible for meaningfully supporting and working together around each of these parts of organizing, and this includes: 

    • • coaching support for chapters to find their best work in local context

      • resources & training on all areas of organizing needed

      • political resources (messaging, strategy, political ed) that guide the work

      • ongoing communication, transparency around decision-making, input and collaboration for those that affect local work, and space for greater input into collective strategy

  • Specific details around basebuilding, leadership development, and taking action are outlined in the next section.

• Intentional core leadership and internal communication:

  • Chapters have at least 4 core leaders who are:

    • • committed to building the chapter in the above ways, developing other people’s leadership as well as their own skills, and holding the whole of the chapter

      • overall aligned with JVP’s values, politics, and strategy (the latter two have changed and will change over time, with input from and in relationship to chapters’ work!); examples include JVP’s guiding principles, opposition to zionism, and commitment to racial justice and intersectional movement-building, as well as the core organizing model outlined above

      • are ready to organize JVP’s base in their local context, and lead the chapter to meet these responsibilities overall -- meaning a combination of organizing skills, interpersonal qualities & ability to work with others, as well as identities/experiences that together mean this team can effectively organize a multi-generational, multi-racial base of Jews for Palestinian liberation 

  • The chapter and those leaders should have transparent approaches to internal decision-making, ensure that communication happens across working groups and to the broader local base, and always look to build further leadership in both the core and/or working groups, including room for people to rotate out of leadership positions over time. 

  • National is responsible for supporting these core leaders in meaningful ways. Chapter leadership is a really significant volunteer role, and National will work with chapters in the new system to identify the most impactful ways to support, which may include:

    • • Direct coaching from organizers

      • Setting up mentorship/coaching systems with others (whether cross-chapter and recruiting outside skilled organizers) to scale up the support beyond staff capacity

      • Leadership development trainings and resources that get deeper around the qualities and skills needed to effectively hold these positions; including ways for people to assess their own leadership and specify more specific qualities & skills than the overview above provides

      • Leadership development trainings and resources specifically to identify, support and develop more leaders in the chapter

      • Collaboration and resource-sharing around decision-making, communications, and internal processes, so that national and chapters are both working to make each other better at holding these commitments

      • Possibility of modest stipends for volunteer leaders holding leadership positions, particularly where this amount of volunteer labor is a barrier to the work based on economic & social circumstances

• Shared commitments to racial justice, accountability to Palestinians, intersecting struggles for justice, and building a liberatory culture:

  • • These are interwoven into both the above, the more detailed sections below, and in their own section at the end; and, wanted to name as a top-line mutual responsibility for both chapters and national in this work.

    • Chapters and national must all have commitments to ongoing work, reflection, assessment, and collaboration so that how we do the work is as aligned as possible with our values and politics. This means how racial justice looks inside the organization as well as in relationship to broader movements, and it means deepening practices of accountability to Palestinian-led movement at both the local and national levels. 

    • It also means building an organizing culture that is anti-oppressive, welcoming, and adaptable. This means a shared commitment to dismantling racism, transphobia, misogyny, ableism, classism, antisemitism, and all forms of oppression in our organizing spaces, as we also fight to dismantle these systems in the larger world. And it means an approach that honors the ways we are all learning & growing, and building a culture that reflects the just world we are fighting for.

These are the core aspects of our organizing model, and the foundational responsibilities that chapters will be held to, as well as the corresponding resources, support and responsibilities from national.

Basebuilding:

Building a community around shared goals and values

• Chapters are responsible for:

  • • Identifying pathway(s) for people to join the chapter, and being responsive when people sign up/express interest/are sent there from national outreach

    • Having designated basebuilding leads, or a team/working group, that is focused on bringing in new people and supporting them to get involved in the organizing

    • Creating clear ways for people to find, join and participate in the chapter -- e.g. public events, open meetings, working groups, specific roles

    • Maintaining some level of data, tracking, and follow-through -- e.g. getting names & contact info at your chapter event, adding them to both your email list & a database or spreadsheet, and identifying potential leaders/active members for follow-up

    • A practice and commitment of regular 1:1s with new/prospective members 

    • Asking for support, resources, guidance as needed to maintain and strengthen chapter basebuilding practices -- from other chapters & JVP national

• National is responsible for:

  • • Improving and maintaining systems that build JVP’s base at scale, which includes moving online audience and supporters into official members, and members into active members & leaders in JVP organizing bodies such as chapters. 

    • Specific tools & support to bring in new local members during regular member drives, in collaboration with chapters 

    • Trainings & resources for chapters to develop their basebuilding skills

    • Trainings & resources for chapters to create effective data/tracking systems

    • Providing access to JVP national’s list for specific purposes (member lists for a 1:1 campaign, email blasts for major events & actions, etc)

    • Compiling and sharing ritual spaces and resources (led by the Havurah Network and Rabbinic Council) that support community and base-building 

Leadership Development: 

Investing in people’s political analysis, organizing skills, and personal practice so they are equipped to lead. "I have always thought that what is needed is the development of people who are interested not in being leaders as much as in developing leadership in others." - Ella Baker

• Chapters are responsible for:

  • • Tracking and connecting chapter members to national Leadership Development opportunities

    • Current chapter leaders commit to building their own skills, developing their own/each other’s leadership and using the resources below

    • Chapter leaders continually build new leadership: this includes asking and supporting people to take on roles at a protest; incorporating political education in your meetings; conducting 1:1s to identify people’s interests, skills and potential; identifying and supporting the right people to take on leadership, including growing the leadership team

    • Noting the areas chapter most needs support and working to get it -- by recruiting, training, asking (e.g. if the stuck spot is meetings and facilitation -- reach out to the chapter organizer and/or chapter network so growth can happen there)

• National is responsible for:

  • • Building out a core leadership development program, eventually offered regularly and required for all member-leaders at JVP (chapter leaders, emerging/rebuilding chapter leaders, pod leaders, network leaders) to build shared language, skills, and organizing culture together. This will be available to members your chapter wants to develop. 

    • This should/will very much include chapters and member-leaders to form and run parts of this - and it is ultimately National’s responsibility that it happen.

    • Political analysis / political education

      • • Analyses & resources from JVP national around present conditions

        • Political ed webinars hosted by JVP and other orgs

        • Working with chapters to identify what is most needed around political ed, and how existing or new offerings can support 

    • Coaching: 1:1 or team coaching with JVP staff organizers, and creating a mentorship network/system so that chapters can receive deeper support beyond staff capacity 

    • Assessment / goal-setting worksheets

    • Specific organizing skill trainings (e.g. campaigns, basebuilding, action-planning, facilitation, team-building) - again, also want to create space for chapters to co-create and lead these, but ultimately it is National’s responsibility to ensure they happen

    • Communicating about training and leadership development opportunities in a clear way, and compiling corresponding resources online in a clear/accessible way

Taking Action:

Campaigns and mobilizations to shift the narrative + shift power

• Chapters are responsible for:

  • • Identifying, prioritizing and pursuing the most strategic ways to take action in their local context, in relationship to national JVP & movement strategies (this does not mean taking every action or doing every campaign, but do need chapters to be taking action in a regular way, and with a strategic direction, supported by all the above)

    • Working in relationship with local movement partners (esp. Palestinian, as well as cross-movement) to shape and identify the most important ways to take action locally

    • Responsiveness to national campaign opportunities/strategic action points -- work with national to figure out what makes sense in local context to advance the work 

• National is responsible for:

  • • Holding national JVP & coalitional campaigns, with clear criteria/strategic rationale, and identifying/supporting ways chapters can participate, shape, take on, and lead.

      1. • Campaigns include one-off and long-term ways to participate, and will differ by local context. 

         • Campaigns will include training, coaching, and leadership development opportunities

    • Rapid response toolkits and resources, including messaging/talking points

    • Analysis and strategy about where and how to take action; coaching to help chapters identify priorities for local context

    • Congressional and legislative organizing support -- NLOC (legislative organizing group) infrastructure, resources, many ways for members and chapters to plug in

    • Being in early communication and collaboration with chapters & their local partners when national campaign/action opportunities emerge that are locally specific

    • Support (e.g. coaching, action alerts) for fully-local campaigns that chapters are pursuing with partners; depth of support/coaching will scale relative to how a local campaign maps onto national priorities

In addition to the 3 core organizing components above, chapters require substantial infrastructure, operations and communications systems to sustain and grow the organizing. These tools and skills are essential, and we know they take real time and effort. National is committed to providing more support to chapters in all of these areas, and to continue innovating/improving/changing systems as needed so that chapters have strong infrastructure. These require coordination across national staff, and more specifics will need to follow, but here are some top-line areas of support, and examples of mutual responsibilities:

Finance & Fundraising

• Chapters are responsible for:

  • • Finance tracking and reporting according to the requirements of JVP’s auditors

    • Raising additional funds as needed for the chapter’s organizing

    • Asking for support needed and communicating proactively around their finance and fundraising needs

• National is responsible for:

  • • Finance infrastructure (including online donate pages, debit cards available to chapters)

    • Fundraising support - offer at least 1 annual training, resources, and access to coaching

    • System for some direct funds, with their processes transparent & available to all chapters (currently exists as mini-grants of up to $200, and action/campaign-specific funds)

Communications

• Chapters are responsible for:

  • • Adhering to key/top messaging guidelines, and being in communication if there is misalignment so we can figure out together

    • Being intentional when representing JVP, in ways that maintain JVP’s reputation

    • Tracking who has access to social media accounts, limiting it to trusted/vetted leaders, and sharing who has that access with national 

    • Building their own local list for chapter emails, and communicating regularly to chapter’s base

• National is be responsible for:

  • • Messaging resources, guidelines & rationale, including talking points and statements, for current events/rapid response, campaigns, as well as ongoing organizing projects

    • Social media trainings on a regular basis (and chapters are able to create JVP social media pages)

    • Email trainings on a regular basis, and local email sends using national’s list for larger events/basebuilding opportunities

    • Traditional (i.e. not social) media support -- including media lists, coaching, spokespeople trainings

Data

• Chapters are responsible for:

  • • Maintaining fundamental data -- i.e. names & contact info of local base, in spreadsheet and/or database

    • Moving to more in-depth data systems, and asking for support to do so, where the work demands it -- i.e. if more complex databases, tracking leadership/participation, etc. is becoming a clear necessity to scale up the chapter’s organizing

• National is responsible for:

  • • Resource documents and regular trainings around data management and suggested approaches for chapters

    • Updating, clarifying, and getting input from chapters around any systemic changes to our data approach -- e.g. it may make sense to move towards a coordinated local/national data system, in which case it’s national’s responsibility to lead and work with chapters on setting that up

Security

• Chapters are responsible for:

  • • Adhering to guidelines for digital security, asking for support where there are technical or other obstacles

    • Flagging security concerns generally

    • Contributing to an intentional movement security culture as we build a shared understanding of what that means

  • National is responsible for:

    • • Digital security (passwords, etc.) resources, guidelines, and trainings where needed

      • Movement security culture (how do we operate in a movement that faces state & non-state actors working to undermine it?) resources, guidelines, and trainings where needed

      • De-escalation resources - many great ones have already been developed by JVP chapters & members

These are central components to how we do the work as JVP -- as part of a larger Palestinian-led movement, as part of intersecting struggles for justice, and as an organization that strives to more fully embody our principles of justice in our culture and ways of being with each other. JVP has had different formal processes around these in recent years, but it feels really essential to be building and re-building shared understandings, learnings and practices across the organization, with chapters and national working together. 

This section does not yet go into the same level of detail, but rather emphasizes that both national and chapters must have a demonstrated commitment to the following bullet points (from the chapter definition at the start of the document), and to working together towards greater accountability to Palestinian-led movement, to building meaningful multi-racial organizing, and to creating an organizing culture that works against dominant culture and transforms our ways of being as we seek to transform the world: 

• Chapters are rooted in their local context (town, city, campus, region) and local relationships with other social justice & movement organizations. Chapters build accountable relationships within the Palestinian-led movement and regularly revisit, with other JVP chapters and JVP national, practices of accountability and intentional relationship-building with Palestinian-led formations across the complexities of local/national/international movement-building.

• Chapters attend to how we all work together, and are committed to building & nurturing anti-racist, liberatory, welcoming culture. Chapters work with each other, JVP national, and other networks within JVP to continually build leadership, skills, and practices towards embodying our political principles in how we work together and collectively dismantling white supremacy and other oppressive structures.  

With this, JVP national must facilitate communication across chapters and JVP national to deepen these practices. This includes building and sharing more about national approaches to accountability and movement partnerships, as well as supporting anti-racist and anti-oppressive skill-building.