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Structure

Opening: Welcome and Announcements

Welcome

Brief introductions from participants; please say a few words about who you are and why you’re here.

Announcements

Do participants have announcements, topics for discussion or action, or anything else?

Notes on discussion

• Everyone here has something to learn.
• No one is expected to be an expert.
• If you know something, don’t hesitate to share.
• The aim of the reading materials is to give us a common text so we have something to sink our teeth into, but they’re optional; we have plenty to talk about without them.
• Every question is welcome.
• Ask for clarification if something is confusing or unclear; chances are really good that other people also need clarification.
• It’s ok to disagree.

Discussion

• Each meeting will have suggested reading and questions posted on the website. (Look under the meetings tab on the website for specifics.) The readings are optional.

Closing

Summary

We’ll do a quick summary of what’s been said. We should reflect about where we began, where our discussion went, and what (if anything) we concluded. What have we learned? What could we do better? Where do we go from here?

Suggestions for action

• What needs to be done?
• What works?
• Sharing organizations and groups that are doing good work.
• Commit to do something concrete.

Thank you to participants

Documenting the meeting

Meeting summary on the website (blog post):

• Topic
• Highlights of conversation
• Conclusions and questions
• Suggestions for next meeting topic

Resource Directory

• Skills/expertise offered
• Useful community contacts
• Organizations mentioned
• Tools and resources shared

Action Tracker

• Commitments made
• Connections facilitated
• Follow-up needed
• Success stories from previous month

Next Meeting

• Date and location
• Preview of focus topic
• Ongoing projects to update
• Resources needed