To signup please fill out the registration form and send it with your payment. For more information contact Democracy Unlimited: info@DUHC.org or (707) 269-0984. The Retreat is limited to 15 participants - so register early!
WHAT: This full weekend workshop will help participants effectively organize in their own communities to reclaim citizen sovereignty and will offer tangible strategies for actions that we can collectively take to get our democracy back from corporations. This three-day event will challenge the deep assumptions that we all hold about what it means to live in a democracy and what the proper role of the corporation is. We will draw on history as well as current events to illustrate the changing role of the corporation over time and how seriously our past people's struggles have taken the concept of democracy.
The event will be tailored to meet the needs of the participants based on pre-event feedback. This event is open to participants from all over the country.
WHO: You are invited to join the California Center for Community Democracy (CCCD) and Democracy Unlimited of Humboldt County (DUHC) who are teaming up to host this empowering weekend retreat.
This event is right for you if you are:
* an activist, leader, organizer, or trainer engaged in issues
of economic, environmental or social justice in your community;
* an educator, activist, organizer, or trainer seeking to improve
your understanding of the history of corporate power and more
effective strategies for resistance.
By the end of this weekend workshop participants will have a background on how corporate leaders and current judicial interpretations of the law are preventing us from defining our own communities. Emphasis of this weekend will be on giving participants the history, analysis, networks, and legal and educational strategies to more successfully organize for local democracy in their communities.
WHEN: On-site sign-in for the Retreat begins on Friday, July 29 at 4:00 pm; the program begins after dinner on Friday and concludes after lunch on Sunday July 31.
Sessions will be conducted in the mornings, afternoons, and evenings. Breaks will be provided during the day to allow participants to take advantage of recreational attractions available at the retreat site, and to allow participants to network.
It is important that participants plan to attend the full Retreat weekend in order to get the maximum benefit of the training.
WHERE: The three-day event will be hosted at the Wellspring Renewal Center in California. Wellspring is a retreat center located two and a half hours northwest of San Francisco near the small town of Philo in Mendocino County. Nestled among the redwoods adjoining Hendy Woods State Park, Wellspring is a place of natural beauty graced with sunny meadows, an organic garden, and the flowing Navarro River. www.wellspringrenewal.org
Carpooling will be available from the Sacramento and San Francisco areas. If you are not driving distance from Philo you can fly to one of these airports and get a ride to the Retreat.
COST: Event cost is $200-$300 sliding scale, some scholarships may be available. Includes all meals and lodging, does not include travel.
Sliding scale means you determine what you can pay based on your income and current financial situation. Below is a suggested model to follow - if you can donate more to help others who need scholarships please do so.
If your income is...under $15,000 -- you pay... $200
If your income is...$15,001-$25,000 -- you pay... $225
If your income is...$25,001-$35,000 -- you pay... $250
If your income is...$35,001-$45,000 -- you pay... $275
If your income is...$45,001-$55,000 -- you pay...$300
If your income is...over $55,000 -- you pay...$300 (but we welcome
additional donations to cover scholarships for others).
Are you being sent to the training by your employer? If so, don't use your income to determine the fee -- use the annual budget of the organization. For example, if the organization's annual budget is $38,000, your employer would pay $275 to send you to the retreat.
SCHOLARSHIPS: If you fell you need a scholarship to
attend the retreat please indicate that when you complete the
registration form. We do not know how many scholarships we can
offer until we know how much others are paying on the sliding
scale. Our fee system has been designed to be as inexpensive as
possible – if everyone pays $200 we will only break even
on this event and we will not be able to offer any scholarships.
We will contact those who need a scholarship by July 1 and let
you know the status and if we can provide funds to help bring
you to this event. This should provide you with plenty of time
to arrange travel.
REGISTRATION: To register please fill out the registration form and send it with your payment to Democracy Unlimited: PO Box 610, Eureka CA 95502-0610.
Checks should be made out to CA Center for Community Democracy.
The Retreat is limited to 15 participants - so register early!
For more information contact Democracy Unlimited: info@DUHC.org or (707) 269-0984.
Materials, including a detailed agenda for the Retreat and a background reading packet, will be made available to all registrants prior to the training to help participants prepare for the Retreat.
CANCELLATION POLICY: If we cancel for any reason, your registration fee will be refunded. If you cancel up to four weeks before the Retreat, we will also refund full tuition. From four to two weeks before the Retreat, we will refund the tuition you have paid less a $50 processing fee. Two weeks before the Retreat or later we will not be able to refund tuition unless we have been able to fill your seat and the Retreat is fully enrolled, in which case we will refund tuition less the processing fee, as above.
California Center for Community Democracy (CCCD) contests the authority of corporations to act in ways that undercut the sovereignty of human beings. We identify effective forms of social, economic, and political action for use by the people of the state of California. We provide education and training through our writings and presentations. We also provide infrastructure support including fiscal sponsorship for democracy activists and their organizations. <http:/www.californiademocracy.org>
Democracy Unlimited of Humboldt County (DUHC) educates citizens about the illegitimate seizure of our authority to govern ourselves. We design and implement grassroots strategies that exercise democratic power over corporations and governments. We seek to create a truly democratic society by provoking a non-violent popular uprising against corporate rule in Humboldt County that can serve as a model for other communities across the United States. DUHC has been leading it workshop "First Steps in Dismantling Corporate Rule" in communities across the United States for the last several years. <www.DUHC.org>
Community Organizing for Deep Democracy Retreat Convenors:
Hannah Clapsadle (DUHC): Hannah Clapsadle is a staff member of the DUHC Steering Committee. She has been involved in nurturing grassroots community groups in Humboldt County, such as Arcata/Eureka Food Not Bombs and the Arcata Free Press, which is a project of the HSU Campus Coalition for Independent Media.
David Cobb (DUHC): David Cobb was the Green Party nominee for President of the United States in 2004. He served as the General Counsel for the Green Party until declaring his candidacy in 2003. His entire legal career is dedicated to challenging illegitimate corporate power and to creating democracy. In 2002 he ran for state Attorney General in Texas on a platform to use the office to revoke the charters of corporations that break the law and challenge corporate ability to manipulate the legal system at the expense of the people. David is a member of the DUHC Steering Committee. He has also worked intimately with the Program on Corporations, Law and Corporations, the Center for Voting and Democracy and ReclaimDemocracy.org.
Jan Edwards (CCCD): Jan Edwards is credited with separating out corporate personhood as a major issue within the people's rights agenda. She led the effort to write and pass the Point Arena Resolution Against Corporate Personhood. She developed the Timeline of Personhood Rights and Powers. She was an organizer of the Placerville Retreat in 2001 and became a member of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) leadership team for its Challenge Corporate Power/Assert the People's Rights campaign. Drawing on her creative abilities developed in her prior career as a costume designer for theater, she now develops tools to educate the public about democracy issues. Jan will be a principal presenter at this event.
Ryan Emenaker (DUHC): Ryan Emenaker is a member of the Democracy Unlimited Steering Committee and on staff for the organization. He is also a founding member of the Humboldt County Youth Arts Program. He helped open the Placebo, an all-ages music and art venue that gives youth a positive alternative to drugs and alcohol. In 2000 he helped co-found the Network of Resistance, a loose web of groups dedicated to positive social change. Ryan is the chair of Arcata's Committee on Democracy and Corporations and the youngest member of the committee. He has helped write legislation that is now gaining nationwide attention that limits the ability of corporations to subvert democracy at the local level. Ryan will be a principal presenter at this event.
Kirsten Lambertsen (CCCD): Kirsten Lambertsen is a member of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, and she is on the leadership team of its Challenge Corporate Power/Assert the People's Rights campaign. She is the organizer of Persons, Inc., a San Francisco campaign to pass an anti-corporate personhood resolution at the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. She is also a member of Reclaim Democracy Bay Area. She lives, works and runs her own small business in San Francisco.
Lynda McClure (CCCD): Lynda McClure served as district staff to Congressman Dan Hamburg from 1992 to 1994. She is currently on the boards of Mendocino County Public Broadcasting, the Green Party of Mendocino County, and the National Women's Political Caucus. She is also active in the Ukiah area Alliance for Democracy. Lynda is employed as an organizer with Service Employees International Union (SEIU).
William Meyers (CCCD): William Meyers is a member of the Point Arena School Board. He played a national role in defeating industry plans to feed irradiated foods to public school students. He helped draft the Point Arena Resolution Against Corporate Personhood, and produced the first popular modern work on the subject - Santa Clara Blues: Corporate Personhood v. Democracy. He is also a past board member of the Industrial Workers of the World and past member of the National Committee of the Green Party of the United States. His essays have appeared in Earth First! Journal and many other publications.
Nancy Price (CCCD): Nancy Price has served as the Co-chair of the national Alliance for Democracy (AfD) since 2001. She is Western Coordinator of the Defending Water for Life Project of AfD's Corporate Globalization / Positive Alternatives campaign. Within WILPF she is on the leadership team of the Save the Water Campaign. She is currently organizing against Nestle Bottled Water in Maine and California. She was instrumental in creating the Water Allies Network and coordinates its Clean Water-Healthy Communities Working Group focusing on the Precautionary Principle. She served from 1991 to 1992 on the City of Davis Planning Commission. She was also of the participants at Placerville. Nancy formerly taught Asian and Chinese Art History and Archeology and she founded and edited the "Early China" journal of the Society for the study of Early China.
Vikki Savee (CCCD): Vikki Savee is serving her third term as the National Treasurer for the Alliance for Democracy, proceeded by two terms as their National Secretary. She currently serves as Treasurer of CCCD. She works full-time as office / accounting / operations manager for an equipment company; is a grandmother of seven and recently became a reat-grandmother.
Kaitlin Sopoci-Belknap (DUHC & CCCD): Kaitlin Sopoci-Belknap was a new intern with DUHC when she attended the Placerville retreat in 2001. Since then she has become DUHC's Executive Director. In 2004 she was elected to serve on the Humboldt Bay Municipal Water Board, becoming one of the youngest elected officials in California. She belongs to the smartMeme STORY board, the leadership team of WILPF's Challenge Corporate Power/Assert the People's Rights campaign, and is Project Co-coordinator for the Humboldt Exchange Community Currency Project. She also serves on the Housing Advisory Board for the City of Eureka. Kaitlin will be a principal presenter at this event.
Jared Wilken (DUHC): Jared Wilken joined the DUHC Steering Committee in 2004. Jared was an organizer for the Humboldt County Peace March in 2005 and has led many workshops and presentations. Jared is also an accomplished musician.