Become a Democracy Learning Community Organizer

Like democracy?

Want experience in moving people to action?

Want to make new friends and helpful professional connections?

Then volunteer to serve as a Democracy Learning Community (DLC) Organizer!

About Learning Life and the Family Diplomacy Initiative

Learning Life is a Washington, DC-based nonprofit developing inclusive learning communities in order to widen and deepen participation in democracy and diplomacy in our increasingly interconnected yet divided world.

Learning Life’s DMV Democracy Learning Community (DLC) is working to make democracy more engaging and inclusive in the Washington DC area by connecting professionals, publics and policymakers via social events, products, services and spaces that nurture fun, learning, networking, collaboration and wider, deeper citizen participation.

Benefits of Being a DLC Organizer
  1. Make diverse new friends and helpful professional contacts in the DC region.
  2. Contribute to strengthening democracy by making it more engaging and inclusive.
  3. Gain confidence and skill in communication.
  4. Develop marketable community organizing skills.
  5. Earn a Certificate of Completion, with or without Honors.  Details below.
  6. Have the chance to earn one of two $100 cash awards for the three best performing DLC Organizers each year.  Details below.
Duties of a DLC Organizer

FDs are expected to:

  1. Subscribe to the Family Diplomacy Dispatch.
  2. If you are on Facebook, join FDI’s Facebook Group, like and comment on posts, and post about your own family at least once per year.  See below for the kinds of posts we look for.
  3. Participate in the FD Dialogues, every first Sunday of each month in March to November at 12-1pm New York time (click here to figure out the time in your city), via Zoom.
  4. Complete a FD Poster about your family, if your family is comfortable being presented publicly.
  5. Promptly respond to Learning Life staff questions via email or social media.

FDs who would like a Certificate of Completion must complete the above duties.  To receive a regular Certificate of Completion, FDs must attend at least 6 of the 9 monthly FD Dialogues, and participate at least once by voice and/or Zoom chat in each of the dialogues you attend.  To receive a Certificate of Completion with Honors, FDs must attend at least 8 of the 9 monthly FD Dialogues, and participate at least twice by voice and/or Zoom chat in each of the dialogues you attend.  This applies to FDs who participate as individuals as well as FDs who participate with one or more members of their family.  In other words, one FD’s attendance and participation cannot count for two FDs’ attendance and participation from the same family.

For your Facebook posts (#2 above), to receive a regular Certificate of Completion, FDs must post to FDI’s Facebook Group at least once in a year (a post is not the same thing as a response to a post).  For the Certificate of Completion with Honors, FDs must post at least twice in a year.  Each post must contain at least one family photo, plus at least a one-paragraph explanation that includes (a) your family’s city/town and country, and (b) a family update (birth, marriage, death, celebration, issue), an interesting tradition, routine, or peculiarity about your family, OR a challenge your family faces — such as any of the five big issues impacting families that Learning Life is focusing on: poverty, war, climate change, gender-based violence, and the internet — and how your family is responding to that challenge.

Family Diplomacy Ambassadors’ Duties

FDAs serve as Ambassadors by helping to connect and involve more people in family diplomacy, and in so doing, gain valuable communication and people-organizing experience.  Thus, FDAs complete all the duties of FDs above, plus:

  1. Attend monthly FDA meetings of up to one hour at 1-2pm New York time on the first Sunday of every month in March to November, immediately following the 12-1pm FD Dialogues on the same Zoom.  FDA meetings help FDAs get to know each other, share effective ways to connect and engage people in FDI, and collaborate as appropriate.
  2. Earn at least 100 organizing points in the course of one year to gain a FDA Certificate of Completion, and 150 points to gain a FDA Certificate of Completion with Honors.

FDAs can earn organizing points as follows:

  1. 1 point for every person you get to follow Learning Life on Facebook.  Each person who follows must also email Learning Life at email@learninglife.info with their first and last name plus the sentence: “I followed Learning Life on Fb thanks to [FDA’s First and Last Name].”
  2. 1 point for every person you get to join the FDI group on Facebook.  Each person who joins must also email Learning Life at email@learninglife.info with their first and last name plus the sentence: “I joined the FDI group on Fb thanks to [FDA’s First and Last Name].”
  3. 3 points for every person you get to subscribe to the bi-monthly, email Family Diplomacy Dispatch.  Each person who subscribes must enter your first and last name in the subscription form where they are asked who referred them.
  4. 5 points for every family that fully and correctly fills out the FDI Family Poster Survey.  Through the survey, families must enter the FDA’s first and last name as their contact, and must consent to being publicly featured on an e-poster.  FDAs are encouraged to have families they know who are affected by one or more of the five big issues impacting families that Learning Life is focusing on (poverty, war, climate change, gender-based violence, and the internet) complete the Family Poster Survey.
  5. 10 points for recruiting a new FD individual, and 15 points for recruiting a new FD family (i.e., two or more members of the same family serving as FDs together).  The FDs must attend and participate in at least five consecutive monthly FD dialogues via Zoom to be counted as recruited.
  6. 20 points for recruiting a new FDA individual, and 25 points for recruiting a new FDA family (i.e., two or more members of the same family serving as FDAs together).  The FDAs must attend and participate in at least five consecutive monthly FD dialogues and FDA meetings via Zoom to be counted as recruited.

Two or more FDAs from the same family have the advantage and benefit of working together to achieve the same 100 or 150 point goals they choose.  In other words, FDA families do not have to gain more points than individual FDAs.

FDAs who choose to focus on recruiting FDs and/or fellow FDAs, and start their FDA work after the start of meetings in March can have the FDs and/or FDAs they recruit attend their consecutive five FD dialogues, or five FD dialogues plus FDA meetings in two consecutive years.  For example, a recruited FD can start attending FD Dialogues in November and continue attending the Dialogues in March onward of the next year.

Additional Details

FDs and FDAs can start at any time during the year, though keep in mind that the FD Dialogues run monthly from March to November.  Certificates are announced, and awarded via email in January of the following year.  So, an FD or FDA who, for example, starts attending FD Dialogues in September of one year can attend the October and November Dialogues, then resume attending the Dialogues in March onward of the next year, and will receive their Certificate of Completion in January of the third year.

Winners of the two $100 prizes for best performing FDAs in a given year are announced by January of the following year.

FDs and FDAs can live anywhere in the world, but should:

  1. Have a functioning and publicly visible Facebook profile with a clear headshot of the FD or FDA.
  2. Have an internet connection strong and reliable enough to attend meetings via Zoom by audio at least, if not also video.
  3. Speak, read and write English at a level that allows you to understand and participate fully in international conversations with other FDs, FDAs, and Learning Life staff.
  4. Preferably apply with one or more family members who live with you.  While Learning Life accepts individuals as FDs or FDAs, we strongly prefer and will prioritize recruiting two or more members of the same family serving together since this is family diplomacy.
  5. Serve for at least one year, and preferably longer since FDI is an ambitious movement to give voice to families in policymaking for a more caring world.  Like many things worth building, FDI takes years of persistent work by many people to grow, sustain and achieve success.
How to Apply

If you would like to serve as an FD or FDA, please complete the FD application or the FDA application.  Either application should take you no more than 10 minutes to complete.  Please do not fill out both applications, but rather choose to apply for the FD or FDA position based on whether the above-mentioned FD or FDA duties and benefits interest you more.

Thank you for your interest in helping to spread family diplomacy worldwide!