Let’s build a movement and fight sexism wherever it exists.
UltraViolet Teams are groups of women’s rights advocates and activists coming together to make a tangible difference on issues that impact women. Teams take powerful action like rallies and protests, 1:1 meetings with decision makers (like members of Congress), petition deliveries, movie screenings, and more.
Want to start a team? GREAT!
If you haven’t already, host a kickoff meeting in your area! Hosting a kickoff meeting is a great way to get like-minded people together to start building relationships and planning for future action. Check out what that entails here and sign up.
Ok–You’ve got a group of excited members. Now what?
- First of all–nice job! Tell us about your team here.
- Get to work on a pressing campaign. UltraViolet works on many issues that disproportionately impact women, and right now saving the Affordable Care Act needs a lot of our energy. Trump’s proposed plan would essentially defund Planned Parenthood by blocking Medicaid patients from using the clinics and experts say it would effectively make sexual assault a pre-existing condition by allowing insurance companies to penalize individuals who received care post-assault.
- Beyond that, Trumpcare would take us back to the era of junk plans that charge high premiums and aren’t there when you need them for things like well-women visits, prenatal care, childbirth, and more.The fight is in the Senate now, and your team can make sure your senator will vote NO on all attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act (or, if they vote yes, that they know their constituents will remember when it’s election time).
- If one or both of your senators is a Republican, get the message to them loud and clear by staging a public demonstration.
- If one of both of your senators is a Democrat, it may make more sense to plan a meeting with their staff or organize a call in day to make sure they are fighting as hard as they can.
Cultivating your team for the long haul
So you’ve got a group, and you’re organizing action. But a functioning group is more than just actions–it also involves good communication and relationships.
- Communicate with your team members: Stay in touch with your team members! The easiest way to get information out may be a simple email (if you don’t want to reveal everyone’s email address, use BCC), but other options like a Facebook book or Google group offer extra features. Share news articles for discussion, alerts about other rallies/political events that your members may want to join, and of course alerts for upcoming UltraViolet actions and meetings.
- Reach out and grow your team: There are likely dozens or hundreds of people in your area who would like to join your work if given the chance. So get the word out! The next time you have a meeting or action, put up signs, email like-minded organizations in the area, and invite everyone you know. It’s also great to attend meetings of other organizations–when you support others, they’re more likely to support your work and we all benefit.
- Meet regularly: Depending on your group, you may meet every week, every month, or just when you’re actively planning an event. Personal relationship building outside of meetings and action is important to make sure people want to stay involved.
- Stay in touch w/ UltraViolet staff to be the first to know about breaking campaigns. By filling out the team leader form) you’ll be put on a special list of UV members to receive offline action alerts and conference call invitations. Send us your photos and videos from events–we may feature them on social media! And if you have a particular idea or question don’t be a stranger! Get in touch at events@weareultraviolet.org.
UltraViolet guides to action:
Women Resist! Kick-Off Gathering Guide
May Recess Toolkit for resistance:This guide contains information on how repealing the Affordable Care Act would harm women plus tips for how to organize protest, drop bys, 1:1 meetings with decision-makers and more!
How to organize a sit-in
3-ways to contact your member of Congress: Tips for organize an in-district meeting, drop by, or call-in day