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Posts in the category ProgressNow Announcements

Ever since President Obama nominated Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, the right wing has attacked her with racist and sexist remarks--part of a coordinated strategy to tarnish her credibility. And now they've continued their assault by publishing problematic and disrespectful images.

The fact is that Judge Sotomayor is the most qualified nominee to the Supreme Court in at least a generation. She has more trial experience than any sitting member of the Supreme Court had when they were nominated. And she just received a unanimous recommendation fy the American Bar Association-something that can't be said about any of George W. Bush's nominees.

So we partnered with Presente.org to bring Colorado this poster design to celebrate our pride in her historic nomination and to thank you for standing with her. We hope you'll download it, spread it far and wide, and invite your friends and family to do the same:

http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/Sotomayor

The poster was designed by Presente.org co-founder and artist Favianna Rodriguez. When you download the poster you'll have an opportunity to sign the petition, which we'll send to the Senate Judiciary Committee on your behalf. Hearings on Judge Sotomayor's confirmation are scheduled for this coming Monday, July 13th. That means we only have a few days to get this poster distributed and reproduced everywhere-on web sites, in street windows, and on office walls.

Right-wing extremists like Tom Tancredo and Rush Limbaugh will only ramp up their attacks against Judge Sotomayor. We can't let them dominate the conversation. It's up to us to show just how many people stand behind Judge Sotomayor.

Help us by downloading the poster and spreading the word to your family and friends:

http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/Sotomayor

Thanks for all you do!

P.S. - We also have created bumper stickers based on the poster that you can purchase. Also, if you don't have a color printer or if you would like to get a larger, high-quality poster printed, you can do that as well. Just visit our shop on CafePress.

http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/Shop
The Roosevelt Institution is currently seeking applicants for the following full-time staff positions in Washington D.C.:
Director
Communications Director
Policy Director

About the Roosevelt Institution
Click here for a full listing of these and other Opportunities with Roosevelt

Director of the Roosevelt Institution Campus Network
Position classification: Full-Time

The Roosevelt network is in a period of rapid growth and requires a Director who can strengthen and sustain chapter operations while building network-wide policy capacity and leadership development programs. The Director will report to and work closely with the President of the Roosevelt Institute. The Institute, with offices in Hyde Park, NY, New York, NY, and Washington, DC, is itself in a period of significant expansion and will become more active in progressive idea development and national policy debates in 2009 and beyond.
The director will oversee and advance the broad programmatic and chapter-building goals of the Roosevelt campus network by:

* Managing a small full-time staff of recent graduates in Washington and part-time student staff distributed around the country;
* Further developing its national leadership and career development programs;
* Serving as a public figure for the campus network;
* Representing the network in - and bringing student voices into - the progressive youth and policy sectors in Washington and beyond;
* Communicating on behalf of the network and the campus chapters with stakeholders (policy makers, opinion leaders, and strategic partners within the progressive movement) and bringing student voices into stakeholder conversations;
* Working with student leaders, including members of the Roosevelt Student Advisory Board, to ensure high levels of student participation in governance of the network;
* Working with the Roosevelt alumni network to encourage alumni participation in ongoing programs;
* Working with the Institute President to meet the campus network's funding needs and on the larger Institute's overall growth and direction.

We encourage applications from candidates with experience in public policy research and advocacy, as well as from candidates with work experience in - and preferably management experience with - a chapter-based organization. Experiences in organizing, budgeting, and fundraising are also desirable. The position is based in Washington, D.C.

To apply, please send by e-mail a cover letter explaining your interest, a resume, a writing sample (not to exceed five pages), and the names and contact information of three references to Rooseveltjob@feri.org, to the attention of:

Andrew Rich

President and CEO
The Roosevelt Institute

Applications should be received by Friday, April 3 to be considered fully. We hope that the successful candidate will be available to start work in June or early July 2009. The Roosevelt Institute is an EEO/AA/ADA/IRCA Employer. We especially encourage applications from women and people from diverse backgrounds. The Roosevelt Institute's website is www.feri.org. The campus network's website is www.rooseveltinstitution.org.


National Director of Communications
Position classification: Full-Time

Summary

The Roosevelt Institution has an opening for the National Director of Communications. The director will be responsible for maintaining internal and external communications for Roosevelt, developing its online and print narrative, creating and maintaining relationships with media outlets, writing press releases and amplifying Roosevelt's work, and organizing and supervising national and regional journal development, web and print material. The principal focus of work will include facilitating web communications and supervising policy journal creation.

Responsibilities include but are not limited to the following:

* Supervise and manage regional and national policy journals
* Manage website and web communications (including monthly newsletter)
* Write press releases for Roosevelt events and achievements
* Facilitate blog, articles and op-eds written by students
* Build relationships with and work in coalition with media outlets
* Attend/represent Roosevelt at conferences and events
* Some travel required



Requirements:

o Proven management experience
o Excellent research, analytical, and written communication skills
o Excellent web and computer skills

+ Proficiency in Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator preferred
o Ability to lead under pressure/tight deadlines in a fast-paced environment
o Ability to multi-task and prioritize
o Strong interpersonal skills and ability to work on a team

To apply, please email a cover letter and resume to applications@rooseveltinstitution.org.
No phone calls please.


National Policy Director



Staff reporting to this position: National Policy Strategy team
Position classification: Full-Time
Summary

The Roosevelt Institution has an opening for the National Policy Director. The director will be responsible for planning, developing, and facilitating Roosevelt's policy work at chapters across the country. The principal focus of work will include leading the national policy team and guiding our policy priorities, developing relationships with legislators, policy makers and other partners, and speaking as a a voice for Roosevelt on a national level.

Responsibilities include but are not limited to the following:

o Supervise and manage National Policy staff
o Supervise and support policy creation at chapters
o Prepare articles and op-eds
o Speak at panels, symposia, and other discussion events
o Build relationships with and work in coalition with other organizations
o Some travel required

Requirements:

o Proven management experience
o Experience working with and managing students
o Policy experience
o Excellent research, analytical, and written communication skills
o Ability to lead under pressure/tight deadlines in a fast-paced environment
o Ability to multi-task and prioritize
o Strong interpersonal skills and ability to work on a team

To apply, please email a cover letter and resume to applications@rooseveltinstitution.org. No phone calls please.

ProgressNow Saddened By Closure of the Rocky Mountain News
Storied media outlet will be missed, says Colorado's largest progressive organization 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, February 26, 2009
CONTACT: Michael Huttner, Executive Director at 303-931-4547 

DENVER-In response to reports that the Rocky Mountain News will close after tomorrow's edition, ProgressNow Colorado executive director Michael Huttner offered the following statement on behalf of hundreds of thousands of network members: 

"The Rocky Mountain News has been a Colorado institution for longer than Colorado has been a state, and it is a truly sad moment to learn it will close after tomorrow's edition. As the Rocky consistently offered some of the most thorough and insightful coverage of local and regional political issues of any Colorado news source, today's announcement represents a loss to the right of all the state's citizens to stay informed on the issues closest to their daily lives. 

"We are pleased to hear that many excellent journalists from the Rocky Mountain News, including Lynn Bartels, Gargi Chakrabarty, and columnists Mike Littwin, Tina Griego and Bill Johnson will continue their important work at the Denver Post. We are also happy that Vince Carroll is moving to the Post, though we frequently disagree he is an honest and credible conservative voice. We look forward to continuing to work with these irreplaceable reporters and opinionmakers on the issues of the day, and wish everyone at the Rocky the best of luck in their future endeavors." 

###

ProgressNow Colorado was at today's presser put on by Colorado Republicans and their Big Oil-funded front groups. We're still pulling stuff together to show you, but you have to see this right away:



Michelle Malkin poses with Swastika Guy


That's noted right-wing shill Michelle Malkin posing with who we've dubbed "Swastika Guy," owing to the sign he carried right onto the stage with State Senator Josh Penry, Congressman Mike Coffman, Colorado GOP Chairman Dick Wadhams, State Senator Dave Schultheis, former Congressman Tom Tancredo, and Independence Institute president Jon Caldara, among others. None of whom did anything about it, and in fact one person defended the guy to one of our people saying that the swastika is not a Nazi symbol, but an honored Native American symbol.


Yeah, I am totally sure that is what Swastika Guy was referring to.

   Read More »
ProgressNow Colorado Hosts Public "Thank You" For Economic Recovery Legislation
Colorado's largest progressive organization thanks Obama, Bennet, Udall, congressional delegation for historic effort

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, February 16, 2009
CONTACT: Michael Huttner, Executive Director at 303-931-4547

DENVER--
Following tomorrow's visit to Denver by President Barack Obama to sign the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 into law, ProgressNow Colorado will host a gathering of progressives in downtown Denver to thank the President and Colorado's congressional delegation for their work on the historic bill. According to White House estimates, the plan will create over 60,000 new jobs in Colorado (Denver Business Journal, 2/4/09).

"Passage of the economic recovery bill was critical to the future of every American and Coloradan," said Michael Huttner, executive director of Colorado's largest progressive organization. "This was a test not just of our new President, or the new congressional majority's ability to lead effectively, but a bipartisan test of the nation's capacity as a whole to deal with the challenges of the 21st century."

Huttner noted the hard compromises necessary to win passage of the economic recovery bill, particularly in the Senate.

"We are disappointed at some of the cuts that were ultimately made to the bill, especially to funds that would help stabilize Colorado's budget shortfalls," Huttner said, "But the bill would not have passed except for those tough compromises, which attracted just enough Republican support. Colorado's Senators, Michael Bennet and Mark Udall, are to be commended for their patient work reaching out across the aisle. Without their efforts, we might not have had a bill for the President to sign tomorrow."

Officials and the public are invited to join ProgressNow Colorado staff to note and discuss the economic recovery bill at Hamburger Mary's, 700 E. 17th Ave. in Denver at 4PM tomorrow, Tuesday February 17th..

###


Westword's Michael Roberts covers the thinking behind our organization's new brand:

Denver-based ProgressNow and ProgressNow Action have become among the most effective political organizations in these parts, using a growing network of supporters to push its liberal agenda. So why change its name to ProgressNow Colorado, as is being announced today? The roots of the decision were discussed in an August 2007 Message column headlined "Making Progress." As ProgressNow executive director Michael Huttner noted in that piece, the group decided to build on its success in Colorado by trying to work with or start similar enterprises in other states. Post-election, the powers that be have decided that the confusion resulting from having two names locally (for the main outfit and the political-action arm, respectively) is being compounded by having sister sites scattered across the U.S. -- hence yet another new moniker.


Our announcement email from today follows. Do you have friends or family in one of our affiliate states? Check the list below and let them know.   Read More »
As you've probably noticed by now, ProgressNowAction is undergoing some pretty significant overhaul--not the least of which is a change of name, to ProgressNow Colorado. It's awesome to finally be redoing our website and brand in-house, a pet desire of mine for a number of years now, and I think you'll be very pleased with the result.

http://progressnowcolorado.org (progressnowaction.org will continue to work indefinitely)

Please note that we're not done yet, and for the next 48 hours or so some things are going to look a little weird in our applications as we apply a large number of style and functionality changes. We'll be "re-launching" the website publicly in a few days, by which time we'll have all the lingering issues corrected (we hope).

In the meantime thanks for your patience, and we look forward to a very exciting 2009!
We offer you the following ballot recommendations based on extensive research and feedback from thousands of our network members. Print the ballot recommendations below and refer to them as you vote. Click here for a printable .PDF copy.

Please share this guide with your friends. And feel free to make copies and pass them around at work, school, or your neighborhood.

Click here for your mobile Colorado ballot guideNEW Mobile Ballot Guide: Text VOTECO to 69866 to get this complete guide to the Colorado ballot on your mobile phone, or visit http://08covote.com directly from your web-enabled (WAP) phone! Share our exclusive mobile ballot guide with all of your friends.

Construction of The Big Tent starts tomorrow. Check out the progress live courtesy our partners at UStream:

Live video by Ustream

  Oil and Gas Companies Announce Record Profits Again 
Communities Rally in Response

Press Advisory
For immediate release, August 5, 2008
Contact: Michael Huttner, 303-931-4547

 

Where:       West Steps of the Colorado State Capitol

When:        Wednesday, August 6, 12:15 pm

Why:         

Representatives of low-income communities, communities of color, environmental and health care advocacy organizations call on the oil and gas industry to stop putting profits ahead of the people of Colorado.  

In this era of jaw-dropping profits - ExxonMobil announced last week they made $11B in the second quarter of this year - the oil and gas industry is leaving everyday Coloradans behind.  Coloradans are suffering under staggering costs that hurt everyone - from sky high gas prices to budget busting home heating costs.  

The oil industry's "Drill more, pay less" message is irresponsible, untrue, and endangers Colorado communities. 

 

Who:          

ACORN

Colorado Conservation Voters

Colorado Environmental Coalition

Defenders of Wildlife

Mi Familia Vota

New Era Colorado

Progressive Democrats of America

ProgressNow

 

Photo Op - Visuals Depicting Massive Oil and Gas Industry Profits

How many times have you seen a billboard or bumper sticker and thought you could do better?

Well, here's a chance to use your creativity for a good cause - educating people about John McCain.

Public perception of John McCain is very different than his right-wing record and questionable ethics. The media is giving him a free ride but we can't. It's up to all of us to help our fellow Americans understand who McCain really is.

That's why ProgressNowAction is launching a national contest to find the best description for McCain in five words or less. Click the link below to submit your idea:

http://www.ProgressNowAction.org/Billboards

Your entry will be posted on ProgressNowAction.org, where thousands of your fellow network members can rate the entries. We'll use the best and highest-rated entries for actual billboards, bumper stickers, yard signs and other visibility efforts in the months ahead.

http://www.ProgressNowAction.org/Billboards

Thank you, in advance for your creativity.
Let's tell our leaders what we want in 2008!

The Colorado legislative session begins TODAY, January 9th. Join ProgressNow members from across the state in a conference call next week with House Speaker Andrew Romanoff and Senate President Peter Groff to kick off the session.

Click below to learn more. You can also submit a question you'd like to ask our leaders about any issue--from healthcare reform or renewable energy, to education funding or election reform:

http://progressnowaction.org/PeoplePower2008

If you can't make the call, you can still participate! Use this form to tell leadership what's on your mind. We'll deliver your comments to the both the House and Senate leadership before the conference call next week:

http://progressnowaction.org/PeoplePower2008

With more progressive leaders in state government, we have a real opportunity to move Colorado forward. But change won't come easy. Powerful corporate interests with high-paid lobbyists will fight every day to keep the status quo.

We need change now, and that's where we all come in. We're kicking off a historic citizen lobbying campaign throughout the legislative session to make sure that the voices of ordinary Coloradans are heard at the Capitol--joining this call is the first step.
Every so often it's necessary for us to point out that ProgressNowAction.org is a 501(c)(4) organization. While we are not expressly responsible for content posted to our site by members, we *are* responsible to the IRS for making sure our facilities are not misused for overt electioneering purposes. Direct endorsement of candidates is prohibited by (c)(4) organizations, and our provided community organizing tools cannot be used for this purpose.

I have been forced to delete a couple of recent blog posts that were engaged in the kind of overt electioneering that is prohibited by the IRS. Be assured we do not "censor" content based on our own political preferences, but we have no choice but to be compliant with the federal laws governing our organization.

You are free to express your opinions on any subject here at ProgressNowAction, even those you might consider unpopular with the staff or other members--but please be mindful of our restrictions regarding the endorsement of political candidates. We will have no choice but to continue to remove content posted to our forum in violation of the law.

Thanks,

Alan Franklin
IT Manager, ProgressNow

A generous donor has agreed to match every donation to ProgressNow.org from now through midnight on December 31. If you donate to ProgressNow.org, every dollar will be matched. It's a fantastic, and generous offer. You can donate to ProgressNow.org at:

http://www.ProgressNow.org/Donate

Note that ProgressNow.org is a 501(c)3 organization, and donations to ProgressNow.org are deductible for federal income tax purposes.

One of the services many of you may enjoy from ProgressNow.org is our Daily News Digest. Having substituted for Alan on a few occasions, I can tell you that it's hard work producing that service. And it's just one of the many things ProgressNow does to inform Coloradans and promote progressive ideas. If you haven't signed up for the "daily clips", you can do so at http://www.ProgressNow.org/GetTheClips

 

We hope you can join us and other progressives for the second Rocky Mountain RootsCamp on Saturday and Sunday December 1st and 2nd in Denver.

We had our first successful RootsCamp in February and are excited to make the second RootsCamp even better.

For those who weren't able to participate in February, RootsCamp is a self organizing conference with no preset schedule, everyone is a presenter, and you only go to sessions you find interesting. It is for people to share their innovations, failures, and wisdom.

We've added some great things this time around. We'll have a vendor hall so that you can plug in and volunteer for progressive organizations. And on Sunday there will be intensive breakout sessions to learn new skills like how to make a YouTube Video, how to blog, how to organize around community issues, among others. For more information and to sign up visit:

http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/event/detail/wdj

We look forward to seeing you on December 1st and 2nd in Denver.
We've just set up a new social interaction plugin here at ProgressNowAction -- if you look in the lower right of our homepage, or the left column of any blog entry you'll be greeted with this:



This is a display of users in the me.dium community who are visiting our site and "neighboring" sites like our good friends at Squarestate.net. Signing up for me.dium is free, and once you do you'll be able to chat and exchange information will other site users as well us the staff here at ProgressNowAction! It's a very simple interface that requires only Microsoft Internet Explorer and a reasonably modern computer.

Learn more about how the me.dium system works by clicking here, then click here to download your me.dium widget and create your own free account in seconds.

It's just another tool we can all use to network with each other and make our use of this as well other progressive sites more fulfilling and successful. Feel free to chat with myself or any of the ProgressNow staff you see roaming around there once you're set up!
By demand, we've dramatically improved the archives for our Daily News Digest, the most popular daily roundup of Colorado news available. Check it out:

http://media.progressnowaction.org/clips

New features include searchability (huge), as well as individual RSS feeds for every issue category (also huge).

Many thanks to our own Mike Ditto for his coding assistance on the new clips site. If you don't already get the Digest by email each morning, sign up below:

Get the clips

Thanks again for your support, 4:30AM is no time to be up every morning unless it's for a good cause. :)

Join special guest Governor Bill Ritter and ProgressNowAction members on Thursday July 26, on the rooftop of Club Vinyl in Denver for the first annual Progresstival happy hour. The fun kicks off at 5:30pm and ends at 7:30!

The first 250 people who respond get in for the screamin' deal of a $10 donation. For everyone else, it's $15. So, RSVP ASAP! Click on the link to make your donation:

Link

Vinyl is located at 1082 Broadway (map).

We're planning some surprise Progresstival festivities. We can't tell you what they are, but you can bet they'll be talked about for years to come.
We need your help to set the direction for ProgressNowAction.

In the past 18 months, the ProgressNowAction network has become established as a force for change in Colorado. If you signed one of our petitions or wrote a letter to your newspaper or elected officials through ProgressNowAction.org like tens of thousands of your fellow Coloradans have since 2005, you helped make that happen. Now, we need your help to decide what comes next.

In the months ahead, we have an opportunity to work together to take big steps forward for our state on many issues that we all care about. As we plan for the rest of 2007 and beyond, we want to hear from you.

What issues are most important to you? How do you want to be involved? Click on the link below to weigh in with your thoughts:

Link

Thank you for everything you have done and will do for Colorado.

We've had a great two years at ProgressNow, and we want to recognize our members for all the things they do every day.

To that end, we're pleased to announce "Progress Points", our new system for rewarding you our constituents for participating together with us in achieving our goals to grow an even larger Progressive community here in Colorado.

Starting today every action you take within the ProgressNowAction community automatically accumulates points in your Progress Points account.

Earning points is easy! (Heck, just logging in is worth 100 points).

Here's some other of the ways to earn points:

Sign Up
Register - 1000 points
Create a Profile - 500 points

Blogging
Create Blog Post - 200 points
Add Blog Post to a Group - 100 points
Comment on a Blog Post - 200 points
Rate a Blog Post - 100 points

Groups
Create a Group - 1000 points
Join a Group - 100 points
Become Administrator of a Group - 500
User Joins Your Group - 250
Receive a Rating on a Post You Created - 100 points

Events
Create an Event - 1000 points
Someone Signs Up to Attend Your Event - 200 points
Sign Up to Attend Someone Else's event - 500 points

Grow Your Network
Invite Another User to Your Network - 500 points
Befriend Another User Who Invites You to Their Network - 500 points

LetterRip
Send a Letter to the Editor - 300 Points
Send a Letter to the Elected Official - 300 points

RSS
Subscribe to an RSS Feed - 100 points

You can keep track of your points total within your "My Progress" page. It even displays your current rank and how many additional points you need to move up in the overall rankings.

We know that some of you (those who are "highly competitive" . . . and you know who you are) will "jump right in" and start taking action to grow your point totals. For others the right incentive might do the trick.

Some ideas that have been submitted are:

Bring a bag lunch with The Governor or other Political Official
Tickets (i.e. next time Jon Stewart is in town, Al Franken, etc.)
Fee waived to be sent to a conference

Please leave your suggestions in the comments (ummmm . . . you'll earn 200 points each time you do!)

Some facts for the "Lawyers" out there:

ProgressPoints is not a contest and we may or may not offer incentives for achieving the highest point totals in a given period of time . . . We probably will, but we may not.

Any previous points achieved have been added to your account . . . there will be no further updating of previous points earned.

We hope you enjoy Progress Points and that you will use them to help us grow our community!

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