W4J&E Policy Statement on Political Engagement

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     At Woodbury for Justice and Equality, our Mission is to learn about systemic inequalities and racial injustices in our community in order to seek solutions to change the status quo. Our Vision is to have a Woodbury where everyone has an equal opportunity and feels welcomed. 

    To keep our focus on achieving this mission and vision, we are an intentionally nonpartisan community group. This means that we do not coordinate our activities, goals, fundraising, or messaging with any political party. 

    However, we also recognize that important systemic change sometimes happens through policy change. And policy change is driven by politicians. Therefore, though we are nonpartisan, we cannot remain apolitical. We will act to support the policies that advance our mission and the politicians who advocate for those policies. 

To clarify our stance in advance of the upcoming 2023 campaign season, we have created the following framework to guide our current and future political involvement:

• We will support specific policies and issues that align with our mission and vision
• We will support candidates that advocate for our selected policies and issues
• We will NOT support specific parties or candidates based on party affiliation 
• Will provide all candidates in a given race the same opportunity to respond to questionnaires and surveys about their policy positions

• “Support” from our group could include publicity (candidate forums, social media posts, community events) and meeting with candidates to discuss positions on issues or advocate for W4JE’s mission and goals
• “Support” will NOT include fundraising or working for the campaign of any specific candidate