1. Participate in no less than 75% of the prep meetings to happen from March to May (the exact schedule is still being determined but should involve approximately 5-15 hours per week).
2. Participate fully in two in-person sprints from June 5 to 11 and from July 17 to 23.
3. Do at least 30 hours per week during the four weeks between the in-person sprints.
4. Do 10-20 hours of work from July 24 to August 6 to sum up the Advance Team’s work and to prepare to present results to the organization.
5. Participate in the update process that is created to inform the cadre about the research, analysis and discussions happening in the Strategy Lab.
6. Complete an evaluation at the end of the process.
7. Bring a spirit of supportive and rigorous struggle and collaboration.

Criteria for the composition of the Advance Team

Although no single member of the Advance Team is likely to have all of these characteristics, the Advance Team as a whole should demonstrate these qualities:

1. Be in good membership standing.
2. Be grounded in social movement work.
3. Be diverse in terms of race/nationality, gender, region, movement experience, etc.
4. Be skilled in analyzing statistical information and qualitative data.
5. Have previous experience with revolutionary strategy development processes.
6. Be familiar with breadth of cadres’ movement work. Although Strategy Lab Advance Team members will represent their own views (which will likely evolve over the process), they should also be mindful of the views represented in the organization.
7. Be committed to working well as a team to accomplish the assigned tasks.

Process for selecting the Advance Team

1. Interested cadres will fill out this candidate statement form no later than February 22 at 11.59pm PT. Cadres can encourage one another to apply, but interested cadres must apply for themselves.
2. All cadres will receive the interest statements of all of the candidates by March 3.
3. Cadres will vote from March 6 to 12. The five (5) candidates with the most votes will join the Advance Team. During this week, there will be an Online Advance Team Q&A where each candidate can share why they’re interested in participating on the Advance Team and cadres can ask questions. (This event will be recorded for those who cannot join live.)
4. On March 16, the NCC will select an additional five (5) candidates for the Advance Team. These candidates will be selected primarily to round out the composition of the overall team to better meet the composition criteria.
5. On March 17, the NCC will announce the full roster of the Advance Team.

If you are interested in serving on the Advance Team but are concerned that there might be challenges that would prevent you from participating, please e-mail staff@leftroots.net. LeftRoots staff will work with you to try to find ways of overcoming those obstacles (negotiating with your supervisor about extra time off, fundraising to subsidize time off of work, finding support for care-giving responsibilities, etc.).

There are no shortcuts to grounded and audaciously ambitious strategy. That’s why we’re all gonna roll up our sleeves and do the work to make such a strategy (or strategies) real. We need it now more than ever!