1. "The Policy Circle has given me the opportunity to influence the women around me, drawing them to a higher sense of themselves through their own brilliance and willingness to learn."
-Judi W., Circle Member
Introduce The Policy Circle with a transformational quote from one of our members. {Read Quote}
I’m here today to talk about {insert why you’re excited about The Policy Circle)
Think about why you’re an ambassador

2. What is The Policy Circle?
The Policy Circle brings women together in their communities to learn from
fact-based research and strengthen their voices in public policy dialogue.
So what is The Policy Circle? It is a group that brings women together in their communities to learn from fact-based research and strengthen their voices in public policy dialogue.
The Policy Circle is a cultural and educational, not political, organization. It is non-profit and non-partisan but has a point of view – which is that public policy should foster human creativity in a free-market economy and that government should strive to spend our tax dollars wisely.
The vision is to create Policy Circles in communities so that women build trust and forge bonds to speak up in public policy-making activities – at the local, state and national levels.

3. 62 circles in 19 states, 1400 members since 2015
As seen from our rapid growth, there is an unmet need.
Women want to learn the facts about policies.
Women want to become agents of change.
The Policy Circle gives us a framework for doing so. The Policy Circle partners with national and state based think tanks for the best and most relevant content and policy priorities.

4. The Policy Circle Offers:
A unique opportunity to connect with like-minded women
A new way to engage by learning about and getting involved in public policy
An experience that results in women learning from each other and gaining confidence to articulate their voices on a wide range of issues
The Policy Circle offers a unique way for women to participate in civic discourse.
Women become transformed by learning from one another and gaining confidence to take their policy engagement to the next level.
What results is a transformation; women who were once siloed develop the courage to influence policy as an individual.

5. The Policy Circle framework has 4 elements that makes it unique.
1.) Face to face meetings
2.) A Year of Conversation materials
3.) A member-only website to connect
4.) A round table discussion model
Let’s take a look at the first part; Face to Face Meetings...

6. The first element of The Policy Circle Framework is “Face to Face meetings”.
Face to face meetings connect people to learn together and go beyond the headlines and soundbites on real issues facing our community, state and country.
A circle has 2 or 3 circle leaders who brings together 10 to 20 women from a community. However, many circles start with two or three women, and grow from there. Circles decide how large or small they want to be.
Circles meet every other month with a break during the summer. The idea is that members read a policy brief ahead of time and come prepared to discuss at the face to face meeting. What’s a policy brief and where do they come from? That leads us to the second element of our framework …

7. The second element is the “Year of Conversation”.
When you become a member of The Policy Circle, you have access to a comprehensive library of Policy Briefs that are the basis of the face to face discussions. The briefs are organized into A Year of Conversations with enough material to support discussions over the course of more than 1 year.
As you can see there are six broad themes and each theme has subtopics with corresponding policy briefs – for example under the header “Ins and Outs of Economics” discussion briefs are available on Economic Growth, Taxation, and Fiscal Responsibility. Other briefs cover Healthcare, K-12 Education, Higher Education, Poverty and more briefs are on the way on Immigration, Social Security and Entitlements to name a few.
In addition, the Policy Circle partners with local free-market based thought leaders where possible to provide state specific snapshots on these issues.
While the Year of Conversation schedule suggests themes for meeting discussions, each circle can decide what issues to discuss. For example, one group in Indiana decided to focus on Education over several months. Other groups follow the schedule. It’s up to each circle.
The briefs are a detailed overview of a policy area with links to videos and in- depth articles to provide flexibility for the discussion. You can “go deep” or stay high-level.
Here’s a typical table of contents in a brief:
History
Facts to know
What role should government play?
Principles of Reform
Engage: Solutions for your elected representatives
Thought leaders on topic
Questions for discussion

8. Member-only Website to Connect
The third element is the “Member-only Website to connect”.
The Policy Circle has a Members-only technology platform that gives Circles a place to access briefs, make posts and the ability to create and manage events.
Each circle has its own page. This is the “home base” for a circle and has some easy-to-use functions that allow a circle to stay in touch.
This is a private site – what is posted is private and there are no ads based on likes.
Please note that we can’t post information about political campaigns or fundraising. Information in posts should be educational in nature, non-political and non-partisan.
Member-only
Website to Connect

9. Other features
Through our members-only website, Circle Members and Leaders:
Can create discussion posts on their own
Have the ability to organize events and share them with other members
Receive exclusive communications from The Policy Circle
Have access to toolkits, policy briefs and more
Connect directly with one another
Have the ability to share The Policy Circle with other women who want to join

10. The fourth element of the Policy Circle framework is the Roundtable Discussion Model, which empowers everyone to express their own views and be heard. Here’s a video that shows what it is like to be part of a circle. The circle leaders provide the opportunity for women to come together; every member has a role to play in the roundtable discussion. (PLAY THE VIDEO)

11. As you can see, the Roundtable Discussion Model ensures that everyone feels heard and validated, not just the loudest talkers, so that even the introverts among us also feel that they can contribute.
At a typical roundtable discussion:
The facilitator goes around the circle asking everyone to share their views on the issues (there are facilitation questions in the discussion guide that comes with the brief.
The time keeper keeps track of the time and ensures all have a chance to speak.
The scribe takes some notes to contribute to the online summary of the circle meeting
For larger Circles who break up into smaller groups, a reporter volunteers to share the main points with the larger group.

12. Other unique features of The Policy Circle
It’s a place for energizing discussion with other women who value
A strong entrepreneurial economy
Responsible spending and small government
A truce on social issues
It’s a safe place to talk.
What is said in a Circle stays in a Circle.
Circle members do not use the contact information of other members for business or fundraising purposes.
It’s a way for you to make an impact as an individual.
We hope you will learn and grow through conversations with our Circle!
We respect your opinions and affirm your right to lobby or engage in political activity in your individual capacity; Circle members are not permitted to lobby or engage in political activity on behalf of, or using the name of, The Policy Circle.
Here are a few other features that make The Policy Circle unique:
It’s a place for energizing discussion with other women who value
A strong entrepreneurial economy. Small businesses need to be able to grow and thrive so they can hire more people and provide opportunity. It is amazing what human creativity at a local level can accomplish, efficiently in a free-market economy.
Responsible Spending and Small Government. Government should be efficient it how it operates and spend taxpayer money wisely.
A Truce on Social Issues. Rather than stop the conversation before it has started, let’s instead focus on key issues affecting our communities.
It’s a safe place to talk.
What is said in a circle stays in a circle. If a member write on a blog of course that it is attributable but in meetings we seek to be a safe place for dialogue.
Circle members do not use the contact information of other members for business or fundraising purposes.
It’s a way for you to make an impact as an individual.
We respect your opinions and affirm your right to lobby or engage in political activity in your individual capacity.
However, Circle Members are not permitted to lobby or engage in political activity on behalf of, or using the name of, The Policy Circle.
The Policy Circle is a 501C3 non partisan educational organization.

13. Ready to Start Your Circle?
You have the power to change the conversation, simply by starting one
You have the power to create an opportunity for women to connect, learn and engage on the important issues facing our communities
You have the power to create a transformation in other women’s lives
Bring The Policy Circle to your community by becoming a Circle Leader
Sign up to become a Circle Leader today and a member of the The Policy Circle team will get you started!
Are you ready to start your own policy circle? All it takes is two or three friends to get started.
Starting your own Policy Circle is easy yet so impactful:
You can change the dialogue simply by having a conversation
You can create an opportunity for women to connect with one another, learn about the issues and influence policy
You can create a transformation in women’s lives
And it all starts with you becoming a Circle Leader in your community!
You can sign up to become a Circle Leader today on the sign-up sheet. A Policy Circle team member will reach out and get you started.
Thank you for your attention and consideration, are there any questions?