Working Groups

Working groups of the Peace Alliance create an opportunity for focused research, discussion, and action. At the present time, we have three groups: 

​Advocacy Team

The Advocacy Team working group is part of a nation-wide community of local groups [135 in all, with about 1500 members] working under the guidance and support of the Quaker lobbying organization Friends Committee on National Legislation.  Each year the FCNL staff in Washington, in consultation with these groups, selects one or two issues and related congressional bills, to focus coordinated lobbying work on.  The Chico group meets once a month and members also attend a monthly national call on Zoom, where updates and Washington staff reports are heard.  Locally, the team educates itself on the issues, writes letters, makes calls, and visits legislators.  The distinctive approach to lobbying, which focuses not only on the issue but on building respectful relationships with legislators, is shaped by Quaker tradition.  Teams typically include Quakers and non Quakers. This year’s two issues are militarization at home and abroad, and Gaza.  For further information on the local team call Jim Anderson at 530 345 3429.   More general information is available at the FCNL website, and in particular at https://www.fcnl.org/tags/advocacy-teams 

Recently we have had two or three letters to the editor published, made calls to legislators once a week through the American Friends Service Committee action hour on Israel/Palestine issues, and are working on our table materials and presence at the No Kings event this weekend.

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Peace Education

The Peace Education group has a goal to promote Empathy Training, Restorative Justice and Trauma-Informed practices in interested local schools in the Butte County area, working primarily In the  Paradise Unified School District. The Social Justice Committee in Paradise is made up of students, parents, teachers, administrators, board members and the superintendent. The committee was formed as a response to requests made by previous graduates and put into practice by district administration, two teachers, and a classified employee, all of whom volunteer their time.  

The long-term goal of both the CPA Peace Education Work group and the PUSD Social Justice Committee is to shift the paradigm of traditional punitive discipline toward one that incorporates restorative/trauma-informed practices.
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