# Working Groups and Local Chapters Working Groups are the heart and the muscles of D4CR. \ \ Working groups are circles of people making things happen based on the [D4CR strategy](broken://pages/-LcouE1tPeYMPBxh0ro8) and overall mission. \ \ Currently, working groups are: * [D4CR Guide](/working-groups-local-chapters/d4cr-guide.md) * [MOOC](/working-groups-local-chapters/mooc.md) * [Local Chapters](/working-groups-local-chapters/local-chapters.md) *You can either :* **a) Join and contribute to one of the existing Working Groups** \ Anyone can join the working group(s). Browse the WG pages in this handbook to discover the active groups. *or* **b) Start a new Working Group:** \ WGs can be started by any of the [Contributing Members](/structure/working-group-contributors-and-contributing-members.md) volunteering to lead a group or nominated by anyone from the community. \ \ Is there something that is not yet done within our mission & [strategy](broken://pages/-LcouE1tPeYMPBxh0ro8) that your hands are itching to get going with? Then get start a new Working Group. The person(s) (1 or 2) initiating the Working Group becomes a [Working Group Lead(s) ](/structure/steering-group-members.md)- wgLs and they can recruit more [contributors](/structure/working-group-contributors-and-contributing-members.md) with more capacity. Working groups can be temporary or permanent. \ \ Working Groups can have related groups or child sub-groups (e.g. Local Chapters has child working groups at each of the locations). It is then the responsibility of the wgL to coordinate and synch in a bigger working group circle through the #wg-all [Slack](/technical-tools-1/slack.md) channel and quarterly calls. Steering members will keep an overview of all active working groups, and clear out the inactive ones on a 6-months cycle. Read more about the [Working Group Lead](/structure/steering-group-members.md) and [Working Group Contributor](/structure/working-group-contributors-and-contributing-members.md) roles. ### **To start a working group, the initiator(s) should:** Send a message in Slack channel #d4cr-main with subject line "New Working Group". The message should contain: * **name** of the new working group, e.g. "Financial Working Group" * **scope** of the group, description of activities and of how the group fits into [strategy and mission of D4CR](broken://pages/-LcouE1tPeYMPBxh0ro8) * **list of contributors** : a list of people (name, profession, city, country) who are in the group already. Extra karma points for profile photos or links to them. * **lead(s)** : a working group can have 1-2 leads. The person(s) initiating the WG and sending this email becomes the [Working Group Lead(s)](/structure/steering-group-members.md) * statement **whether or not you are looking for additional contributors** and a way for people to join, if appropriate ### **Each Working Group then should:** * Create a page in this handbook sharing basic overview of the points mentioned above (*name* of the group, *scope*, *contributors & leads lists* & how to join if appropriate) * Start a [Slack](/technical-tools-1/slack.md) channel using the wg- naming convention, e.g. #wg-mooc (and optionally, if the group prefers, a private Slack channel #wg-mooc-private ). * Start using a dedicated D4CR [Google Drive](/technical-tools-1/drive.md) folder for storing and sharing working files (“if it is not in Drive it does not exist”) * Working rhythm: * post regular updates in the relevant [Slack](/technical-tools-1/slack.md) channel * Working group lead or another contributor of the group should participate in the open **quarterly calls** where each wg shares updates about their progress + share a short text that would be put into the internal association newsletter * Use the Slack channel #general to connect and engage all people active in other working groups. * Involve people in decisions using e.g. thumbs up and down voting or 1-2-3 option voting (see example[ here](/technical-tools-1/slack.md)) * Working Groups primarily operate with the use of the [advisory model](broken://pages/-LconwmX4AgPju-fivPG) with the steering group and the rest of the community. Anyone outside of working group can send suggestions to a working group - (e.g. for a method in the guide) but it is up to the group whether to take this suggestion on or not. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://handbook.designingforchildrensrights.org/working-groups-local-chapters.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.