Value - The Why
The shared belief beneath the priority. Use this when you need to anchor a conversation in why anyone should care - the opening paragraph of an op-ed, the first slide of a deck, the elevator pitch.
A field guide for the directory
How to use this site without getting lost in it.
The directory is built to be used in three ways: as a source of advocacy language, as a planning tool for your community organizing, and as a checkpoint for the next Congress. Here's a quick walkthrough of each.
Step 1
Filter to what your week looks like.
The directory has three filter axes - theme, core question, and status - designed to combine. Use one chip and you get a wide cut. Use three and you get a precise one. Empty filters return all ten priorities, ranked as the Congress chose them.
Theme filters are inclusive within the facet (selecting two themes shows priorities matching either). Core question works the same way. Status is exclusive (a priority is either Keeping, Building, or Both).
The Favorites only button at the bottom of the sidebar surfaces just the ones you've hearted. This is local to your browser - no account, no login, nothing leaves your device.
Step 2
Each priority has four dimensions. Each does a different job.
When you click a priority, the side drawer opens and shows the deliberation in four parts. They're structured so you can lift the language straight into your own writing - this is the "Joy Scribe" pattern the Congress uses.
Barrier - The But
The mindset, policy, or system standing in the way. Name it externally so the people you're organizing with don't feel personally accused. This is the language for your problem statement.
Action - The How
The specific community-level ask. This is the part most useful for a campaign letter, a council deputation, or a budget request - concrete, named, and resourced.
Vision - The Future
The accountability story. What does the world look like in 10 years if this priority is taken seriously? Use this in fundraising, in political pitches, in the closing paragraph that has to leave the reader believing it's possible.
The Joy Scribe rule: never quote three dimensions in a row without quoting the fourth. The deliberation is balanced. Your writing should be too.
Step 3
Pick a scale that matches what you can actually do this week.
Every priority has three scales of action attached: Local, National, Global. They're not a hierarchy. They're three different doors into the same priority. Pick the one that matches what you have time, energy, and standing to do.
Local
What you can do this Saturday. A neighbor on a phone tree. A bed in a community garden. A workshop at a school. The unglamorous, weekly work that makes the rest possible.
Best for: starting
National
Legislation, federal regulation, congressional pressure. This is where the levers are biggest and the gears slowest. Pick this scale if you have a year to push something rather than a weekend.
Best for: campaigns
Global
International solidarity, divestment, alignment with movements already winning elsewhere. Most of these actions are solidarity actions - they don't require leaving your zip code.
Best for: alignment
Step 4
Use the directory in your own work.
The directory is licensed for community use. Quote from it freely in op-eds, council deputations, press releases, fundraising letters, sermons, classroom curricula. Attribution is appreciated, not required.
For each priority, the most reusable language tends to be:
- → The one-line italic at the top of the drawer - it's the headline you can lift directly.
- → The specific number or named precedent in the Action dimension - this is what gets editors and council members to take a piece seriously.
- → The 2036 line in the Vision dimension - this is your closing paragraph for any pitch.
If you publish something using the directory, send it to congress@example.org. We're building a public archive of community uses for the 2027 methodology charter.
Frequently asked
The questions the room kept asking.
Why ten? Why not fifteen, or five?
Ten is the size that fits in a person's working memory and on a single web page. The 2026 Congress chose ten as a discipline - if you can't fit it in ten, you haven't finished arguing yet. The next Congress could pick a different number.
Are the priorities ranked?
They're ordered by the cluster votes from the Congress, but the directory deliberately avoids treating that ordering as urgency-rank. A priority you can act on this week beats a priority you only agree with.
What does "Both" status mean?
Some priorities - Land Back, Degrowth - are simultaneously about reclaiming what was lost and building what hasn't existed yet. The Both badge marks priorities where the past and future tense apply equally.
Why is "heart" only saved on my browser?
The Congress chose not to require accounts for v1. Favorites are saved in your browser's local storage so they persist between visits, but they don't go to a server. A future version may add optional accounts for shareable lists.
Can I print a priority for offline use?
Yes - the site has print styles built in. From any priority drawer, use your browser's Print menu and the page will format itself with the directory chrome stripped out.