Transition Policy Committee Meetings

To make the most out of transition policy committee meetings, have a plan for each meeting! Work backwards, starting with your goal of generating recommendations for the final transition report. Then determine what content the committee will need to tackle each week to produce timely recommendations and ideas for the incoming administration.

Below is a template scope for the transition policy committee meetings, with links to detailed agendas. Meetings should run for no longer than 90 minutes, with opportunities for committee members to collaborate in smaller groups between meetings. A recommended transition committee meeting structure includes:

  • 20 minutes to welcome members and set goals for the day

  • 40 minutes to break out into smaller working groups. See workbook for suggested activities

  • 30 minutes to share ideas amongst workgroups and plan next steps

Note that this should be adjusted and customized based on your team's goals for the final transition report and the timeline of your transition.

Click below for a workbook that outlines the key activity committees can accomplish each meeting:
Workbook Powerpoint / PDF

Meeting 1: Setting a Foundation

  • Understand the committee’s purpose and objectives.

    • Which policy priorities from the campaign will this group address?

  • Establish working groups and routines.

Meeting 2: Understanding the theory of change

  • To develop a shared understanding of the policy priorities the committee will be tackling, develop a theory of change for each policy.

Meeting 3: Mapping policy levers and stakeholders

  • Map potential policy levers - what mechanisms of government must be leveraged to move the needle on this issue?

  • Identify key stakeholders.

Meetings 4-5 : Action planning

  • Identify what short- and long-term actions need to be taken for each policy commitment.

  • Draft a roadmap of the first moves the administration should take to build momentum to successfully implement each policy.

Meetings 6: Identifying key metrics

  • Identify how we will measure progress and tell the story of our success

Meeting 7: Drafting a report

  • (Pre-meeting) Compile the committee work into the report template

  • Review final recommendations across working groups and acknowledge participants for their contributions

  • Discuss and finalize revisions to the transition report