for every woman Prioritizing and Owning Advocacy Pilot Project Webinar #2 10/30/13

for every woman Agenda 1 What is Advocacy? Principles and Policy Direction Infrastructure Development: Advocacy Agenda Homework, Polling Questions, Announcements

for every woman Making Advocacy Sustainable 2

for every woman What is Advocacy? Definition of Advocacy Advocacy is defined as ANY action that speaks in favor of, recommends, argues for a cause, supports or defends, or pleads on behalf of others. 3

for every woman 4

5 Advocacy Advocacy is defined as ANY action that speaks in favor of, recommends, argues for a cause, supports or defends, or pleads on behalf of others. Not ALL advocacy is lobbying, but all lobbying is advocacy. Lobbying Lobbying is a form of advocacy in which a direct approach is made to legislators, staff, and other government officials urging them to take a specific position. Examples of Lobbying: Support/Oppose A Bill or An Amendment. Urge them to protect funding for a specific program. Ask them to strengthen certain provisions/language in legislation. Direct Lobbying can involve phone calls, face to face meetings, s! Lobbying is only one kind of advocacy Advocacy vs. Lobbying

for every woman Proactive-Reactive

for every woman A “GO-TO” Organization “Strengthen our Brand” while we “Expand our Base” while we “Lift Our Voice” 7 CredibleVisibleConnected

for every woman YWCA Public Policy Framework The YWCA advocates on public policy and budget matters that directly advance our mission and vision. We believe that – working together – we can create a community where…….. 8 Laying the Groundwork by Developing Principles and Setting Policy Direction

for every woman Example: YWCA Seattle’s Principles 9

for every woman Example: YWCA Seattle’s Principles 10 Therefore we support measures that make housing accessible to homeless and low-income women and families, prevent homelessness and promote creation of affordable housing. All women and families have a safe and stable place to live. Therefore we support measures that promote education, living wage employment, and economic justice for women, homeless families and adults with low incomes. All adults are economically self-sufficient. Therefore we support measures that promote children’s health, early learning and school success. All children and youth develop the skills they need to succeed in life. Therefore we support measures that reduce the incidence and negative effects of domestic violence, diminish health disparities and advance social justice. All people live in dignity – free from violence, racism and discrimination. therefore, we support the use of general funds and dedicated revenue sources for human services at all levels of government. We believe that supporting a robust human services network is a core function of government;

for every woman Example: YWCA Hartford combine efforts to support children in school and address inequities in family well-being. promote a rich, broad curriculum and educational experience for all children including the arts, community engagement and opportunities to build self esteem and leadership skills. keep children in schools, where they learn best, by reducing truancy, exclusionary discipline and dropouts. YWCA shares the near universal concern that Connecticut’s achievement gap is our most urgent priority. We support proposals that:

for every woman With Board Buy-In …… Onto Agenda Development 12

for every woman 13 Legislative Priorities Advocacy Activities/ Campaigns Advocacy Agenda Advocacy Agenda Formula

for every woman How to Start? Determining Criteria for Adoption EX. Tulsa: The following three criteria must be satisfied before moving forward:  The issue must clearly promote racial justice and/or women’s empowerment.  The issue must clearly affect our constituents, programs, or organization.  This issue must not conflict with any other policy or position held by YWCA Tulsa or YWCA USA. 14

for every woman Also Important to Consider In determining whether to take a position or take action on the proposed issue, the Committee will also consider:  The other issues on which local YWCA is currently working  The status of the bill with regard to the legislative process  The breadth and depth of the issue’s impact on community  The source of the request for action (e.g. funder, donor, partner agency)  The impact and consequences of action and inaction  The impact and consequences of acting alone or in partnership with others 15

for every woman What to Include on Your Local Agenda? 16 Federal Priorities Local Priorities State Priorities

for every woman YWCA USA Advocacy Legislative Priorities Women’s Health and Safety: Reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) PASSED April 2013 Economic Empowerment: Appropriations and Federal Funding (CCDBG, CDBG, and VAWA) Racial Justice: National Immigration Reform 17 The YWCA USA Top 3 National Priorities Based on December 2012 Survey for 113 th Congress [January 2013-December 2014] *Note: The YWCA USA is a multi-issue organization and we continue to monitor and be engaged on a range of federal legislative issues. Strategically identifying priorities every 2 years to coincide with Congressional cycle will allow the YWCA to organize and advocate more effectively around critical issues, build credibility on YWCA policy priorities on Capitol Hill and create name recognition in media and donors.

for every woman YWCA USA Top Priorities YWCA Seattle Example: Reform National Immigration Policies Historically, the YWCA has advocated for racial justice and for equitable and just laws in communities across the country. YWCAs nationwide provide racial justice programs to more than 330,000 clients annually, including: assisting immigrant victims of violence in navigating the justice system; providing racial justice training to the community; working with victims of human and sexual trafficking; voter education and mobilization; affirmative action, and working to end hate crimes. YWCAs are deeply committed to advocating for a common sense immigration process that keeps families together here in the U.S., provides adequate protections for immigration victims of sexual violence and trafficking and that creates a roadmap for citizenship for the 11 million aspiring to be citizens. 18

for every woman YWCA USA Top Priorities YWCA Seattle Example (contd.): Ensure Deficit Reduction Will Protect Women and Children The YWCA is greatly invested in programs and legislation that foster opportunities for women to achieve economic and financial security and stability. YWCAs have been asked to do more to help those in need during a time of decreased donations and less government funding. We are particular concerned about three sources of discretionary funding that enable YWCAs to provide vital services to women and families including childcare, job training, transitional housing and domestic violence and sexual assault services: Community Development Block Grant Child Care Development Block Grant Violence Against Women Act 19

for every woman State Legislative Priorities YWCA Minneapolis Example: Improve Effectiveness of Investments in Child Care –Restore the Absent Day policy to allow families up to 25 days of excused absences in the event of illness or emergencies that require children to be absent from their provider. –Increase access to quality programs for 3-4 year-old children living at or below 185% poverty through additional resources and adopt a solution that will expand access to 0-5 year olds by fiscal year –Restore cuts to the child care system, such as Child Care Assistance reimbursement rates and grants to the infrastructure needed to train, build and develop quality child care –Fully fund the Child Care Assistance Program to eliminate the waiting list. 20

for every woman Local Policy Priority – Ex. YWCA Madison YWCA Madison has identified Zero Tolerance policies in place within local school systems as contributing to the School-to Prison Pipeline by criminalizing students and pushing them out of school. Action: Review of Madison Metropolitan School District’s code of conduct policies and comparing it to more effective policies from around the country such as the Model Code on Education and Dignity. to promote greater community awareness. YWCA Madison is also working with the its Restorative Justice Program in promoting policies that would eliminate school push out and protect the student rights to a quality education.Model Code on Education and DignityRestorative Justice Program 21

for every woman Focus!  3-5 Priorities  Range of effort  Remain Open to Emergent Issues 22

for every woman After issues are identified - Actions!! 23 Level 1 Signing on to a letter Endorsing the position of another entity Posting relevant information to YWCA social media platforms, e.g. Facebook and Twitter Forwarding information to staff and board members at the request of partners

for every woman More Involvement Level 2 Sending an advocacy alert to organize calls/ s Issuing a news release Sending a representative to speak at an event about our position Writing a blog post Submitting an Op ed to the newspaper Executing a social media campaign 24

for every woman Full Throttle Level 3 Meeting with the editorial board of local paper Organizing a letter to editor campaign Hosting a forum or information session Organizing a webinar/conference call Calling a press conference Hosting a public demonstration Organizing a lobby day 25

for every woman Ex. Agenda item with Identified Actions Legislative/Budget Priority Maintain current level of state funding for child care subsidies Actions: *Postcard campaign from membership to state legislators *Formal board letter to legislative delegation *Executive Director has face to face meeting with elected officials 26

for every woman Agenda Items OTHER Than Public Policy Ex: Voter Registration and Education 27

for every woman Be Ready to ALSO React 28 Ex: Federal Shutdown – Debt Ceiling Crisis

for every woman 29 YWCA XYZ Advocacy Agenda Public Policy Framework The YWCA advocates on public policy and budget matters that directly advance our mission and vision. We believe that – working together – we can create a community where… Principles and Policy Direction 1) All adults are economically self-sufficient. We support measures that promote education, living wage employment, and economic justice for women, homeless families and adults with low incomes. 2) All children and youth develop the skills they need to succeed in life. We support measures that promote children’s health, early learning & school success. 3) All people live in dignity – free from violence, racism and discrimination. We support measures that reduce the incidence and negative effects of domestic violence, diminish health disparities and advance social justice. Legislative Priorities & Campaigns 1) Support Expansion of Earned Income Tax Credit Actions (L2): Op-ed; Social Media Campaign, Town Hall with State legislators 2) Reauthorization of VAWA Actions (L1): Sign-on coalitions, action alerts, social media involvement; LTE 3) Voter Education Outreach Actions (L3): Volunteer training, Voter registrations, Social Media Campaign

for every woman Questions? 30

for every woman Homework

for every woman Assignment Review examples of policy direction/principles presented and begin determining what would be your local association’s foundation Review 2-3 other associations/organizations advocacy agendas to develop a sense of what would be instructive for your association 32

for every woman Next Webinar – November 20, 4pm EST 33 Conference Call – November 15, 2pm EST