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American Heart Association You’re the Cure Advocate Training Part 2 Diane Pickles, M+R Strategic Services April 19,2010

What is ADVOCACY? Advocacy is the application of pressure and influence on the people and institutions that have the power to give you what you want.

What’s a campaign? A set of activities conducted to achieve a specific goal – something you want Can be large or small Can be formal or informal (“Campaign” or “campaign”) Has a beginning, middle, and an end Has a clear end goal

How does the AHA choose its campaign goals? Assessment of priority policy needs related to heart disease and stroke issues Assessment of the opportunities, challenges, and political environment related to priority policies Talking to AHA staff, advocates, and champions

Our number one job as advocates is to make it easy for decision makers to give us what we want (and hard to ignore us!)

Key Considerations What do you want? Why do you want it? What person or institution has the POWER to give it to you? How will you build credibility with and get access to those POWER brokers in order to influence their decision-making?

When should the Power Prism be triggered? Whenever “something” happens – –May be an internal or external campaign event Event should prompt advocates to ask themselves: “Is this an opportunity to build power for our mission by executing any or all of the six advocacy power tools?”

Internal events are controlled by the campaign – proactive Press events Enlistment of new coalition members, endorsements Filing of legislation Conducting & releasing poll Launch of new campaign

External events are out of the campaign’s control – reactive National data is released relative to issue Lawmakers propose good or bad legislation Passage/failure of similar policy in another state Positive or negative editorial

Keys to advocacy Focus on building POWER Work to increase our access to and credibility with those who have the power to give us what we want Use all 6 power tools

Case study How the Power Prism® applies to Oakland Hearts in Action: Improving access to school grounds and facilities to increase physical activity

What do you want? To “unlock” Oakland public school grounds and facilities outside of school hours, increasing access for physical activity and nutrition programs without cost

Why do you want it? School lockouts prevent children from getting needed physical activity Childhood overweight and obesity causes immediate problems and future cardiovascular risk Low-income and minority children are more likely to be overweight or obese National Center for Health Statistics. Health, United States, 2007.

Which individuals or institutions have the power to give you what you want? Oakland Unified School District Board of Education

What potential barriers/ opponents will campaign face? School security requirements Challenges related to union contracts Financial constraints To some degree, liability issues

Research and Data Collection –A policy model elsewhere in U.S.? –Healthy People 2010 Goal: increase access to school facilities after school hours –RAND Corporation study: playground access important tool in fighting obesity –Who are the power brokers and what can we learn about how to influence them? (Complicated by the school district’s period of state oversight)

Research and Data Collection No data will be more compelling than day-to- day impact of school access on Oakland children – REAL STORIES

Coalition Building & Maintenance Recruit individuals and organizations as allies and partners

Coalition Building and Maintenance Initially reached out to AHA volunteers and supporters of cardiovascular health issues Narrowed focus, reaching out to organizations invested in school facilities access issue

Fundraising and Development No formal funding – in-kind donations Potential funders: Oakland based sports teams and athletes with Oakland ties –High-profile donors can become high-profile advocates, garner media and public attention

Grassroots and Key Contacts Coalition developed key contacts to influence Oakland School Board –Secured buy-in from two school board members –Facilities and athletics administrators to work on solutions and gain support Key contacts in the community –UC Berkley: provided UC facilities at reduced cost for local youth track & field championship meet

Grassroots and Key Contacts Key Contacts in legislature –Assembly member Sandré Swanson’s field rep involved in coalition work –Swanson sponsored legislative resolution to bring state-level attention to issue and help rally supporters to cause

Media Advocacy Free media (“earned media”) Built relationship with editor of East Bay Times Focused on controversial aspect to gain media attention: “students locked out of their own schools”

Decision Maker Advocacy and Lobbying Framing for school board: physical activity and better nutrition improve school performance Real stories Data and emotion!

Decision Maker Advocacy and Lobbying “When we first started, we worked with one high school student-athlete named Johnny Terrell. Although Johnny was a student at Oakland Tech, the school grounds were locked after school, so he had to hop the fence – essentially “breaking in” – to use the facilities for athletic training. After working with Johnny, he was accepted to Humboldt State University, and was the first in his family to go to college. Johnny just graduated early with a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology.” -Harold Pearson, coalition member, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Student Program for Academic and Athletic Transitioning (SPAAT)

Outcomes to Date One of AHA’s partners, Unity Council, signed MOU with Oakland Unified School District for use of soccer fields and a gym for specified hours and cost Charging teams that use the space on weekends to cover the weekday usage fees (teams populated by the school’s students can’t afford the fees) Each partner will request their own agreements for the school facilities they use most often Looking for mutual wins – sharing equipment storage space; focusing on how these groups benefit students

Acknowledgements This case study was based on informative interviews with Oakland Hearts in Action advocates: Keisha Nzewi, Eric Batch, Mark Alexander, Harold Pearson, and Susan Kleinman Wallis. Thank you to these advocates for sharing their time and valuable experience.

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