Nutrition First is offering a scholarship to attend the Children’s Alliance Advocacy Camp.
The Children’s Alliance Advocacy Camp is held at the Dumas Bay Centre, 3200 SW Dash Point Rd, Federal Way, WA 98023 from Tuesday, October 2 to Thursday, October 4th.
Advocacy Camp Application 2018
Learn how your leadership can motivate lawmakers to make decisions that improve the lives of Washington’s kids. In this interactive training, you will learn to:
• Communicate with elected officials;
• Create an effective key message;
• Build community and network;
• Understand the legislative process;
• Bring your authentic voice to advocacy.
Participants will have an opportunity to network with other advocates and learn more about other advocacy efforts across the state. By the end of the training, individuals will go home with new advocacy skills, new ideas for advocacy efforts, and probably a new friend.
Here’s what Nutrition First Past-President Larisa Harvey had to say about her experience at Advocacy Camp:
“In October 2016 I had the opportunity to attend the Children’s Alliance Advocacy Camp. Advocacy Camp is a 3 day event geared toward teaching motivated individuals how to educate lawmakers and how to ensure that laws, policies, and programs work for children. We also began learning how to hold lawmakers accountable for making sure resources needed for the health and safety of children are available.
For me, as a WIC employee, one of the highlights of the camp was meeting Nancy Amidei. Nancy has been advocating for women and children for many years. Her input on how to talk to lawmakers was enlightening. She has actually written a book on it! [So You Want to Make a Difference by Nancy Amidei] She had some fun stories to tell me about the WIC program, too. I also enjoyed meeting Senator Bob Hasegawa. Senator Hasegawa took time out of his busy schedule to spend an evening with the group and answer many questions. It was an opportunity to learn how lawmakers decide how they will vote on issues and by what means we, as concerned citizens, can educate and affect those votes. It was a real honor to meet these two dedicated individuals.
On the final day of Advocacy Camp, we broke into “issue groups” and spent time roleplaying meetings with legislators. This gave us all the chance to fine-tune our message and prepare for our future efforts advocating for children. Two topics emphasized during the camp were race and income inequity. I plan to focus on learning more about these issues.
Through Advocacy Camp, I was also able to make connections that will help me in my work on the Nutrition First education committee. There were many wonderful speakers who presented during the three days. My hope is to have a number of them present at future Nutrition First events.
I really enjoyed Advocacy Camp and hope to attend again in the future. I highly recommend it for anyone who would like to make real, lasting changes that will improve the lives of all children and families in Washington State.”