Yes, You Can make Advocacy Fun, Easy and Effective- Let’s Show You How! Growing a Grassroots

1. Yes, You Can make Advocacy Fun, Easy and Effective- Let’s Show You How! Growing a Grassroots Network

2. Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota – Who are we? • Largest and oldest human service non-profit organization in Minnesota • Locations in all 87 counties • Support 2,300 staff in 18 lines of service • Personal Support Services • Support 1200 staff • Support 700 individuals

3. Our Mission and Vision Mission: Lutheran Social Service of MN expresses the love of Christ for all people through service that inspires hope, changes lives and builds community. Vision: That all people have the opportunity to live and work in community with dignity, safety, and hope.

4. Why Grassroots Advocacy? • Advocacy simply means “speaking up”. • People we support are greatly impacted by the decisions of our elected officials • A wealth of strength exists in our self-advocates, employees, families, community members and clergy. • We are all experts of our own experiences and we can share our story with legislators.

5. What will you need? • Your Model • Leadership • Passionate, key staff • Great self-advocates • Power and a budget • Communication tools • Action! • Recognition, celebrations and evaluations

6. LSS Model • Advocacy Committee • Regional Teams • Advocacy 101 - Train the Trainer • PSS is supported by the LSS Advocacy Office • Advocacy should always be EASY, EFFECTIVE and FUN!

7. Leadership • Buy-in from leadership at multiple levels • Cabinet Level • Director Level • Supervisory Level • Create a culture of advocacy • Include advocacy in job descriptions and performance reviews • Setting the expectation that advocacy is part of your work • Make it fun!

8. Key Staff with Passion Key staff who are already passionate about advocacy and respected by their peers can serve as an inspiration to other staff and help them to feel confident in their abilities as they become more comfortable with the advocacy process.

9. Great Self- Advocates Self-advocacy is a civil and human rights movement of individuals and organizations to empower people with developmental and other disabilities to speak for themselves, to make their own decisions and to stand up for their rights at home, in the workplace, in the community and between people.

10. Give them a budget and power • Always think of the individual’s needs and wants first and advocate for their best possible life. • You will have the opportunity to support individuals in making choices that they will face in life. • You may find yourself advocating for them with your team members, guardians, doctors or other community members. • Be respectful when making your voice heard. • PSS has Advocacy Network Teams (A.N.T.S) across the state. • These teams are made of staff that are passionate about legislative issues and the rights of people with disabilities. • LSS employees are often called on to communicate the important work they do to local, state or federal legislators. • Each story that is told helps the representative to better understand why they should champion legislation that supports people with disabilities. Go forth and multiply- allow your leaders to be the experts Determine what works best in each region Create a team environment Advocacy Network Teams (ANTS)

11. Ongoing Communication • Monthly conference calls • Email distribution list • Central location for information – intranet pages • Legislative Tracking System • Annual Planning Summit • Evaluation • Calendar planning for next year

12. Taking Action Holiday Card writing Letter and email writing campaigns Phone calling Meetings at the Capitol Home Visits Action alerts Days at the Capitol Candidate Forums Town Hall Meetings Letters to the editor Elections All build relationships with legislators!

13. Taking Action – things to remember • Stories! It’s all about building relationships. • Rules of Engagement • Be Brief • Be Real • Frame The Issue • Make an ask • Follow-up after you meet a legislator to continue building a relationship. • Offer yourself as a resource – You are the expert!

14. Elections! • Nonprofits cannot support, endorse or oppose any political parties or candidates. • Know your voting rights, laws and limits. • Nonprofits SHOULD be participating in Elections – we have credibility, trust and access to many potential voters who have often been underrepresented. • We can ENCOURAGE participation and provide information about voting, but we cannot tell our employees or people we serve who to vote for. • Candidate events, voter registration, voter reminders, encouragement, voter education • Office of the Secretary of State

15. Recognize and Celebrate Your Successes Eunice Shriver Award Leadership Award Self-Advocate Awards Celebration at organization level and local level

16. Spring Fling Celebration & Awards

17. Evaluation & Planning PSS Summer Summit What worked well? What were our challenges? What will we do next time?

18. Regional Calendars

19. Contact us:facebook.com/lssmn Debra Koop Carol Mayer Director of Training and QE Personal Support Services 716 E Street Brainerd, MN 56401 Deb.koop@lssmn.org Cell: 218-838-2088 Training Advocacy and Quality Specialist Personal Support Services 716 E Street Brainerd, MN 56401 Carol.mayer@lssmn.org Cell: 218-838-2214

20. Let’s get to work!