Chapter Advocacy Day Planning Guide

District II (New York) | Advocacy Day

CONTENTS 1

Overview ......................................................................................................................................... 2

Value ................................................................................................................................................ 3

Sample Agenda | In Person ............................................................................................................ 4

Sample Agenda | Virtual ................................................................................................................ 5

Success Story ................................................................................................................................... 6

Planning & Implementation | In Person, Virtual, & Advocacy Communications ................. 7-10

AAP Advocacy Resources .............................................................................................................. 11

In 2020, 25 AAP chapters, AAP District II (New York), and AAP District IX (California) held or participated in an advocacy day at the capitol.

Delaware Chapter | White Coats in the Halls

OVERVIEW 2

AAP chapters are a leading voice for children’s health and well-being and pediatric practice in states. While state and local advocacy takes place year-round, advocacy engagement during the legislative session—whether it’s a lobby day, hill day, capitol day, or advocacy day—in your state capitol or in a virtual format can be a key driver of achieving your chapter’s advocacy priorities.

• Gathering as a chapter

multiplies the power of your individual experiences and demonstrates to decisionmakers the importance of your policy priorities and the breadth and depth of support for them.

• Advocacy days may focus on a single priority, to advance your blueprint for children, or to rally opposition to a current threat.

• Agendas can include advocacy training, issue briefings, guest speakers, and visits with lawmakers.

Tennessee Chapter | Day on the Hill

VALUE 3

Chapter advocacy days offer opportunities to promote the value and expertise of the chapter among members, partners, legislators, policymakers, and staff. These opportunities include: • Educating legislators and other policymakers about the chapter’s

blueprint for children or advocacy agenda. • Fostering relationships with legislators, policymakers, and staff. • Increasing chapter member engagement in advocacy through

education and identification as a key stakeholder. • Providing mentoring opportunities for medical students, residents,

and trainees in their professional home. • Identifying opportunities to

partner with other advocates for children’s health and well-being.

• Raising media awareness of issues affecting children’s health and well-being.

Florida Chapter | Children’s Week

SAMPLE AGENDA | IN PERSON

4

West Virginia Chapter | American Academy of Pediatrics

TINY HEARTS DAY February 14, 2019 7:30 Breakfast Kanawha River Suite Four Points by Sheraton, Charleston 7:40 Welcome | Dr Traci Acklin, President 7:45- 8:15 Talking to Legislators | Dr Lisa Costello, Vice President 8:15-8:45 Issue Updates

Immunizations • Elaine Darling, West

Virginia Immunization Network Foster Care

• Kelli Caseman, West Virginians for Affordable Health Care 8:45 Break/Check Out

Group 1 Departs for Capitol 9:00 Group 2 Departs for Capitol 9:15 Group 3 Departs for Capitol 9:30-10:15 Legislator Visits | Distribute Advocacy Packets 10:15 Gather at House Chamber for Resolution Presentation and Photo 10:30 Gather at Senate Chamber for Resolution Presentation and Photo 11:30-12:00 Lunch in Cafeteria (Vouchers Provided) 12:00-1:00 Legislator Visits | Distribute Advocacy Packets 1:00 Senate Health Committee Meeting (Groups 1 & 3) 2:00 House Health Committee Meeting (Group 2) 3:00 Wrap-Up, Return to Hotel

West Virginia Chapter | Tiny Hearts Day

SAMPLE AGENDA | VIRTUAL

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Missouri Chapter | American Academy of Pediatrics

MOAAP VIRTUAL ADVOCACY DAY Thursday, April 9, 2020 11:00-11:30 Advocating in “Normal” Times

Emily Kalmer, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network Maura Gray, American Heart Association

11:45 -12:15 Using Social Media to Advocate 12:30-1:00 MOAAP Partner Spotlight: Collaboration for the Good of Missouri Kids Guest Speakers:

Jessica Seitz, Missouri Kids First Craig Stevenson, Kids Win Missouri

Zoom Meeting Information Social Media Campaign Share “Why I am a Pediatrician” on social media. Create a short video, (60 seconds or less) and post to social media. Share a written reflection about your chosen career path. Just choose ONE social media platform and

post your message. Examples include: • Post a video message to Twitter or Facebook • Share a photo of you in clinic on Instagram. • Share a reflection about your chosen career

path on Facebook. Tag @MissouriAAP and use the hashtag #MOPeds4Kids.

Let’s use this time to reflect and share some positive vibes with colleagues and families across the state.

Missouri Chapter | Virtual Advocacy Day

SUCCESS STORY 6

Wisconsin Pediatric Advocacy Day The Wisconsin Chapter’s 2nd annual Pediatric Advocacy Day focused on firearm safety/gun violence prevention. The chapter provided advocacy training, scheduled meetings for members with their respective legislators, and heard from Wisconsin State Attorney General Josh Kaul and Wisconsin State Representative Melissa Sargent who are leading related policy efforts in the state.

As a result of the chapter’s advocacy, Representative Sargent introduced legislation to enact extreme risk protection orders and included a chapter representative in the press event.

Wisconsin Chapter | Pediatric Advocacy Day

“I was honored to be asked to give a short speech at the governor’s press conference today on how ERPO would affect pediatric health. Representative Sargent and Senator Taylor are sponsoring a bill that would enact ERPO laws in

Wisconsin, as so many other states have done, and they introduced it today at a press conference. I used the AAP infographic that the AAP State Advocacy team created for Wisconsin at our Advocacy Day and I also used

statistics from the AAP Extreme Risk Protection Order State AdvocacyFOCUS resource. Attorney General Josh Kaul even mentioned the WIAAP Advocacy Day and the work of pediatricians in his remarks

at the Press Conference! Thank you AAP for all your support in the continued work on gun violence prevention in Wisconsin!”

PLANNING & IMPLEMENTATION

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In Person • Plan early

o Make sure to schedule your event during the legislative session when bills are being introduced and actively considered.

o Ensure you have a location secured near or at the capitol such as a hotel, hospital, or public space like a library.

o Share a “save the date” with members so they can secure time off and remind them to bring business cards to the event.

• Identify your objective o Your chapter can choose to focus on a number of different engagement opportunities

including release of your chapter blueprint or advocacy agenda; teaching advocacy skills; establishing relationships with and educating legislators about key priorities; advocating to support or defeat legislation; and increasing media and public awareness on an issue, among others.

• Decide format o An advocacy day can include advocacy skills training, issue briefings, presentations by

policymakers or advocacy partners, legislative visits, a debriefing session, and a social networking event.

o Chapters may coordinate visits with legislators for participants or provide them with the information they need to schedule their appointments.

o The AAP Advocacy Guide includes ready-to-use training advocacy training modules that can be adapted for your meeting. Tools and resources from the AAP Advocacy Guide are also available to support your meeting.

• Develop agenda and supporting material o To achieve all your objectives, careful

agenda preparation is key. o Support participants by developing

talking points or a leave behind that includes your chapter contact information.

o Make presentations and other resources such as template thank yous available to participants immediately following the event.

North Carolina Chapter | White Coat Wednesday

PLANNING & IMPLEMENTATION

8

Virtual • Plan early

o As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of AAP chapters successfully transitioned their annual in-person advocacy days to virtual advocacy days. Many of the same considerations for in-person advocacy days can be taken into account for virtual advocacy days.

o Ideally, your chapter would want to schedule your event during the legislative session when bills are being introduced and actively considered, but timing can be flexible. For example, you may want to schedule your virtual advocacy day right before the start of the legislative session to hold advocacy training and skills building workshops to prepare members to engage with their state legislators during the session.

• Identify your objective o With a virtual advocacy day, your chapter can choose to focus on a number of different

engagement opportunities, similar to an in-person chapter advocacy day, including release of your chapter blueprint or advocacy agenda; teaching advocacy skills; establishing relationships with and educating legislators about key priorities; advocating to support or defeat legislation; and increasing media and public awareness on an issue, among others.

• Decide format o A virtual advocacy day can include advocacy skills training, issue briefings, presentations by

policymakers or advocacy partners, a debriefing session, and a social networking event. o Consider the Webinar platform you will utilize. Consider using the same platform you use for

chapter Webinars, if it will fit your needs, as familiarity with the platform will be helpful. Remember to perform a test run prior to the advocacy day to ensure everything is in working order.

o For ease of scheduling, you may consider inviting legislators to present on bills they have introduced or issues they are concerned about rather than scheduling virtual meetings with individual lawmakers. This will provide members a chance to discuss these issues directly with legislators.

o The AAP Advocacy Guide includes ready-to-use training advocacy training modules that can be adapted for your meeting. Tools and resources from the AAP Advocacy Guide are also available to support your meeting.

• Develop agenda and supporting material o To achieve all your objectives, careful agenda preparation is key. o Support participants by developing talking points or a leave behind that includes your chapter

contact information, which can be sent to legislators via e-mail. o Make presentations and other resources available to participants immediately .

following the event.

PLANNING & IMPLEMENTATION

9

Advocacy Communications • Capture moments of advocacy in action

o For in-person chapter advocacy days, encourage pediatricians to take photos of themselves at the state capital or meeting with legislators. These can be shared on social media or used for purposes later on to show advocacy in action. For easier photo collection purposes, give participants one email where they can send

photos and ask that they can identify those in the photo. o For virtual chapter advocacy days, take a virtual “selfie” by taking a screenshot of the online

participants. Make sure you tell participants are are taking a “selfie” so they can prepare for the “photo” or op-out by hiding their screen.

• Follow-up is key o Encourage participants to offer themselves as a resources. Building and maintaining

relationships are critical to successful advocacy. Make sure that a legislator/staff knows they can count on you as a child health expert in the state.

o Be sure to send a thank you email to lawmakers and staff that includes a summary of the asks from the advocacy day.

o Participants can set a reminder for themselves to follow-up with the person they met with in a month, six months, and a year to check-in.

• Earned media opportunities o Consider writing an op-ed in your local newspaper about a timely child health issue you care

about. o Set up Google Alerts to your email for child health issues you are most interested in. This way,

you can monitor how the issue is being covered in your state. o Become familiar with the reporters who cover child health issues in your state. o Look for opportunities to correct the record or emphasize a point by submitting a letter to the

editor to your local newspaper.

• Follow social media and advocacy o Create an easy hashtag for the advocacy day.

Include the hashtag in materials such as promotional emails, social media posts, slides, and one pagers.

Encourage particpants to share photos with the hashtag on social media. If your chapter has social media profiles, engage with posts that include the hashtags with likes and comments.

o Encourage particpants to engage with legislators on social media. This can include thank you posts after meetings and group photos from meetings. Be sure to look up the legislators' social media handles on their offical, not campaign,

website.

PLANNING & IMPLEMENTATION

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During the advocacy day • Prepare participants. For both in-person and virtual advocacy days, issue briefings,

presentations, practicing, and distribution of talking points and leave behinds, which can be sent via e-mail to leigslators in a virtual advocacy day format, help ensure that your meeting participants understand the objective of the day and feel confident and comfortable about meeting with policymakers.

• Encourage mentoring. For some participants this will be a new experience. For in-person advocacy days, consider pairing new participants with chapter members who have advocacy experience. This can help instill confidence in new participants and provides a professional connection for future advocacy work. For virtual advocacy days, you can still pair new participants with chapters members who have advocacy experience by encouraging these experienced advocates to connect with new attendees prior to the event, during the event via a chat, or after the event to go over any questions they may have.

• Debrief. After attendees have finished their meetings with legislators during an in-person advocacy day, provide a venue so members can provide feedback to the chapter on who they met, what they discussed, and any follow-up items. For a virtual advocacy day, set aside time at the end of the virtual meeting for attendees to openly communicate with each other and share thoughts and insights on their participation. A social networking setting, for both in-person and virtual formats, for debriefing helps you celebrate a successful day.

After the advocacy day • Thank you. Encourage attendees to send thank you/follow-up letters to the lawmakers and

staff with whom they met during your in-person advocacy day. For a virtual advocacy day, if you are not able to secure individual legislator meetings, the chapter can send a thank you/follow up e-mail to any legislators that participated. Establishing and sustaining this connection enhances their experience and establishes them as the “go to” experts on child health matters.

• Evalution. Develop an evaulation to send to attendees. Use any feedback to plan your chapter’s next advocacy day.

• Engagement. Consider ways to engage participants in chapter advocacy throughout the year as issues arise to keep attendees engaged and active in advocacy.

WE’RE HERE TO HELP 11

State Advocacy • aap.org/stateadvocacy • stgov@aap.org Federal Advocacy • aap.org/federaladvocacy • kids1st@aap.org