© Ekua Holmes

Empowered Communities disrupting POLICY

Building capacity for advocacy

Empowered communities impact policy when community members are equipped to advocate. By rethinking what advocacy looks like to meet our community members where they’re at, we’re able to harness their skills and powers in change-making.

This can look like:

  • Making advocacy easier for communities
  • Meeting people where they’re at in time, capacity and other constraints
  • Elevating local voices to policymakers

Consider:

  • How do we shape our advocacy to the voices of our communities, rather than to the systems in power?
  • Do we appreciate limitations of time, place, money or other constraints when we ask our communities to advocate?

Assessment Questions

Is this an area of priority for you?

How important to your organization is building capacity for advocacy?

This is less important to our mission
This is of growing importance to our mission
This is very important to our mission

How strong is your organization at building capacity for advocacy?

We're not strong at this yet
We're building strength here
This is a clear strength

Examples:

Until Freedom

An organization on the front lines fighting for justice and focusing on police accountability and criminal justice reform.

GW Immigration Clinic

A legal resource center that provides legal support to immigrants.

Equal Justice Initiative

EJI is a private, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides legal representation to people who have been illegally convicted, unfairly sentenced, or abused in state jails and prisons.