Why Policy/Advocacy?
In this session we will cover the value add for funders engaging in policy/advocacy as a strategy and some of the fundamentals. 

FACILITATORS: Remy Trupin and Meredith Higashi, Philanthropy Northwest.

Remy Trupin is a creative, strategic and entrepreneurial leader with extensive policy advocacy experience. Remy was the founding executive director of the Washington State Budget & Policy Center, an organization which he led and grew into a national model. He brings strategic insight from working with organizations and coalitions developing and implementing legislative advocacy, communication and ballot campaigns. In addition to his role with Philanthropy Northwest, Remy is a Senior Fellow with the national communications firm Topos Partnership and a Senior Consultant at Luma Consulting. Remy volunteers board leadership and strategic advice to social service, civic and human rights organizations and is an American Marshall Memorial Fellow.

Meredith Higashi is Philanthropy Northwest's Senior Manager of Public Policy and Advocacy. Meredith has spent more than a decade in public policy, legal advocacy, cross-sector coalition-building, and engagement with diverse communities. She spent several years in Washington, DC, as an attorney at Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC, a national civil rights organization, leading its amicus litigation program. She also helped lead policy initiatives for the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association. She was most recently a consultant for non-profits and civic leaders around communications and advocacy strategies. 

GUEST SPEAKER: Courtney Chappell, Executive Director, Center for Asian Pacific American Women. Courtney has over 15 years of experience promoting racial and social justice. Prior to joining the Center, Courtney served as Deputy Director at the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. She has spent most of her career in the public interest sector, advocating for women of color and vulnerable populations on a variety of issues through community organizing, coalition building, training programs, and policy advocacy. Courtney has recently served as an advocacy content coach for Philanthropy Northwest's Building Community Philanthropy initiative. Learn more about Courtney.

Policy Funding and Doing- The What and the Rules
In this session we will review the legal rules of funding policy advocacy work and participating as a funder in policy/advocacy activities including lobbying rules. 

FACILITATORS: Remy Trupin and Meredith Higashi, Philanthropy Northwest. (See bios in Webinar #1)

GUEST SPEAKER: Nikhil Pillai, Counsel, Bolder Advocacy Initiative at Alliance for Justice. Nikhil consults with and trains nonprofit organizations on the rules and strategies for legal and effective advocacy. Nikhil received his J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center and B.S. from the Ohio State University. Before joining AFJ, Nikhil was Associate Counsel at Working America, the community affiliate of the AFL CIO. In that role he was responsible for drafting and negotiating operational agreements, advising staff on prospective legal concerns, and ensuring compliance with campaign finance and lobbying laws. Prior to that, he was a law fellow at AARP.

Making the Case to Boards/Trustees
In this session we will look at questions trustees and boards have about engaging in public policy and how to make the case. Peers will share their own experience of how they made they case to their boards. 

FACILITATORS: Remy Trupin and Meredith Higashi, Philanthropy Northwest. (See bios in Webinar #1)

GUEST SPEAKERS:

Vanetta Abdellatif serves as the Executive Director of Integrated Clinical Services and interim co-Director at the Multnomah County Health Department in Portland, Oregon. Integrated Clinical Services at the Health Department is the largest Federally Qualified Health Center in Oregon serving over 67,000 individuals at 25 sites throughout the County.  The Community Health Center (CHC) provides award winning medical, dental, student health, homeless, HIV, pharmacy and other support services. Vanetta began her career in health by earning a Bachelors of Art in social welfare from the University of California, Berkeley and a Masters in Public Health with a specialty in health services administration from the Graduate School of Public Health at San Diego State University. Vanetta’s professional experience includes hospital administration at Kaiser Permanente in San Diego, long-term care management at Catholic Health Corporation in Nebraska and Wisconsin, and health delivery leadership roles at both Legacy Health System and Providence Health System in Portland. When not working to support improved quality and health equity for our most vulnerable neighbors, Vanetta enjoys trying to stay upright at Zumba classes and traveling with her spouse and college-aged son. 

Sonya L. Campion is president of the Campion Advocacy Fund. Sonya brings a successful 30+ year career in fundraising to the field of philanthropy. Along with her husband Tom, she co-founded the Campion Foundation and recently added the Campion Advocacy Fund (501c4) to strategically advance the organization’s focus on permanently preserving wilderness, ending homelessness through advocacy and systemic change and strengthening the capacity of the non-profit sector. She works to leverage change in many ways and is committed to strengthening the non-profit sector. She launched the Stand for your Mission Board Advocacy Campaign with BoardSource to mobilize Board members for effective social change and helped bring a national campaign, A Way Home Washington, to Washington State to end youth homelessness. Previous to her work at Campion Foundation, she served for 18 years as Vice President of The Collins Group, a regional fundraising consulting firm, working with over 100 organizations and raising over $500 million in capital and major gifts campaigns. She is one of the rare professionals to be honored both for her lifetime professional leadership in fundraising (AFP Professional Achievement Award) and then a few years later with her husband Tom as AFP’s Philanthropists of the year in recognition of their catalytic philanthropy.  In 2014 and 2015 she was named to NonProfit Times Top 50 Power and Influential leaders in the country and as a “Woman of Influence” by the Puget Sound Business Journal. 

Building Grantee Capacity to Do Policy Advocacy Work Including Community Organizing 
In this session we will look at investing in grantees and nonprofit partners to do the work of policy advocacy including base-building, community organizing, public education and lobbying. 

FACILITATORS: Remy Trupin and Meredith Higashi, Philanthropy Northwest. (See bios in Webinar #1)

Kristen Cambell is Executive Director of Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement (PACE) and leads its mission to inspire interest, understanding, and investment in civic engagement within philanthropy and to be a voice for philanthropy in larger conversations taking place in the fields of civic engagement, service, and democratic practice. Previously, Kristen ran her own consulting practice focused on civic engagement, education, and leadership. She served the National Conference on Citizenship as its Chief Program Officer, and has held philanthropic roles at the Case Foundation and Points of Light. Kristen is an AmeriCorps Alum and serves on the board of United Philanthropy Forum, and the advisory groups of for several national groups, including the working group of the Philanthropy Initiative at the Smithsonian Institution.

Magan Do is Project Manager at Social Justice Fund NW. Magan was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest and is committed to strengthening grassroots efforts in the broad-based movement for progressive, systemic social change. Magan has many years of experience in local non-profits and community organizations. Magan joined Social Justice Fund NW in 2011 as a Practicum Student through UW’s School of Social Work, served as a Board Member, and participated in two Criminal Justice Giving Projects. 

Counting Change: Strategic Collaborations to Promote a Fair and Accurate 2020

(Session will take place at the PNW Annual Conference, virtual access available) 

An accurate census count shapes understanding of our communities, and sets baseline data for the equitable distribution of billions of dollars of federal funding to our states. The 2020 Census faces unprecedented challenges that may greatly impact a full count across the Northwest, particularly for traditionally undercounted populations. Philanthropy can play a catalytic role by convening grantees and stakeholders, providing resources for and participating in “complete count” efforts and encouraging education about the stakes for 2020 and the long-term impacts of the count. Participants will learn about different collaborative efforts and explore opportunities to engage in the census through partnerships.

SPEAKERS:

Laurie Wolf, Foraker Group (moderator)

Erin Dysart, Meyer Memorial Trust

Jessica Houseman-Whitehawk, Yakima Community Foundation

Gabe Layman, Cook Inlet Housing Authority

If you are attending Philanthropy Northwest's Annual Conference, you do not need to register separately for this program. 

Measuring Impact - What Does Success Look Like
This is the final installment of our special workshop series on policy advocacy designed for foundation staff and trustees who want to build their knowledge and capacity to fund and implement policy advocacy strategy. In the December session, we will look at ways funders measure the impact of policy advocacy investments - from process to outcomes.

FACILITATORS: Remy Trupin and Meredith Higashi, Philanthropy Northwest. (See bios in Webinar #1)

GUEST SPEAKER:

Anne Gienapp is a director at ORS Impact. Throughout her 25-year career, Anne has expertly guided clients in the philanthropic, non-profit, and public sectors to gain clarity about the outcomes they seek and how best to measure progress. Anne has deep experience in design and implementation of evaluation for complex initiatives and had led numerous evaluation efforts that encompass advocacy, policy, and systems change.

Anne is experienced in a wide range of evaluation approaches, including prospective and developmental approaches that feature opportunities to reflect on data as it becomes available. Anne is attuned to her clients’ particular priorities, contexts, and capacity and excels at creating evaluation designs that match clients’ purposes and interests. Anne consistently aims to maximize the relevance and utility of data and ensure that measurement informs decisions and action. As a skilled facilitator, Anne seamlessly weaves together evaluation and learning.

Anne is a recognized thought leader and has co-authored several publications for the field that address practical applications of evaluation, including articulation of frames to measure advocacy-, policy- and systems-focused strategies.