On June 18th the Supreme Court blocked the administration’s attempt to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Had the effort been allowed to move forward, over 650,000 DACA holders would have been at risk of losing their work authorizations and legal status, a...
Census work is ongoing across the Northwest. However, with the COVID-19 pandemic preventing most in-person outreach and ...
Philanthropy is an essential element in shaping policy and advocacy efforts. Without a clear understanding of the relationship between philanthropy, government and democracy, we miss opportunities to contribute our voice to shaping important conversations of our time. While we can greatly influence issues through our grant-making, we will look at the next step. Why is it important to participate in policy and advocacy? How must we use our voice? We will discuss what policy advocacy is, think about the tools you can use and encourage you to go boldly forward to use advocacy to further your mission, vision and impact!
Courtney Chappell has over 15 years of experience promoting racial and social justice, and graduated magna cum laude from the American University Washington College of Law. She is currently the advocacy director at Legal Voice where she helps to manage the organization’s strategic initiatives to advance the legal rights of women, girls and LGBTQ individuals across the Pacific Northwest. Prior to joining Legal Voice, she served in a variety of leadership roles, including senior director of state capacity building at State Voices, executive director of the Center for Asian Pacific American Women, deputy director at the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders under the Obama Administration, deputy director at the DC Employment Justice Center and other roles.
Courtney is passionate about using the law to advocate for women of color and vulnerable populations and leveraging different strategies – organizing, coalition building, community lawyering and policy advocacy – to do so. Courtney currently lives in Seattle, WA with her husband and two daughters.
Philanthropy Northwest invites foundation staff, board members and trustees who want to build their knowledge and capacity to fund and implement policy advocacy to join us for our virtual workshop series. Each session features thought leaders and peer funders to engage and facilitate discussions on policy advocacy topics, and participants learn together in an interactive format. Session attendees may also sign up for ONE FREE HOUR of policy advocacy consulting from Philanthropy Northwest's Executive in Residence, Remy Trupin.
You can register for all four sessions at a discounted rate! Members can register for the whole series for $175 and non-members can register for the whole series for $250! To register for the whole series, please go to our series registration page.
Session 1 - Rules of Advocacy for Funders
February 24, 2020 10am-11:30am (Pacific)
Session 2 - Policy Advocacy: Why Policy Advocacy
April 27, 2020 10am-11:30am (Pacific)
Session 3 - Scaling Impact: Working Together for a Common Cause
September 21, 2020 10am-11:30am (Pacific)
Session 4 - Building Democracy
November 2, 2020, 10am-11:30am (Pacific)
Please contact Ankita Patel, senior manager, public policy and advocacy.
2020 is a big year for us – as individuals, as organizations and communities, and as a democracy. We all have the opportunity to show up and take action to ensure a more reflective, equitable and representative democracy across our vibrant Northwest communities.
Our network has an...
Throughout 2019, the state budget was a top concern for Alaskan communities and organizations. To balance the budget, Gov. Mike Dunleavy proposed $1.6 billion in spending cuts that would have a devastating impact across the state, including for housing and homeless programs, arts programs, Medicaid, the University of Alaska system, civil legal services, early childhood and more. With a steep battle to minimize the magnitude of the cuts, Alaskans worked to take a united stand for their communities. The scale of the budget crisis necessitated new ways of leading together, especially among funders.
Philanthropy Northwest members across the region are steeped in 2020 Census efforts, leading and partnering in different strategies to ensure a full count of diverse communities across their states. Since the 2020 Census is beginning soon, we wanted to highlight some of the amazing Census work that our members are apart of in each state in our region.
Philanthropy Northwest has adopted an official organizational position supporting The Charities Helping Americans Regularly Throughout the Year (CHARITY) Act (S. 1475, H.R. 3259), a bipartisan bill that would make it easier for donors to give to charity and for charitable organizations to conduct their work. We will be submitting a letter to members of Congress representing our six-state region (Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming).
