Community Advocacy: Your Recipe for Success

Tamara Caraway

Practitioners Donna Davis, Senior Mobilizer, Expect More Arizona, Laura Cummings, Parent Advocate, Madison Elementary School District, Julie Bacon, Governing Board President of the  Paradise Valley Unified School District, Tammy Caraway, Executive Vice President of Hunt and Caraway Architects, and Jill Hicks, Outreach Specialist, Washington Elementary School District gave strategic tips on how to best engage your district, parents, staff and community members and connect with them through diverse models of advocacy.

Each presenter spoke from experience about groups that are working in their districts such as the Madison CAC Citizens Advisory Committee, Paradise Valley’s United Parent Council, Washington District’s Business Advisory Team and various districts’ Educational Foundations and Communication Committees.

 

Each panelist spoke on the perspective that their district focuses on including:

What’s in it for your district? – Julie Bacon – Paradise Valley Unified School District

•       What is currently in place for community engagement and what is needed?

•       Who can you connect with to get the message out about your district?

What’s in it for your stakeholders?  Jill Hicks, Washington School District

•       Why your district needs a different kind of community group

•       Developing rewarding partnerships  

•       Gaining and sustaining momentum

What’s in it for your community?  Tammy Caraway, Hunt and Caraway Architects – representing the Business Community

•       Developing your message

•       Sharing the message with retirees and those without children in the district

•       Connecting with the business community

What’s in it for your state? Laura Cummings, Madison District’s Citizen’s Advisory Committee

•       Developing relationships with elected officials, through a collective VOICE

•       Developing voters’ trust with transparent and factual information

Donna Davis from Expect More Arizona shared her tips on communicating with retirees and those who do not have children attending your district schools. Additionally, the group collaborated on a Community Mapping Matrix to show where the assets are to begin engaging the entire community.

ASA has a Community Advocacy group that meets quarterly. To join the advocacy conversation and gain ideas and strategies to engage your district and community, contact Nedda Shafir at nshafir@cox.net or visit the ASA website.

Nedda Shafir, M.Ed.

Shafir Consulting