Advocacy Opportunity

This is a guest blog from Renee Fry, Policy Consultant for the Weitz Family Foundation. This blog is estimated to take 3 minutes to read.

I’m excited to announce an opportunity to develop your advocacy skills! Applications for Lobby School are now being accepted through July 31, 2024.

Lobby School

In partnership with the Coalition for a Strong Nebraska, the Nebraska Civic Engagement Table opened applications for the fourth Lobby School cohort. If you have some advocacy experience or have attended policy training for Weitz and Lozier grantees, want to develop your advocacy skills further, and build deeper relationships with other nonprofit leaders, this program is for you! The application process is competitive and demonstrating a commitment to racial equity is a key criterion for acceptance.

Lobby School leverages the expertise of Nebraska Table Executive Director Meg Mikolajczyk, Coalition for a Strong Nebraska Executive Director Laurie Ponce, Former State Senator Brenda Council, and me (Renee Fry) – who bring different and complementary skill sets and areas of practice – as well as the Lobby School alumni network to develop participants’ growth in this work. Lobby School is intended to expand the advocacy infrastructure in our state and build power, particularly among Nebraska’s BIPOC and rural communities.

The next Lobby School cohort will convene on September 23, 2024, and end in June 2025. The program will consist of monthly in-person training days before the Nebraska Legislative Session begins, an in-person cohort meeting on the first day of the Legislative Session, regular online cohort meetings during the Legislative Session, and weekly one-on-ones with a Lobby School mentor for technical support around policy, direct and grassroots lobbying, and communications.

Participants will be paired for support and mentorship with a policy expert, based on each participant’s interest areas and goals. The cohort will move through the Session together, participating in training relevant to the phases of legislative policymaking at the state level. Such training will include preparing for and executing a hearing strategy, partnering with senators and other advocates to run floor debates, and developing communications strategies.

The program will end in June 2025, bringing the cohort together to reflect on lessons learned during the Session and celebrate successes together.

The Nebraska Table will accept applications for the 2024/2025 Cohort until July 31, 2024. The 2024/2025 cohort will be limited in size, with applicants being notified of acceptance by mid-August 2024. Applicants are asked to submit the policy goal they want to focus on for this hands-on learning experience. We have found that participants with a specific Lobby School goal, particularly bringing a piece of legislation, get the most out of the experience, so we now require participants to bring a bill.

Teaching, mentoring, and learning from our Lobby School participants has been one of the most rewarding opportunities of my career, and I look forward to working with a new group of advocates alongside our Lobby School alumni and fellow mentors. I hope you will consider applying!