MCC women, you are invited to attend Our Turn: A Conversation for Women. This group meets every other Thursday, alternating between morning and afternoon times. Locations and topics will change each time.
This week Sabina Sten hosts the group in the RiverWest Community Room, while Kathy Christoffel will lead a discussion on advocacy and our experiences being an advocate. We undoubtedly have experience with advocacy of many kinds, such as efforts to get a better placement for a child in school, academic study of topics to guide regional or national policy change, work or professional organization policy development for improved equity, network-building to coordinate change efforts in some area, and legislative lobbying. To prepare for the discussion, please consider these questions:
--Do you seek out or avoid advocacy opportunities?
--In what situations have you considered yourself an advocate? Were you advocating for yourself, someone in your family or community, an idea or value, a specific policy, a candidate for office?
--What did you do as an advocate in those situations? Did you gather or summarize facts, write letters or policies, speak publicly or to friends, lead or join organizations, raise funds? Was your choice of what to do influenced by those around you, your temperament (such as introverted or extroverted) or other issues?
--What were the biggest challenges to starting or continuing your advocacy efforts? What were the biggest successes? What did you learn from these (both in knowledge and feelings), and how did those lessons affect you going forward?
--What does life experience bring to advocacy? Are we more likely to advocate now, as we grow older? Why or why not? Are we likely to advocate in the same way now? Choose the same causes? Respond to the same stimuli to engage in advocacy?