Alliance and UNCA policy office impacts change by utilizing ‘connected expertise’ within Washington’s power structure
The joint public policy office of the Alliance for Children and Families and United Neighborhood Centers of America (UNCA) is gearing up for what could be a year of dramatic changes in policy impacting nonprofit human service organizations. In Washington, the new legislative year began Jan. 5; it is the second year of Congress’ two-year session.
There are two reasons we feel this year may be noteworthy. First, the majority of legislation that our office considers to be “victories” for the nonprofit human service sector don’t typically arise until the second of the two-year session. Next, with Washington buzzing about health care reform, the sector stands to be impacted in significant ways.
As we look forward to this coming year, I thought it might be interesting to provide more information about how the public policy office represents Alliance and UNCA members in Washington.
Connected Expertise: Currency of Power
All of our work flows from two major goals. First, we attempt to positively influence policies in Washington that affect Alliance and UNCA member organizations and the people they serve. Second, we attempt to position members to take advantage of those policies as they are implemented.
We use a variety of strategies to accomplish both goals, but each revolves around the central, core concept of “connected expertise.”
Connected expertise is the true currency of power on human service issues in the nation’s capital. To properly understand it, and all of the related strategies that derive from it, it is important to have a level of understanding of Washington’s power structure and culture.
The only way to influence those in power is to bring knowledge to the table that they do not have. In our case, that information relates to how programs work and affect people in the real world in which our members operate.
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The various facets of the policy office’s legislative strategy are shaped with connected expertise in mind.
Narrow Issue Focus. The public policy office is located just a few blocks from the White House in downtown Washington. In addition to me, the senior vice president for public policy, there are two policy analysts. While we accomplish a lot, our resources are comparably limited—a drop in the ocean of organizations and individuals who are active on national issues.
One of the ways we overcome these limitations is by focusing on a small number of issues, currently child welfare, mental health, and neighborhood issues. (View the 2010 public policy agenda.)
Within these broad issues we focus further by specializing in bread-and-butter issues with high relevance to our members as nonprofit provider organizations.
Research and Analysis. Influence in Washington is as much about what you know as who you know. In many ways the former is more important, but ideally both are maximized, which is where the phrase connected expertise comes from.
In our case, the Washington office invests considerable resources into developing policy papers and analyses that inform the debate. The readership for these papers can often be quite small, even just a few people. But, if they are the right few people, that makes all the difference. (View past papers and analyses in the public policy section of the Alliance website.)
Dual Focus on Implementation and Policy. As mentioned earlier, the
public policy office focuses not only on
achieving legislative outcomes, but also
on implementation. This enables us to position members to take advantage of new opportunities as they arise. It also reinforces and informs our policy work.
Having policy expertise grounded in what is happening in the real world outside of Washington heightens our influence with the policy professionals who truly matter within Washington.
Leveraging Our Members. The public policy office leverages the Alliance and UNCA memberships in two main ways.
First, we occasionally send out letters to individual members for their endorsement. These sign-on letters are helpful because they show congressional offices which individuals and organizations from their home states and districts support a particular issue. Moreover, letters with hundreds of organizational signers from throughout the country help demonstrate national support—or opposition—for an issue.
This relatively easy process is supplemented by a much more work-intensive strategy of setting up a conference call connecting select congressional staff—typically staff who sit on committees with jurisdiction over a particular issue—to Alliance or UNCA member organizations.
Direct Lobbying. At its most basic level, direct lobbying involves a visit or call to a Capitol Hill office. To be effective, however, direct lobbying must be more than this—it must be preceded by the work mentioned above.
Solid knowledge of the issues combined with proven connections to organizations back at that congressperson’s home district spell the difference between a polite meeting that accomplishes very little and a high-impact one that builds the foundation for an ongoing relationship.
Media. Reporters tend to gravitate toward organizations that are seen as “players,” particularly those that know the substance and have an insider’s knowledge of the politics. Once an organization has established itself through the strategies outlined earlier, the media component tends to fall into place. During the last few years, our office has seen gains in this area.
Change is Difficult, but Possible
In the nearly 20 years I have worked in the policy arena, I often have been surprised by the pessimism I have encountered. Too many see insurmountable problems confronting limited budgets, believe no one listens, and think that nothing can be done.
In my experience, this simply is not true; achieving policy change is difficult but possible.
Working together, the Alliance, UNCA, and their combined membership networks can make change happen—and we will. Millions of our fellow citizens are counting on it.
Patrick Lester is senior vice president for public policy for the Alliance and UNCA. He has a master’s degree in public policy from Georgetown University. His past experience includes director of public policy for United Way of America, aide for President Bill Clinton’s Domestic Policy Council, senior policy analyst for the Maryland Association of Nonprofit Organizations, and legislative director for the Coalition of Human Needs. He can be reached at 202-429-0400, ext. 15, or by e-mail. |  |
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