Description
Unit 2 Assignment 1: Interview a Key Stakeholder Prep
Instructions
For this assignment you will interview a Key Stakeholder, your state senator, representative or staffer. The purpose of this interview is to understand what types of advocacy strategies influence them in how they may decisions on legislation.
You will first research who your state representative and/or senator is. You may also identify a legislative staffer or a social work policy expert with whom you will communicate.
Draft an email message asking to meet with them to discuss what advocacy strategies are most influential to them.
Draft 5-8 questions which you will ask them in a meeting.
Upload a copy of your email and questions for feedback prior to sending them.
Your instructor will provide feedback on your email message and your questions, and you will send out and schedule your meeting beginning week 4.
Head’s Up!
For the second part of the assignment that is due in Unit 5, you will meet with your legislator, staffer, or social work policy expert and conduct your interview. This can be in person, virtual, or in some other format. Take good notes of your interview to include any nonverbal communication you note. From there, write a 3-page reflection about the interview. Questions to consider are:
What were some of the nonverbal communications you observed?
What strategies did the legislator share with you which were the most impactful on their decision making?
Based on what you learned, how can you build on this and integrate it into your advocacy portfolio?
Looking Ahead – Policy Advocacy Portfolio (5 parts)
For your policy advocacy portfolio, you will select legislation currently working its way through your state legislature which impacts your specialization and the clients whom you interact with in your field agency. If the legislature is not in session, your focus will be on legislation which was proposed and acted upon during the previous session. The goal of this portfolio is to: Develop skills to track the specific legislation-(tracking) create a detailed understanding of the policy and its implications-(analysis), create and assess an advocacy strategy to influence the proposed legislation-( advocacy strategy), draft an opinion essay, to be published in the popular press or on social media-(Op-ed) and to present your evaluation of the impact of your advocacy strategy-(infographic).
The policy advocacy portfolio will take the form of 5 tasks over the course of the semester.
