Become a Change Agent: Lessons from Experts offered at Annual Meeting
Cathleen Willging, cwillging@pire.org
Jennifer Hubbert, hubbert@lclark.edu
Want to influence public policy that shapes the health and wellbeing in the U.S. and elsewhere? Interested in learning about techniques that can impact how policy gets developed and implemented, or want to further hone your own advocacy skills? Going to the annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association this year?
If so, please join the Society of Medical Anthropology (SMA) and the Association for the Anthropology of Policy (ASAP) for a co-hosted mentoring event on Thursday, November 30th between 6:30 pm and 8:15 pm. The event will be held in the Ambassador Ballroom of the Omni Shoreham Hotel and will include free yummy snacks, a cash bar, and two prominent speakers! This event (“How to Have an Impact on Health Policy: Lessons from Experts”) will focus on how we, as anthropologists, can be successful health policy advocates and change agents, focusing on the pragmatics of advocating for health policy by writing effectively for various media, collaborating with community organizations, and taking part in legislative processes.
The first speaker is Kathy Mulvey of the Climate and Energy Team at the Union of Concerned Scientists. For more than a quarter century, Kathy has worked in the trenches with researchers on policy analysis, campaigning, and legislative activity on a wide range of corporate accountability, environmental, and public health issues.
The second speaker is Ted Miller, a nationally-renowned economist and leading expert on injury and violence in the U.S. The author of over 250 publications, Ted will share his tried-and-true tips for engaging both media and policymakers on some of the most pressing social and health matters of our day, such as gun control.
Together, Kathy and Ted will school us on how we can play a role in framing, enacting, and evaluating of health policy. After we hear from the speakers, audience participants will split up into expert-facilitated groups to brainstorm how to best implement these practices and troubleshoot their own ongoing efforts. If you are interested in hands-on help, feel free to bring any of your own advocacy materials (e.g., op-eds, policy briefs) for on-site input. This is one mentoring event not to be missed!