With a growing list of social concerns and government policies, students in the D.C. metro area gathered for the Social Advocacy Conference with enthusiasm and big ideas. The conference was held by the University of the District of Columbia on April 2, as a way to educate undergraduate students about the process of social advocacy campaigns and lobbying for change on major social issues. All 83 students in attendance started the conference in selected groups such as Affordable Higher Education, Environment and Alternative Energy, Equal Opportunity, Human Rights, Immigration, International Development, Poverty and Homelessness, Education Reform, and Public Health, allowing all of the attendees to find an area of specific interest.

The morning began with keynote speakers in the non-profit sector starting with Marcia Avener, a consultant and senior fellow at the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, who was a leader of the conference activities. Following Avener were Carol Bergman, the interim executive director of the Global Aids Alliance, Vytas Vergeer, the legal clinic director of Bread for the City, and Ilir Zherka, executive director of DC Vote, who shared their experiences and introduction to non-profit work and advocacy, doling out advice to those in attendance about important aspects thereof.

Zherka outlined the “Five Principles of Advocacy,” which included framing the issue, seeking bi-partisanship, recruiting champions of the cause, remembering that elections matter and working outside the game. This framework proved to be crucial throughout the day as students assessed what they felt to be their level of power. Avener focused on how student activists and advocates can draw from their true power and use it to advocate for causes.

Student activists who were experienced in pushing for social campaigns and advocacy also spoke about their experiences with college-level advocacy in particular. These activists included Marley Moynahan of the Georgetown Solidarity Committee, Hilary Staver of the University of Maryland Campaign for Clean Energy and Isaiah Toney of the George Washington University Progressive Student Union. Each had a unique approach to their forms of advocacy campaigns.

One anecdote from Toney was particularly memorable. He joked about  the president of his college and how they had “used a cardboard cutout of him at meetings to ask him questions since he rarely communicated with students.” The conference attendees then separated into think-tank focus groups based on the social cause each had selected, working with coaches with experience in the advocacy and non-profit fields to create a fictitious advocacy campaign involving the things students would like to change about each subject.

Each of these focus groups selected a specific issue within their chosen subject, honing in on the main issue and foreseeable solutions, as well as a constructed plan on how to bring about the social change they desired. The importance of organization and the experiences of the speakers came into play as a resource and launching point for each group’s own ideas. After each group formulated a complete campaign and platform, they presented their work to the others attending the conference. The students’ bold ideas included a re-investment program that would serve urban communities and help alleviate student debt, after-school college prep programs to help students advance their secondary education and a water-bottle tax to help offset the impact on the environment.

Each group had a fresh take on social action in all of the areas, and the conference appeared to be a huge success. The conference helped to spread awareness about social issues to a new generation of future policy makers and advocates who may one day change the world for the better.

By: Stephanie Tipple

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