Advocacy Resources

The ProLiteracy Worldwide Board of Directors has published a 10 Point Advocacy Plan. The goals of the plan are to:

• create a comprehensive and fully coordinated adult literacy and basic education system
• ensure that all adults with limited literacy skills have the opportunity to pursue appropriate educational or job credentialing opportunities
• assist adults to fulfill their human potential and to participate fully in society

To read the full plan, click here.

Health Literacy Presentation: For an overview of the issue of adult literacy globally, a look at adult health literacy in the U.S., and further research, click here.

Become a Better Advocate: To view a Power Point presentation with tips to help students feel more at ease with their roles as advocates and participants in the policy-making process, click here.

There are a number of good resources available to help you in your advocacy work. To view a Power Point presentation about the basics of advocacy and lobbying, click here.

The first step in securing needed funds is to make sure the public understands what your issues are and why they should be involved. Public awareness is the foundation upon which you can recruit volunteers, raise public or private funds, and increase the number of adults who benefit from your program. To read a copy of Community Mobilization and Advocacy Strategies for Adult Literacy Educators, click here.

If you are just initiating your advocacy efforts and are beginning to develop an advocacy plan for your organization, The Lobbying and Advocacy Handbook for Nonprofit Organizations, published by the Amherst H. Wilder Foundation, is an excellent resource.
http://www.fieldstonealliance.org/searchproducts.cfm

The Amherst H. Wilder Foundation also publishes a companion piece for nonprofit board members, The Nonprofit Board Member's Guide to Lobbying and Advocacy.
http://www.fieldstonealliance.org/searchproducts.cfm

If you are interested in lobbying rules and advocacy in the federal arena, we recommend The Nonprofit Lobbying Guide by Bob Smucker, published by Independent Sector.
http://www.independentsector.org/programs/gr/lobbyguide.html

A Guide for the Powerless and Those Who Don't Know Their Own Power is a primer on the American political process. Written by Samuel Halperin, it is published by the American Youth Policy Forum.
http://www.aypf.org/publications/index.htm

For detailed information about the upcoming Congressional election, visit
http://www.npr.org

There also are reliable Web sites that contain information about advocacy and lobbying. ProLiteracy recommends the following:

General Information

Board Source
http://www.boardsource.org

Charity Lobbying in the Public Interest
http://www.clpi.org

Congressional Quarterly
http://www.cq.com

Free Management Library
http://www.managementhelp.org

Independent Sector
http://www.independentsector.org

Internal Revenue Service
http://www.irs.gov

League of Women Voters
http://www.lwv.org

National Center for Education Statistics
http://www.nces.ed.gov

UNESCO
http://www.unesco.org

U.S. Department of Education
http://www.ed.gov

Workforce Alliance
http://www.workforcealliance.org

Advocacy for Adult Basic Education and Literacy

Commission on Adult Basic Education
http://www.coabe.org

National Adult Education Professional Development Consortium
http://www.naepdc.org

National Center for Family Literacy
http://www.famlit.org

National Coalition for Literacy
http://www.national-coalition-literacy.org

National Even Start Association
http://www.evenstart.org

National Institute of Continuing Education
http://www.niace.org.uk/projects/RightToLearn/

Pennsylvania Association for Adult and Continuing Education
http://www.paacesite.org/web-data/Diagrams/PAACE%20Site/advocacy.html

Teachers of English for Speakers of Other Languages
http://www.capwiz.com/tesol/home

Advocacy for Social Justice

Action Without Borders
http://www.idealist.org

Alliance for Justice
http://www.afj.org

American Council for Voluntary International Action
http://www.interaction.org/

Center for Community Change
http://www.communitychange.org/

Center for Law and Social Policy
http://www.clasp.org

Common Cause
http://www.commoncause.org

National Center for Children in Poverty
http://www.nccp.org

Pew Hispanic Center
http://www.pewhispanic.org

Urban Institute
http://www.urban.org

Contacting Congress

http://www.congress.gov
- a database of federal, state, and local elected officials; search by zip code, send e-mails via direct links.(We recommend against sending pre-formatted issue e-mails.)

http://www.nationalatlas.gov/printable/congress.html
- view the geographic map of every U.S. Congressional district.

http://www.melissadata.com/lookups/mapcd
-search for your Congressional district by zip code; map.

http://www.senate.org
- useful contact information for U.S. Senate members, including regional and local offices and personnel; search for information about the Senate calendar and Committee information.

http://www.house.gov
-useful contact information for U.S. House of Representatives members, including regional and local offices and personnel; search for information about the House calendar and Committee information.

http://www.thomas.loc.gov
- search for legislation and voting records; hosted by the Library of Congress.

Click here for Advocacy Resources for Adult Literacy Students.