Let your voice be heard! Reach out to your elected officials to advocate for International Education.
WHAT IS ADVOCACY?
Advocacy is actively supporting or defending a cause or an idea, whether that is at your job, within your community, or at the governmental level. This page focuses on how to advocate for international education at different levels of government.
WHERE DO I START?
A wonderful colleague shared five great ways to sustainably be a policy change advocate:
Find something you can commit to doing consistently (e.g., committing your lunch break once a week to writing to your congressperson about a policy or issue affecting the community)
Find something you can commit to doing that will challenge you (e.g., having an uncomfortable conversation with a relative you think is a xenophobe)
Ask a friend to join you in making these commitments
Pledge to hold each other accountable for the commitments you’ve made
Commit to self-care practice (You’ll hear it forever [because it’s true] advocacy is a marathon not a sprint!)
Need some inspiration? Check out our intern’s experience in advocacy research for the organization: Ruby's Reflection
Aren’t they super busy? Who else could I go to? Great question! The Office of the Governor has liaisons who supervise/manage different offices. They are called Agency Legislative Liaisons. Here is a list of liaisons who might be of interest:
Illinois State Board of Education, Executive Director of Legislative Affairs
Illinois State Board of Education, Director of Governmental Relations
Board of Higher Education, Director of Legislative Affairs
Additionally, the Illinois General Assembly (IGA) house members have committees that focus on a particular policy issue. Here are some committees that might be of interest:
Are you from Chicago? Getting to know your local alderman and the city council is a great way to start policy advocacy! Learn about the city council and find your ward and alderman/woman/person here: City Council, Your Ward & Alderman
As with every page of our website, we encourage suggestions for other information and links to include. Use ourDEIJ Suggestion formto submit your ideas.