Advocacy
Whether the goal of your organization, association, or grass-roots initiative is to influence legislation and government policy, educate the public about a particular issue, or raise awareness about the importance of your mission -- you'll find expertise, experience, skill-sets, and understanding at Apter & O'Connor to help you achieve success.
Listed below are just a few of our advocacy clients and, in some cases, explanations of specific projects. Contact us today, to learn more about what we can do for your organization.
American Immunization Registry Association (AIRA): Every Child By Two
AIRA is a national volunteer membership organization that promotes and supports immunization information systems (IIS) to ensure healthy communities across the country. The offer advocacy, education, and technical assistance to their members. A&O has guided two strategic planning processes for this dynamic organization and completed a multi-year outcome evaluation encompassing their subcontractor Vaccinate Your Family (formerly known as Every Child by Two). For the most recent project Cynthia O’Connor teamed up with Steve Schack of Clear Blue Associates of NYC and traveled to Savannah to facilitate a board retreat. Together, they led a five-month strategic planning and organizational capacity building process with AIRA’s senior staff and board of directors. Our holistic approach was based on the published body of work by Susan Kenny Stevens known as “Nonprofit Lifecycles” [1] We find that organizations often embark on strategic planning efforts that are almost exclusively focused on looking outward and focusing on their programs and services, with little consideration to the capacity that it will require. By taking this holistic view, we can help ensure that growth is managed, and efforts stay in synch.
[1] Susan Kenny Stevens, Nonprofit Lifecycles Stage-Based Wisdom for Nonprofit Capacity (Wayzata, MN: Stagewise Enterprises, Inc., 2002).
Testimonial
Our Board for our national association was able to come to agreement for a re-organization and succession strategy which we successfully implemented. We were able to “turn around” from decline.
- A comment from our client...View Case Study
Child Care Solutions of Onondaga and Cayuga Counties (CCS): A Child Care Needs Assessment
Apter & O’Connor has worked with Child Care Solutions several times to support their needs assessment related to the current state of child care. A&O designed specific inquiries to examine child care supply and demand. The final product illustrated the child care needs unique to these geographic areas and the related work-life issues for both child care providers and the families they serve. The assessments included: a detailed review of national, state and local data; focus groups with child care providers, local government officials, funders and human service experts; surveys for parents and providers; and interviews with human resource professionals. The rigorous methodology employed for each study provided child care advocates with a powerful tool to design new interventions and educate state and local legislators and funders.
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Apter & O’Connor led the CNY Community Foundation’s initiative to develop community wide indicators to assess literacy in Central New York. A&O conducted background research, guided the management team and facilitated a task force of 25 community leaders and literacy stakeholders through a six-month exploration and planning process. The final report served as the foundation for the establishment of a community wide literacy coalition that continues today. The Coalition provides home delivered books and activities through the Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, has won awards as a Pacesetter from the Campaign for Grade Level Reading and initiated numerous programs and activities in the Central New York community.\
Testimonial
As the facilitators of the Literacy Impact Task Force, Dianne and Cynthia helped us frame our task, refereed 'arguments,' got us to the goal. We now use the Indicators developed with them as the community measures of success. Dianne and Cynthia are practical, sensible data geeks.
- A comment from our client...View Case Study
Literacy Powerline
Apter & O’Connor is collaborating with the national organization, Literacy Powerline. The mission of Literacy Powerline is to increase literacy levels through effective and sustainable community collaboration and engagement. Literacy Powerline works with educators, business and labor leaders, philanthropic organizations, civic and faith-based groups, policymakers, literacy providers and students to demonstrate that everyone thrives when a community is committed to 100% literacy. Scores of communities across the country have accessed the resources and capabilities of the Literacy Powerline team. A&O is offering strategic planning, needs assessment and evaluation expertise to coalitions across the country to develop effective and highly accountable literacy initiatives within their own communities. We are excited to be part of the Literacy Powerline team working with the Annie E. Casey National Support Center for the Campaign for Grade Level Reading to provide consultation for accountability systems, implementation and sustainability efforts of funded projects, particularly in rural areas.
The Campaign for Grade-Level Reading
Closer to home, Apter & O’Connor has designed an evaluation of the Herkimer Oneida Literacy Coalition for Literacy Powerline. The approach is an empowerment model to facilitate stakeholder ownership of the evaluation activities and allow for on-going feedback, dialogue and appropriate adjustment. The evaluation is designed to measure the development of a fully functioning literacy coalition and the impact on the community.
A&O has joined Literacy Powerline to support the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading in communities across New York State. The Campaign is a collaborative effort by foundations, nonprofit partners, states and communities across the nation to ensure that more children in low-income families succeed in school and graduate prepared for college, a career, and active citizenship. The Campaign focuses on an important predictor of school success and high school graduation—grade-level reading by the end of third grade. Recognizing that schools can’t “do it alone”, the Campaign seeks to engage and mobilize whole communities to remove barriers, expand learning opportunities and assist parents to serve as partners in their child’s education. A&O along with Literacy Powerline is helping to build a statewide network of GLR Communities across New York by offering coalition building, coaching, technical assistance and resources to individual communities and cities, so they can build their own unique networks and realize the goals of the Campaign.
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