Transcript Texas Well and Healthy Mimi Garcia Organizing Director Cheasty Anderson Education and Outreach Coordinator Who are we? Organizing Lead Public Education, Policy Lead Communications Lead Story collection & “grasstops” organizing.

Texas Well and
Healthy
Mimi Garcia
Organizing Director
Cheasty Anderson
Education and Outreach Coordinator
Who are we?
Organizing Lead
Public Education, Policy Lead
Communications Lead
Story collection &
“grasstops” organizing
What are we doing?
Organizing
Community
Education
Social
Media
Community
Engagement
Organizing: The Big Idea
• GOALS: Engage Texans in the fight for better policies
for health access in Texas
• TASKS: Identify and Create opportunities to mobilize our
base of supporters. Work with other networks to build
our base of support.
• TOOLS: Voter Activation Network (VAN), Online
Actions/Petitions, Text alert, Advocacy pamphlet,
Organizational supporter network
• STRATEGIES: Building support through educational
workshops, working with allied organizations, becoming
a communications resource.
•
Challenges and
Solutions
Challenge: Scope and capacity for a HUGE
state
• Solution: Managing complex coalitions across the state,
within cities and regions
• Challenge: Managing complex coalitions*
• Solution: Maintaining data and records on constituent
organizations and their interest/politics
*Sometimes solutions can be their own challenges
• Challenge: Too much work, too few staff
• Solution: prioritize. Know where to give things up,
where to push.
• Experimenting with volunteers, interns, & trainers
Education: The Big Idea
• GOALS: Educate Texans about the ACA, and
open discourse about health reform in general
• TASKS: Connect with disparate groups across the
state (politically active or not), keep curriculum
flexible and adaptable
• TOOLS: Education and organizing pamphlet, blog,
Train the Trainer
• STRATEGIES: Travel. All. The. Time.
Advocacy/Education
Tool
Blog: “Ask Cheasty”
Challenges and
Solutions
• Challenge: varied literacy levels, low health
literacy
• Solution: Develop materials that are especially flexible, a
program that can be simplified or complicated, and bilingual
materials
• Challenge: HUGE state, one person
• Solution: Train the Trainers, Skype, health action calls, video
“one-pagers,” webinars, etc.
• Challenge: Staying strategic vs. responding to
demand
• Solution: Targeted outreach based on organizer’s power
analysis. Getting easier now that we have greater name
recognition.
Case Study: SCOTUS
reaction
• Rapid response plan
• Communications
• Public Mobilization
• Public Education
• Challenges:
• Rally without a date, lots of work means need for clear
roles, uncertainty
• Solutions:
• Utilizing groups with mobilizable base, new technology
of text messaging, clearly prepared plan and roles,
multiple contingency plans
Outcomes
•
•
•
•
•
Building our List
Creating New Coalitions/Alliances
Social Media and Technology
Multiple Avenues of Engagement
Media attention: State, regional, and now
national
• Medical Loss Ratio
• Rate Review
• Train the Trainer
New Challenges
• How to build avenues of messaging on health care
reform for new (not necessarily enthusiastic)
audiences
• Now even Republicans are getting interested, postSCOTUS
• Large number of Freshman Tea Partiers in TX Lege.
• 2013 Legislative session – Gov wants even more
budget cuts, lots of educating to do for members re:
Medicaid/Medicare, health care in Texas
• Galvanizing constituent activism in key district for Lege
w/limited lead time between elections and state of
session.
Thank you!
Mimi Garcia
[email protected]
Cheasty Anderson
[email protected]
www.texaswellandhealthy.org
On Twitter: @TXWellHealthy
On Facebook: www.facebook.com/KidsWellTexas