Our parent organization, the National Council of La Raza, spends significant time and resources educating members of Congress on the importance of issues to the Latino community.  The NCLR’s advocacy and educational initiatives will continue to pay dividends for the Latino community for decades to come. 

As a chapter of the CALR, you have the opportunity and obligation to also make sure that your voice and the voices of your constituents (the Latino community on campus) are heard in Washington D.C.

Identifying the Issues: 

The NCLR drafts policy position statements and posts them online (http://www.nclr.org) weekly.  These statements will give you an idea of what types of legislation are currently being debated on Capitol Hill. 

How To Draft Policy Position Statements:

• Go to the NCLR’s homepage, http://www.nclr.org
• Read through the various position statements and use them as a template to write your own.
• It’s okay to use the same content as the NCLR – but do everything that you can to make your letter your own.
• Proofread your letter to make sure it has absolutely no errors
• Send your letters to your members of Congress.  If you don’t know who your representatives are, use these links below:
• You can find contact information for your Representative on the House home page:

http://www.house.gov/
• You can find Senate contact information on this page:

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
• Remember: your University is situated in a district that has two Senators and one House Representative.  Also, you could consider sending your letter to all the senators and representatives who represent the districts where you and your executive board live in.
• For EXAMPLES of what a letter could look like, using the NCLR as a guide, click here.

CALR Members and Senator Menendez (D-NJ) at the 2007 NCLR Annual Conference in Miami, FL. 

Making sure your voice is heard in Washington is important, but so is having a presence in your state capital.  Advocacy on that state level is a little more difficult – because the issues and debates that occur in your state capital are less visible. 

Identifying the Issues:

• If you are interested in state advocacy, you should consider contacting and perhaps joining your Governor’s Advisory Council on Latino affairs.  Most states have these advisory councils, and they can open up many doors for you, especially once they discover that you are a chapter of the National Council of La Raza.  Another resource for state advocacy rests with regional NCLR affiliates.  These nonprofit organizations often have been on the front lines of regional advocacy for decades, and could use the fresh faces and youthful strength of college students.  Consider contacting the Executive Directors of regional NCLR affiliates, identify yourself and ask them to share their thoughts on state issues and how college students to work to advance positive social change.

How To Draft Policy Position Statements:

• Using these templates(EXAMPLES), draft letters and send them to your state representatives.  Contact regional NCLR affiliates to see if there are other initiatives that you could start or join, such as a demonstration, a call in, or a public awareness campaign.

CALR Members and Mayor Baker of Wilmington, DE

As an executive board member of La Raza, you are expected to strive to make your organization an influential player on campus.  University campuses are often plagued with bigotry and injustice; therefore, your organization should ally with individuals and organizations to ensure that your campus remains a free, safe, and healthy environment that is conducive to the intellectual and social development of all students, regardless of race, ethnicity, ability, sexual orientation, gender or any other protected class.

Building & Maintaining Your Community Influence Capacity:

• Networking: Take any and every opportunity to network with regional power players, such as politicians, members of the religious community, business professionals, community advocates, nonprofit leaders, members of the media, and faculty members at your university.  Gaining the support of these individuals enhances your community influence capacity.  In the likely event that your chapter of CALR is forced to respond to injustice, these individuals will enhance your community influence capacity.
• Email Listserv: Collect email addresses of as many people as you can.  Email sign in sheets(EXAMPLES) should be present at each of your meetings and events.  There are two types of email lists that your chapter should keep, one for your active members and one for the broad community.  The broad community list should be used extremely infrequently.  The active list is the list that you use for your chapter’s everyday business.  Your Vice President of Administration is the custodian of both email lists and has the importance of both detailed in his/her job descriptions.
• Leveraging Your Resources:  When you issue “Calls To Action” (CTA) through your community listserv – make sure that they are clear and concise.  State the issue and its importance, and tell the reader what he or she can do about it.  Keeping CTAs simple makes them more effective.  For EXAMPLES of effective CTAs, click here.

Helpful Tips on Advocacy: By Aminata Jutté, National Council of La Raza
Organizing For Advocacy: By Mauricio Vivero, National Council of La Raza
Media Relations (NCLR): By Marco Davis, National Council of La Raza