Dear Coordinator,
Congratulations and welcome to the Practice Organization's FEDERAL
ADVOCACY NETWORK. We truly appreciate your willingness to serve as one of
APAGS' Advocacy Coordinators. Whether at the State or Regional level, these
positions are crucial to the advancement and preservation of the profession of
psychology. Welcome aboard!
Your goal as Coordinator is to develop a responsive and effective grassroots
network of graduate students in each of your congressional districts. You will
be provided with up-to-date information on issues affecting the practice of
psychology. Please use this information to make a case for psychology's federal
agenda and distribute this information to other grassroots volunteers in your
states via legislative alerts, phone trees, emails and meetings.
The key to federal constituent lobbying is to develop relationships with your
congressional representatives so strong that he or she will contact you before
taking any action on an issue affecting psychology. Relationships of this
quality do not just happen nor do they happen overnight; you must make regular
contact with your members and get to know key staff members. Phone calls and
letters are the most commonly used forms of congressional communications,
although personal visits are also very effective in lobbying Members of
Congress.
Below, please find links to additional information that may assist you in
your advocacy efforts:
Tips
on Writing to Elected Officials,
Meeting
with Your Elected Official,
Writing
Letters to the Editor, and
Maintaining
a Grassroots Network.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or if I can be
of assistance.
Again, welcome to the Federal Advocacy Network!
Best wishes,
Hrant
Jamgochian
Director of Field and State Operations
APA Practice Organization
(202) 336-5875
