What is Advocacy?

Advocacy involves speaking up, connecting with community, and building relationships with elected leaders to make policy changes. Both individuals and nonprofits can contact and engage directly with their elected officials to advocate for the issues they care about, including emailing, calling, or meeting with elected officials and speaking during public hearings. For Advocacy 101, check out this Advocacy Toolkit from our partners at NC Child.

Our Advocacy Work:

Our Advocacy Team staffs and supports two primary initiatives: the Western North Carolina Early Childhood Coalition (WNC ECC) and the Success Equation. Through this work, we serve as the western hub of NC Child’s Child Advocacy Network, a statewide network of advocates working on public policies that benefit children and families.

We work with state and local partners to track these policies, share research, engage with policymakers, and equip community members like you with information they need to make their voice count for kids through advocacy! 

WNC Early Childhood Coalition (WNC ECC)

The WNC ECC is a coalition of early childhood-focused organizations collaborating on policy advocacy to improve access to and quality of Early Childhood Care and Education programming in Western NC. WNC ECC collaborates with statewide organizations on shared policy interests. Coalition member organizations engage local providers and families in building grassroots advocacy skills and leadership for early childhood issues across the region. 

The Success Equation

The Success Equation supports collaborative public policy advocacy to benefit children and families in Buncombe County. We believe that the future looks brighter when children start their lives healthy and ready to learn, have their basic needs met, and live in supported and connected families. 

We host regular Success Equation meetings attended by ally organizations and community members. Together we identify and prioritize public policies and investments at local, state and federal levels to create our annual policy agenda. We advocate for policies that expand opportunities for child and family resiliency, stability, and health, and span across three key areas: early childhood, family economic stability, and  family supports. See our policy agenda for more information.

Make Your Voice Count For Kids:

Follow our Facebook and Twitter for daily posts containing policy updates to keep you in the know, advocacy tips to help hone your skills, opportunities for you to take action, and resources for NC families!

Sign up for “5 minutes 4 kids” Advocacy Email Alerts that provide education and action opportunities that make it easy to be an advocate.

Read our 2021 Policy Agenda.