Lobbying for Rookies
By Safiya Simmons
This week, I joined my colleagues in our first virtual lobby days. It was intense for me, a lobbying rookie, but it was also fun and informative.
Our team of 24 was broken down into small groups. Each small group held virtual visits with 2–3 different members of Congress. We met mostly with staff from the Members’ offices, but a few Members joined, too.
I’ll admit, I was nervous. My formal experience lobbying has always been on the other side of the engagement since I worked as a press secretary and then communications director in Congress for many years. So, to be a part of the group coming to visit and make asks felt foreign and a little overwhelming. But as the meetings got underway, my nerves subsided and I was able to take in the genuine exchange of information and ideas with each meeting.
My team held three lobby visits with Sens. Chris Van Hollen and Ben Cardin and with Rep. Glenn Ivey. We met with staffers that covered their workforce, economic, and labor portfolios. The meetings were great. We introduced ourselves, shared personal stories about the need for paid leave, explained what equitable policy looks like, and asked each office to commit to supporting the policy vehicles we have moving through Congress, and even to partner with us on future events.
The reception we got from each office was warm and inviting. We were met with genuine questions about Family Values @ Work, the work we do, our Network, and our impact. Staffers shared stories, too. One of Sen. Van Hollen’s staffers shared his story about having paid leave for the birth of, and later bonding with, his son, Noah. And the member from Rep. Ivey’s staff relayed her experience of understanding the need for paid leave after watching her single mother have to manage so much alone.
At the end of the visits we took a group selfie (via a screenshot) and committed to staying in communication about paid leave and the progress it’s making in Maryland. The visits were successful.
I don’t think I ever saw myself as a lobbyist, but communications, in its purest form, is lobbying; it is persuasion. And as the person responsible for ensuring that FV@W’s messaging is consistent, impactful, and powerful, what we’ve been doing through our messaging is lobbying those who hear us to join the movement with investments of time, talent, and/or treasure. So in that sense, I guess I’ve already been bitten by the lobbying bug.
I left my lobby visits with a refreshed sense of purpose. It’s hard not to be inspired to want to act after spending 30 minutes leading a virtual pep rally on your issues! I also left my lobby visits with a renewed respect for the folks whose career is lobbying. I only attended three meetings (and was phenomenally prepped by my colleagues Sammy Chavin and Jaida Jenkins-Curtis), but the level of research and prep that goes into each meeting, making sure it’s a productive exchange…whew!
I’m grateful for the opportunity to be a part of FV@W’s virtual lobby week. It’s yet another way that FV@W is continuing to grow and develop me as a leader, an activist, and a communicator.
