SEARAC is proud to announce our first-ever Digital Advocacy Training, a week-long series of virtual training sessions designed to provide legislative knowledge and skills to advocate for the Southeast Asian American (SEAA) community and its unique needs.
This year would have been SEARAC’s twentieth year of holding our annual Leadership and Advocacy Training (LAT), a three-day program that brings emerging SEAA advocates to Washington, DC, for intensive policy trainings to equip participants with the knowledge needed to effectively advocate on a federal level for their communities. However, due to the outbreak of COVID-19, SEARAC made the difficult decision to cancel in-person programming.
In recognition of the continued need for the kind of advocacy skills and knowledge taught at LAT during this time, SEARAC has created our inaugural Digital Advocacy Training. This week-long series of virtual trainings from September 21 to September 25, 2020, is aimed at emerging SEAA advocates interested in gaining a deeper understanding of advocacy that is centered on the needs and experiences of our communities. Unlike in previous SEARAC trainings, participants are welcome to register for as many (or as few) training sessions as they wish.
Registration is now open at bit.ly/SEARACTrainingReg. Note that if registering for multiple training sessions, it is recommended that you save your responses for easy access and duplication across registration forms.
Please direct any inquiries to SEARAC’s Field Associate Gina Le (gina@searac.org).
For a detailed look at our Digital Advocacy training agenda, check out the session descriptions below:
Monday, September 21: 45 Years of the SEAA Community
To kick off SEARAC’s Digital Advocacy Training Week, we’re starting with a session with a look back at our Southeast Asian American (SEAA) community’s history and beginnings, 45 years ago when we first arrived in the United States. Participants will gain a deeper understanding of our community’s diverse and unique experiences, past and current struggles, and victories since our arrival in 1975. Participants will also get to hear from a panel of SEAA advocates, organizers, and other stakeholders on their work in the SEAA community and their hopes for the community ahead of key opportunities remaining in 2020.
Tuesday, September 22: Civics & Civic Engagement in 2020
Join SEARAC for an in-depth session on civics, how federal government functions, and where advocates can work to effect change. Participants will also learn about key civic engagement opportunities that our communities can take advantage of this year to build our collective power. This session will also provide opportunities for participants to engage in their own get out the count (GOTC) work for the 2020 Census, as well as nonpartisan get out the vote (GOTV) work for the upcoming elections.
Wednesday, September 23: Health Policy 101
Our Health Policy and Advocacy 101 session will provide participants with a basic knowledge of the federal health policy landscape as it affects Southeast Asian Americans and teach effective tools for communicating connections to health policy. We will work together as a group to create a primer on federal health policy and share SEARAC’s health policy priorities for the year ahead. Learn to tie your story and your communities’ experiences to federal policy and develop legislative asks around those policies.
Thursday, September 24: Education Policy 101
Our second policy-centered training session of the week will take a deep dive into the federal education policy landscape. Participants will learn about SEARAC’s education policy priorities, as well as how to effectively craft a message to advocate for education policies that uplift our communities’ right to access education and be seen in data. Join students, educators, administrators and community advocates to discuss the key issues impacting SEAA students and the unprecedented challenges we’re facing in education.
Friday, September 25: Immigration Policy 101
SEARAC’s Digital Advocacy Training Week will wrap up with a critical look at federal immigration policy and the ways that criminalization, deportation, and xenophobia have impacted the Southeast Asian American communities. We will share stories, identify key policy priorities, and fight for our communities’ right to remain united in our homes. Participants will learn to effectively communicate their connections to and stances on policies, and we’ll work together to craft a primer on federal immigration policy as it impacts SEAAs.