Schedule Face-to-Face Meetings with Your Members of Congress During an Upcoming Recess

We will ask your members of Congress to do many things in 2010. Now is the time to lay the groundwork with them and to deepen your relationship with them. Schedule face-to-face meetings now for recesses in January, February, and March. Don’t wait until key actions are upon us to schedule meetings. Do it now and prepare decision maker to support education legislation (to be released soon), submit appropriations requests, and feel moved to lead the way in ending poverty. Check out the January Action Sheet and January laser talk dialogue for tips on how to request and secure a meeting.

It’s Time for Group Planning and Goal Setting

It is rare that we bring about major achievements without first having a goal. Find a time to meet with your group to celebrate your accomplishments of 2009. Then spend some time determining what will really excite each person in the group, and the group as a whole in 2010. Also take some time to designate roles in the group. Groups function much better when members have roles and responsibilities. The 2010 Group Planning Materials will guide you through the planning and goal setting process. Also, as part of your planning, consider applying for our REF Global Health Mini Grant Program. The Mini Grant Program will support groups to plan and carry out enhanced global health programming in your communities.

Upcoming Media Opportunities

By the end of the week a new editorial packet will be available highlighting the need to fully fund bilateral TB and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria at the levels outlined in the Lantos-Hyde legislation passed in 2008. There have been a number of news stories recently about the threat of drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis, including a new strain, XXDR-TB. Emergence of these threats is exactly why Lantos-Hyde called for increased investment in addressing these diseases. Let’s reach out to editorial writers ASAP with this critical information. Check the Newsroom on Thursday or Friday for this editorial packet.

Following this media push on drug-resistant TB, we will launch into an education media push to support passage of Education for All legislation that will be introduce early in 2010.

We will have a media training call next week on Thursday, January 21, at 9 pm ET titled “A Step by Step Approach to Engaging Your Editorial Writer.” This call will be great for all media point people and other activist working to develop that all important editorial relationship. Call in number is (712) 432-3100, passcode: 887871.

Exciting January Conference Call

Find the recording for our January 2010 Global Conference Call here. There is exciting information on our 2010 campaigns and news on education legislation from our guest speaker, Representative Nita Lowey of NY.

January: Group Planning

January 20, 2010: Release of Brookings Institution Global Monitoring Report on Education for All

January 21, 2010: 2 pm ET. Media Training Call: A Step by Step Approach to Engaging Your Editorial Writer. Call in at (712) 432-3100, passcode: 887871

February 11, 2010: 9 pm ET. Training Call: Engaging Your Community to Create the Political Will for a Global Fund for Education. Call in at (712) 432-3100, 887871

February 13, 2010: Global Conference Call. 2:00 pm ET. Call in at (888) 409-6709.

For details, visit our events calendar.