Women's Policy Institute 2006 - 2007

2006 - 2007 Women's Policy Institute Program Speakers, Mentors, Legislative Staff and Supporters

We would like to sincerely thank all of the speakers, mentors, legislative staff and supporters whose invaluable time and expertise contributed to the caliber of the Institute during this past year. Thank you!

WPI Director:
Marj Plumb, Plumbline Coaching and Consulting, Inc.

Speakers:
Elizabeth Abbott, Health Access California
Leticia Alejandrez, California Family Resource Association
Lupe Alonzo Diaz, Latino Coalition for a Healthy California
Martha Dina Arguello, Physicians for Social Responsibility- Los Angeles
Ann Marie Benitez, Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California
Donne Brownsey, Sacramento Advocates, Inc.
Miguel Bustos, Office of Mayor Gavin Newsom
Jose Carmona, Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technology
Rocio Córdoba, California Latinas for Reproductive Justice
Michael Endicott, Assembly Committee on Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials
Rosemary Fei, Silk, Adler & Colvin
Diane Fishburn, Olson, Hagel & Fishburn LLP
Elia Gallardo, California Primary Care Association
Bill Gausewitz, Office of Administrative Law
Liz Guillen, Public Advocates
Wendy Rae Hill, National Association of Social Workers
Tammy Johnson, Applied Research Center
Christine Kehoe, California State Senator (D-San Diego)
Susan Kennedy, Office of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
Charles H. Klein, National Sexuality Resource Center
Sheila Kuehl, California State Senator (D-Los Angeles)
Carol Liu, former California State Assemblymember
Charlotte Maxwell Newhart, Charlotte Maxwell Newhart & Associates
Beth McGovern, California Commission on the Status of Women
Casey McKeever, Assembly Human Services Committee
Rita M. Melendez, Center for Research on Gender and Sexuality
Rachel Michelin, California Elected Women's Association
Erin Peth, Olson, Hagel & Fishburn LLP
Lucy Quacinella, Multiforum Advocacy Solutions
Jennifer Rakowski, San Francisco Rent Stabilization and Arbitration Board
Clarissa Rojas, San Francisco State University
Jean Ross, California Budget Project
Daphne Scott, United Way of Sonoma, Mendocino, Lake
Gretchen Schoenstein, Emerge
Elaine Sierra, Nevada County Citizens for Choice
Valerie Small Navarro, American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California
Julie Spezia, Housing California
Terri A Thorfinnson, Office of Women's Health
Caitlin Vega, California Labor Federation
Emily Waterbury, Earned Assets Resource Network
Tracy A Weitz, Bixby Center for Reproductive Health Research & Policy
Mary M. Wiberg, California Commission on the Status of Women
Jane Williams, California Communities Against Toxics
Anthony Wright, Health Access California

Mentors:
Michael Herald, Western Center on Law and Poverty
Vivian Huang, Asian Americans for Civil Rights and Equality
Angela Johnson Meszaros, California Environmental Rights Alliance
Katie McCall, Planned Parenthood Shasta-Diablo

Legislative Staff:
Elmy Bermejo, Office of State Senate President pro tem Don Perata
Graciela Castillo, Office of Assemblymember Lloyd Levine
Diane Cummins, Office of State Senate President pro tem Don Perata
Tam Ma, Office of Senator Sheila Kuehl
Vince Marchand, Office of Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas
Chris Reefe, Office of Assemblymember John Laird
Erin Ryan, Senate Committee on Banking, Finance and Insurance 
Arianna Smith, Office of Assemblymember Sally Lieber
Nicole Vazquez, Assembly Committee on Budget
Rachel Weinstein, Office of State Senate President pro tem Don Perata

Retreat Four: May 2 - 4, 2007

The fourth 2006-2007 Women's Policy Institute retreat was held in Sacramento May 2nd-4th. Fellows had two main goals for the final retreat: prepare to complete their policy projects and begin to consider how they will apply their advocacy experiences in contexts beyond the Institute.

DAY 1
The morning session was devoted to in-depth learning about procedures, nuances and strategies for moving a bill from the tough Appropriations committee to floor votes and on to the Governor's desk. Teams used the afternoon to go to the Capitol for meetings they had set up related to moving their policy projects forward. That evening over a working dinner, fellows talked about California politics, policy and social change. This lively discussion also unearthed some of the dilemmas and contradictions inherent in doing policy work from a community-based perspective. As issue-experts and leaders of non-profit organizations, Fellows must grapple with some weighty questions: How do you effectively integrate or choose between strategies of community organizing and policy advocacy? What are the implications of "playing the game" in order to make policy change-how do you avoid 'selling out' your community or your own values?

DAY 2
The next morning, the fellows were treated to several fabulous speakers-Liz Guillen from Public Advocates, Tammy Johnson from Applied Research Center, and Julie Spezia of Housing California. Liz, Tammy and Julie all spoke about the "long view." How do you strategize long-term, keep your sanity, and keep in mind the fundamental changes you'd like to see in the world? Then representatives from Emerge, CEWAER, Don Perata's district office and Mayor Gavin Newsom's office talked about other ways for fellows to consider engaging in policy-getting elected, working locally with legislators and serving on boards and commissions. Again, the afternoon was used for a final round of meetings about policy projects. Fellows continue to work on their projects well into the summer as various bills begin to wind their way through the tumultuous legislative process but they will return to Sacramento as graduates of the Women's Policy Institute. That evening, the Foundation hosted a graduation dinner. Staffers and advocates who have worked with these teams attended and celebrated in the achievements for this years' class of fellows.

DAY 3
The retreat closed with fellows discussing the many ways in which they plan to integrate their learning in their organizations and communities. On a personal note, fellows spoke emotionally about how life-changing this experience had been for them.

Although the formal training came to a conclusion and teams wrapped up their policy projects, engagement with the Institute will continue as the 28 new alums will stay involved with each other as friends and collaborators-adding to an already vibrant and effective alumni network of over 80 women leaders trained in policy advocacy work. Each class of fellows also plays an instrumental role at year's end in helping refine the curriculum to best reflect the realities of accomplishing policy change at the statewide level.

Retreat Three: February 7 - 9, 2007
The opening of every January legislative session brings an atmosphere of intensity to the Capitol building, and 2007 was no different. Lawmakers returned to Sacramento after a two-month hiatus and immediately turned their attention to the state's challenging budget situation and setting their legislative agendas. Into this dynamic, Women's Policy Institute fellows arrived in Sacramento on February 7th for their third retreat, ready to forge ahead and take their policy projects to the next level.

Since the last retreat in December, teams have been working to complete their "homework" assignment -- drafting testimony to deliver in mock legislative committee hearings. The etiquette and protocols involved in testifying before a committee of lawmakers may seem mystifying and even intimidating. Yet providing compelling and informative testimony is a critical step in the legislative process. Teaching fellows how to do this persuasively is one of the most important things fellows learn in the Institute. Given how valuable and true-to-life the mock legislative hearing exercise is, previous classes of fellows have reported that it was a highlight of their Women's Policy Institute experience.

For the mock hearing, several Institute mentors played the roles of lawmakers on a committee. Members from each team gave testimony on their policy projects in the allotted time, following the exact parliamentary procedures, and then took tough questions from lawmakers before a vote was taken to decide whether the measure would move on in the legislative process. Afterwards, each team got feedback on their performance and advice on how to strengthen the case for their measure with lawmakers. In the months to come, we will follow fellows as they give their actual testimony on behalf of their policy projects before lawmakers.




Here is an update on what the six policy teams are working on:

Reproductive Health and Justice Team 1: A bill to repeal the Family Cap in CalWORKs, which currently prohibits additional benefits to a child born while the mother was already enrolled in CalWORKs. (AB 22, Lieber)
Reproductive Justice Team 2: A bill to address teen dating violence in the public schools. The bill would require some modest training for school professionals and would provide protections and resource referrals to victims. (AB 589, Levine) 
Health Team: A bill to provide incentives and grants for small businesses to offer affordable healthy foods in communities that currently have little access to these foods. (SB 107, Alquist)   
Economic Justice Team 1: A resolution to expand and improve programs that train low-income women (especially women on CalWORKs) in skilled and higher-paying jobs.
Economic Justice Team 2: A bill to address predatory payday lending (still in development with the author’s office and other advocates).
Environmental Justice Team: A bill to expand childhood lead risk assessment.

* Stay tuned for the next installment of Inez Gonzalez's diary on her experience as an Institute fellow.

Retreat Two: December 6 - 8, 2006

Read about the WPI experience in a personal account from current Fellow, Inez Gonzalez.

Since the first retreat in October, teams had met via conference calls to continue to formulate their policy project ideas and research lawmakers with whom they might be able to partner. The focus of the second retreat was on learning about and conducting their first round of legislative visits. These meetings were an important step in building necessary partnerships with lawmakers, allies and policymakers. 

Before Fellows convened for the second retreat, teams had been tasked with scheduling legislative visits with staffers in order to do some preliminary exploration about their project ideas. The first day of the retreat was spent learning about how to do these visits with optimal effectiveness - from detailed preparation to diligent follow-up steps. Teams spent time role playing and strategizing. The role playing also provided a space for teams to figure out specific outcomes from these meetings and how best to acheive those outcomes. In some cases, teams were looking for sponsorship of a proposed bill from a particular lawmaker, or in other cases, they were gathering quantitative data.

Many legislative staffers at the Capitol are quite familiar with WPI now and made themselves available to talk at length with teams of Fellows. In the end, all of the teams had good experiences in their first round of meetings.

Retreat One: October 17 - 20, 2006

Day One: Women's Policy Institute 101
The 2006 -2007 class of Women's Policy Institute Fellows -- outstanding women leaders working for community-based organizations from all over the state -- gathered in Sacramento for the first of four Institute retreats. With palpable excitement, they spent the first day getting to know one another and digging deeper into the learning opportunities possible in the WPI program.

After a morning of introductions and sharing of stories, Fellows heard more about the types of policy projects they could pursue in the Institute. Five WPI alums presented case studies, discussing their challenges, successes, lessons learned and recommendations to the new class of Fellows.

That evening, Assemblywoman Carol Liu joined the Fellows for a "Women in Policy"-themed Kick Off Dinner. Assemblywoman Liu -- a great champion of the WPI program -- spoke about the unique perspectives that women bring to policy work and why it is so absolutely vital for women to be involved in policy development. She also offered some thoughts on policy priorities and opportunities she saw for the coming year.

Day Two: The Issues
Perhaps the most important objective of the first retreat is for Fellows to form a team with others in their interest area and begin formulating a policy project. To facilitate this, WPI's Mentors coordinated four panels on the current policy landscape for women's health, reproductive rights, environmental health/justice and economic development/justice.

WPI Mentors -- including Vivian Huang, Asian Americans for Civil Rights and Equality; Katie McCall, Planned Parenthood Shasta-Diablo; Angela Johnson Meszaros, California Environmental Rights Alliance and Michael Herald, Western Center on Law and Poverty -- invited legislative staff, professional lobbyists and seasoned advocates to provide a full day of issue-focused presentations on policy-related opportunities and priorities in California for the coming year.

At the end of the day, Fellows used this new knowledge to help formulate teams of common interest and begin the process of defining the policy issue they would research and ultimately pursue as legislative projects.

Day Three: Research
A critical first step in choosing a policy project is research. Fellows must do research to establish a strong base of knowledge on their issue, outline its policy history and determine the viability of a policy project. On Day three, guest presenters Rita Melendez and Charles Klein of San Francisco State University worked with the Fellows to strengthen their skills in various research methods, from online searches to interviews with legislative staffers.

Day Four: Team Work
Fellows spent the last day of the retreat developing their teamwork skills and creating a work plan for initial research and a decision-making process, with the goal of choosing and launching their policy projects by the second retreat in December.

Announcing the 2006 - 2007 WPI Fellows

We are pleased to announce twenty-seven outstanding women working in health, environmental health, reproductive rights and economic development and justice from all over California have been chosen to participate in the 2006–2007 Women's Policy Institute.

Esther Bush, Coalition for Community Health
Susan Cruz, Girls and Gangs
Alcira Dominguez, Beach Cities Health District
Karen Farley, California WIC Association
Lisa Chuan Fu, National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum
Emily Galpern, Center for Genetics & Society
Dana Ginn-Paredes, Asian Communities for Reproductive Justice
Inez Gonzalez, National Hispanic Media Coalition
Isela Gracian, East LA Community Corporation
Elina Green, Long Beach Alliance for Children with Asthma
Vanessa Huang, Justice Now
Laura Hurst, Family Violence Law Center
Candice Sung Kim, Coalition for Clean Air
Annie Marie King-Meredith, North Richmond Empowerment Collaborative
Manjusha Kulkarni, National Health Law Program
Anya Lakner, Legal Aid Society-Employment Law Center
Bethany Leal, California Women's Law Center
Maria Lemus, Vision Y Compromiso
Heidi Li, Housing and Economic Rights Advocates
Margaret Libby, Mission Area Federal Credit Union
Stella Ng, Chinese for Affirmative Action
Sharmeen Malik Premjee, Healthy Homes Collaborative
Lai-San Seto, Gay-Straight Alliance Network
Njoke Thomas, Bay Area Regional Health Inequities Initiative
Jennifer Whyte, Marjaree Mason Center
Beth Youhn, Tradeswomen, Inc.
Shirlee Zane, Council on Aging

The first of four WPI retreats will convene in Ocotber 17th in Sacramento.