101. Speak Up & Reach Out: Empowering Moms to Make Their Voices Heard on Issues That Are Important to Them

<p>Are there things going on in the world that you wish you had more confidence to speak up about? Not just speaking up and sharing your opinions on social media, but taking your voice to the next level and contacting government departments or offices of elected officials—people and programs with power to make real, lasting, important change in your community. There are ways! And I’d love to help you find your confidence and courage to speak up, reach out, and create positive change in your community!</p> <p>Welcome to “Lobbying with Lori” – Just kidding. Well, kind of.</p> <p>I’ve been receiving a LOT of messages and questions from moms about how to write representatives—“What can we do?” shows up in my DMs a lot! Everything from moms saying they want more playgrounds and safe play spaces for their kids to moms not liking the direction the Department of Education is going or don’t agree with the Department of Health’s ideas at the moment. So what can we do?</p> <p>Empower ourselves.</p> <p><strong>Mindset:</strong></p> <p>· Self Worth—our opinions matter. We can take them off of social media and into bigger action</p> <p>· Elected officials—they are elected to represent us, not simply tell us what to do</p> <p>· Non-elected persons—they need reminded that there is no one size fits all solution and that it’s important to value community input</p> <p>· Kindness—we are people talking with other people</p> <p>· Confidence—spend time building your confidence with practice</p> <p>· Community—compose letters or draft ideas with others. Organization can help.</p> <p>· Patience—lasting change does not happen immediately</p> <p><strong>Understand Who is Involved:</strong></p> <p>· Local, state, or national government</p> <p>· Know what departments are also involved (i.e. Dept of Education, Health, Transportation, Agriculture, Parks &amp; Recreation, etc.)</p> <p>· Who within those offices</p> <p>· The “person who answers the phone”: what you need to know</p> <p><strong>When to Call/Write/Email/Meet:</strong></p> <p>· The