Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/how-to-take-a-meeting-with-policymakers/5021444/
As a former Senior Policy Advisor for Early Childhood Development and Education at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and a current Legislative Aide for Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado, we have taken a lot of meetings with early childhood stakeholders. In many cases, we left these meetings feeling energized and empowered, either having learned something that informed our work, brainstormed an innovative idea, or came up with a solution to a problem.In other cases, we left not understanding why the meeting needed to take place, the stakeholder’s perspective, or how to be helpful going forward.
Those who represent you in Washington, DC place a high value on the opinions and experiences of stakeholders. They want to know how current and proposed legislation and regulations affect the work that you do and are always seeking recommendations from constituents regarding how things can improve. Typically, if you are meeting with a policymaker in Washington, it is because:
• you are looking to spread the word about your work.
• a policy is negatively impacting your ability to be successful.
• you have an idea for a policy change, or an opinion on a current policy proposal. ...