Drivers for Change – Advocate
Equity Framework > Drivers for Change > Advocate
no single way to use advocacy or organizing to address inequities. In fact, there are many different strategies. Action can focus on:
- policy and structures,
- community development,
- representation with and for groups, and
- other activities that influence decision-making in support of change.
Advocating can also include:
- framing issues to influence decision-making,
- gathering and disseminating data,
- working in collaboration and developing alliances, and
- engaging processes in legal and regulatory systems.
Organizing can include bringing groups of people together to draw attention to inequities, and confronting or collaborating with decision-makers to support social change.
Adapted from:
- Racial Equity Tools – Advocacy. Retrieved fromhttps://www.racialequitytools.org/resources/act/strategies/advocacy
- Social Action – Community Toolbox. Retrieved from https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/assessment/promotion-strategies/systems-advocacy-and-community-organizing/main
- National Collaborating Centre for Determinants of Health (2015). Let’s Talk: Advocacy and Health Equity. Antigonish, NS: National Collaborating Centre for Determinants of Health, St. Francis Xavier University. Retrieved from http://nccdh.ca/images/uploads/comments/Advocacy_EN.pdf
Further Reading / Additional Resources:
The Community Toolbox provides information on methods and skills for conducting different forms of investigative research, as well as how to use such research to advocate for specific policy changes
Community Toolbox: Chapter 31 – Section 10. Conducting Research to Influence Policy.
“Public health advocacy: process and product”, American Journal of Public Health 90, no. 5 (May 1, 2000): pp. 722-726.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1446217/pdf/10800420.pdf
Community Toolbox: Chapter 30 – Section 1 – Overview: Getting an Advocacy Campaign Off the Ground
https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/advocacy/advocacy-principles/overview/main
Sample Tools:
City for All Women Initiative. (2021). The Advocacy Toolkit. This Toolkit is specifically focussed on making a case for an Intersectional Feminist Recovery Plan. It includes templates and key messages that organizations can use to advocate to their audiences.
https://www.cawi-ivtf.org/publication/the-advocacy-toolkit/
Community Toolbox: Advocating for Change – This toolkit supports planning for advocacy efforts and responding to opposition.
https://ctb.ku.edu/en/advocating-change
Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital has launched an Advocacy Tool Kit for parents of children and youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs). The toolkit aims to provide parents with basic knowledge of advocacy and negotiation skills along with useful and practical tools.