In this first episode of the Advocacy Series podcast, IFOPA Family Services staff Hope Newport and Karen Kirchhoff discuss what advocacy means, the different types of advocacy and 10 skills to becoming an effective advocate.
Supplemental Resources To Support This Podcast:
- See a summary of the 10 skills to becoming an effective advocate and answer questions to start improving your skills by downloading the Advocacy: You Can Make a Difference worksheet (pictured right). This PDF can be printed and filled in by hand or completed on your computer using Adobe, a free software you can download by visiting Adobe Acrobat Reader.
- Find practices for improving your self esteem and building a strong foundation for your future as an advocate.
- Craft your elevator speech using this template and be prepared when you reach out to others for support.
On February 22 at 4:30 pm EST/21:30 GMT, Karen and Hope will be joined by three members of the FOP community who will be sharing their perspective and lessons of advocating for their needs in a community panel hosted on Zoom. You can listen to Miriam (from the United States), Luciana (from the United Kingdom) and Oliver (from Australia) share their stories, ask questions and share your own experience.
Since this community panel is hosted on Zoom video conferencing, simultaneous translation will be provided in the following languages: Arabic, Bengali, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Dutch, English, French, Germany, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Tamil and Vietnamese.
For more information about the program or to share your experience as an advocate, please contact Hope Newport, IFOPA Family Services Manager, at [email protected] orMelissa Davis, Family Services Coordinator, at [email protected].