Global Weekly Update February 4, 2013

Top Items: Board Voting and National Conference Call

Voting for Grassroots Board Member — Voting Closes Thursday!

We have 4 candidates for the open Grassroots Board seat. Please vote for one of the candidates by February 7. Candidates are Rob Marshall of Atlanta, Mary Albertson of Detroit, Beth Wilson of Gig Harbor in Washington State, and Frank Gilbert of Louisville. Please consider their statements and bios and vote.

Representative Nita Lowey Will Be Our Conference Call Guest This Saturday

We will be pleased to welcome Rep. Nita Lowey (NY) to our national conference call for global grassroots advocates! Mark your calendars for Saturday, February 9, and dial (888) 409-6709 to join the 2 pm ET call. We’ve asked the congresswoman to share her view of how she expects the 2013 appropriations process to play out, describing what we could/should anticipate in our advocacy work for FY14 and recommending how we can best engage with our members of Congress in light of those expectations. It will, once again, be a great time to learn, share, and get excited about what we will accomplish in 2013.

World TB Day Outreach: What Are You Thinking of Doing?

World TB Day (WTBD) happens on March 24 every year, and it’s one of the year’s first, best opportunities for us to raise awareness about our issues and reach out to our communities. Moreover, it’s a first chance to start talking about the critical funding replenishment conference happening this October for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Have you tried WTBD outreach before? It’s fun, achievable, and effective. Try it! Here are some ideas and options:

• World TB Day Mini-grants! Apply NOW for a World TB Day mini-grant to help you with costs associated with putting on an outreach event. There’s a tight turnaround for the application process, so take a look at the application today, make a plan this weekend, and turn in your application right away!
• Touring Media Experts. We are working with your Regional Coordinators to create a small handful of tours featuring international TB media experts. This set of tours won’t allow for experts to travel everywhere, but there will be other chances later in the year. Would your group be interested in hosting an expert and booking a meeting with them, you/your group, and your local editorial board? Contact Lisa Marchal to talk about it.
• Resources on Their Way. Soon we’ll have three resources/info items for you: a fresh editorial packet for WTBD, details on TB issue briefings on the Hill that you can let your members of Congress know about, and an update on the TB Caucus in the House, which you can ask your representative to join.

Appropriations Work Begins!

Foreign Operations Appropriations is the most important annual legislative opportunity to increase resources for improving the health and livelihood of the poorest around the world. This legislation provides funding for global health and nutrition programs, basic education, microfinance, and other development assistance. Even while Congress is still working to finish the fiscal year (FY) 2013 budget, attention is turning to the FY 2014 spending process. Each and every member of Congress can have an important voice in shaping this bill by writing to and speaking with committee leadership before they begin drafting the spending legislation.

Many of you are meeting face-to-face with your members of Congress as part of relationship-building. (Check out help from our recent webinar on building relationships with members of Congress if you’d like some fresh pointers!) Don’t hesitate to use the February action sheet as you prepare for your meeting and plan to make FY14 appropriations requests of your representative and senators. You’ll be asking your members of Congress to weigh in on appropriations, passing your requests on to the Chair (from majority party) and Ranking Member (from minority party) of the House/Senate Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittees. The action sheet will spell out how to accomplish this in detail.

Keep in mind that you don’t have to make a request for every issue we cover. If your member of Congress has a particular interest in one or two issue areas, feel free to emphasize those.

For a history of our appropriations requests over time, individual fact sheets for each of our five requests, and more information on the federal budget and appropriations processes, check out our Appropriations page online.

Grassroots News You Can Use

Partner with the Global Poverty Project

Read on our blog how your RESULTS group can be part of the Global Poverty Project’s 2013 Spring Tour, helping bring to your community awareness and action for the end of poverty! The tour kicked off this weekend. Want to go see their presentation in your town? Want to offer their audience an action they can take at the end of their presentation? Want to bring their presentation to another location in your town? Check out our blog for more information!

Fundraising

Please help out your fellow RESULTS partners holding March fundraisers by sharing their fundraisers with people you know in their areas! You can even link to their websites for a way to donate online.

• March 2: Arlington, VA, House Party with Zambian activist Luwiza Makukula
• March 3: Laurel, MD, House Party with Zambian activist Luwiza Makukula
• March 9: Chicago, IL, House Party with Musician Ella Gill
• March 10 (NEW DATE): Salt Lake City, UT, Evening with Muhammad Yunus

Self-absorption in all its forms kills empathy, let alone compassion. When we focus on ourselves, our world contracts as our problems and preoccupations loom large. But when we focus on others, our world expands. Our own problems drift to the periphery of the mind and so seem smaller, and we increase our capacity for connection — or compassionate action.

— Daniel Goleman, from Social Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relationships

1. February 9, 2 pm ET. RESULTS National Grassroots Conference Call for Global Poverty Campaigns featuring Representative Nita Lowey (NY). Dial (888) 409-6709 to join.

2. February 11, 8 pm ET. RESULTS Free Agents call for global poverty advocates. (218) 486-1611, passcode 7378587 (RESULTS). Are you a RESULTS activist with our global poverty campaigns, living in a town with no RESULTS group? You are alone no more! Contact Lisa Marchal for more information on this monthly group call.

3. February 11, 9 pm ET. Training Call on How to Organize a Powerful Meeting with Your Members of Congress. Dial (712) 432-3100, passcode 761262 to join. This training is perfect for help on how to request a face-to-face meeting with members of Congress when they are back home in your district and make the most of that meeting.

4. February 13, 8 pm ET. (Please note the corrected time). RESULTS Website Tour. Dial (712) 432-3100, passcode 761262 to join this informative call. Please note the corrected time.

5. February 13, 9 pm ET. RESULTS Introductory Call. Please RSVP for the call so we can welcome you. Dial-in number: (712) 432-3100, passcode 761262.

6. February 22, 1 pm ET. RESULTS Introductory Call. Please RSVP for the call so we can welcome you. Dial-in number: (712) 432-3100, passcode 761262.

7. July 20–23, 2013. RESULTS International Conference in Washington, DC. Dr. Muhammad Yunus and author/speaker Marianne Williamson are already set to join us. Mark your calendar now!