Texas Well and Healthy

Mimi GarciaOrganizing Director

Cheasty AndersonEducation and Outreach Coordinator

Who are we?Organizing Lead

Public Education, Policy Lead

Communications Lead

Story collection & “grasstops” organizing

What are we doing?

Organizing: The Big Idea

• GOALS: Engage Texans in the fight for better policies for health access in Texas

• TASKS: Identify and Create opportunities to mobilize our base of supporters. Work with other networks to build our base of support.

• TOOLS: Voter Activation Network (VAN), Online Actions/Petitions, Text alert, Advocacy pamphlet, Organizational supporter network

• STRATEGIES: Building support through educational workshops, working with allied organizations, becoming a communications resource.

Challenges and Solutions

• Challenge: Scope and capacity for a HUGE state

• Solution: Managing complex coalitions across the state, within cities and regions

• Challenge: Managing complex coalitions*• Solution: Maintaining data and records on constituent

organizations and their interest/politics *Sometimes solutions can be their own challenges

• Challenge: Too much work, too few staff• Solution: prioritize. Know where to give things up, where

to push. • Experimenting with volunteers, interns, & trainers

Education: The Big Idea

• GOALS: Educate Texans about the ACA, and open discourse about health reform in general

• TASKS: Connect with disparate groups across the state (politically active or not), keep curriculum flexible and adaptable

• TOOLS: Education and organizing pamphlet, blog, Train the Trainer

• STRATEGIES: Travel. All. The. Time.

Advocacy/Education Tool

Blog: “Ask Cheasty”

Challenges and Solutions

• Challenge: varied literacy levels, low health literacy• Solution: Develop materials that are especially flexible, a program

that can be simplified or complicated, and bilingual materials

• Challenge: HUGE state, one person• Solution: Train the Trainers, Skype, health action calls, video “one-

pagers,” webinars, etc.

• Challenge: Staying strategic vs. responding to demand

• Solution: Targeted outreach based on organizer’s power analysis. Getting easier now that we have greater name recognition.

Case Study: SCOTUS reaction

• Rapid response plan• Communications• Public Mobilization• Public Education

• Challenges: • Rally without a date, lots of work means need

for clear roles, uncertainty

• Solutions:• Utilizing groups with mobilizable base, new

technology of text messaging, clearly prepared plan and roles, multiple contingency plans

Outcomes• Building our List• Creating New Coalitions/Alliances• Social Media and Technology• Multiple Avenues of Engagement• Media attention: State, regional, and now

national• Medical Loss Ratio• Rate Review• Train the Trainer

New Challenges• How to build avenues of messaging on health

care reform for new (not necessarily enthusiastic) audiences

• Now even Republicans are getting interested, post-SCOTUS

• Large number of Freshman Tea Partiers in TX Lege.

• 2013 Legislative session – Gov wants even more budget cuts, lots of educating to do for members re: Medicaid/Medicare, health care in Texas

• Galvanizing constituent activism in key district for Lege w/limited lead time between elections and state of session.

Thank you!Mimi Garcia

mimi@engagetexas.org

Cheasty Andersonanderson@cppp.org

www.texaswellandhealthy.orgOn Twitter: @TXWellHealthy

On Facebook: www.facebook.com/KidsWellTexas