A Message from Dave Albrecht, Director and Governance Committee Chair

A Message from Dave Albrecht,
Board Director and Governance Committee Chair

Hello everyone, my name is Dave Albrecht.  I joined the CLN Board of Directors this last year and am very excited to be a part of such an engaged and vibrant organization. Over the course of the past few months, we had a few changes and as a result did some internal restructuring with Board Members’ roles and responsibilities. The role of Chair for the Governance Committee landed in my lap.  I know many of you are wanting to send your condolences, I mean after all who wants the boring task of dealing with policy.  Fortunately for me, I am a bit of a closeted policy nerd, and I have a secret passion for capturing the governance and culture of an organization in words. The most recent task of the Governance Committee is to develop some policy around advocacy, and I feel this is a task that the Board as a whole has embraced with great enthusiasm…so exciting! In reflection on this, I thought I would take this opportunity to share my thoughts on advocacy.

Advocacy: is it a nice thing to do or is it a must do? And who has time for it?

To answer this question, we first need to look at how we define advocacy. Most view advocacy as the mysterious art of lobbying government for change in policy or additional funding. But advocacy can be much more than this. Oxfordlearnersdictionary.com defines advocacy as: “the giving of public support to an idea, a course of action, or a belief”. With this definition in mind, advocacy covers a much bigger scope than just lobbying government. Creating an article for a local newsletter celebrating or raising awareness of adult learning is advocating. Talking to your neighbour about the importance of your job is advocating. Helping a learner navigate the complex government system to access services is advocating.  Working with other community organizations to develop and improve on services…advocating!  Even my writing this article is advocating…for advocacy! 😉And yes, talking to your local MLA about funding levels is advocating!

So now, I guess everyone is wondering how can we be more effective with that last point. This leads to another question:  who is responsible for advocacy?  I know you are all dying to hear my thoughts and they are:  IT IS EVERYONE!  From a baby crying to be fed or have a diaper changed, to leaders of countries engaged in a trade war.  Now if we narrow this down to our own CALP system, the answer is still EVERYONE that we touch. We can impart skills to our learners so they may speak up for themselves.  Staff and instructors can build up awareness about programs and needs through conversations in the community. Management staff build funding proposals that speak to the needs within their communities.  Board of Directors can represent the organization through all their connections in the community.  And of course, lobbying government is still on that list, BUT if the first part of this is done well, lobbying government will be much easier. Your organization will already be known, and the support will be there!  Many voices are much stronger, louder and better heard than just a single voice! 

Here are a couple of scenarios of how subtle advocacy can have an impact OR NOT. A CALP that I work closely with recently became aware that their local municipal council was working with a private vendor to build a job skills training program with an English Language Learning component. Council never thought to approach the local CALP to see if there was a role for them in the project, because local Council was not even aware of what the local CALP’s mandate was. In another example, I am aware of a CALP that provides service in a couple of  different municipalities. They have always struggled to get municipal representation from all three municipalities on their Board of Directors.  Over the past few years, a lot of work was done on raising their profile, becoming more relevant to the current needs in their community, and speaking up (not in a challenging way, but in a gentle, "this is who we are" way).  Last year, one of their local Councils approached them and asked if there was room on their Board for a council representative. All of that subtle work that was done within the community raised awareness and yielded a result that was not anticipated, but was pleasantly surprising to receive.  And as that awareness grows, I am sure the support from local, provincial and even federal government can also grow.

Advocacy can be marching in the streets and screaming at the top of our lungs, but it can also be taking small strategic steps within our communities to create awareness and change.  And don’t get me wrong, in any movement there is always a role for both approaches. Marching and screaming will get the attention of the masses, but at some point, a calmer more calculated approach is required in order to achieve a sustainable change in policy or level of awareness and understanding.

Advocacy can be a very organic thing and a part of our everyday job.  It is building the strength of our organizations, our learners and our purpose. It is creating an awareness and understanding, building bridges and tearing down walls all through spoken word, print and social media. 

Advocacy is the cornerstone of our society, and it is the cornerstone for change and advancement.  Whether we recognize it or not, WE all have done it, are doing it, and will do it!  It is who we are, and it is what has made our system so vibrant and ALIVE!