[UDSM Mailing List] Lobby Day Opportunity for UDSM Students

[Priya Christensen via Udsmlist]

Hi everyone!

My name is Priya Christensen and I'm the Co-Education chair of the
undergraduate UDSM club. I wanted to let everyone know about any
opportunity to take some of the work you all are doing in healthcare and
bring it to Olympia to advocate for bills that will further health equity
and protect the rights of those we serve. Every year the UW Health Equity
Circle brings a group of undergraduate and graduate students from across
health sciences schools to Olympia to meet with legislators to lobby for
different bills related to health equity. We collaborate with the WSU
School of Medicine and other health professionals from eastern Washington.
If you're looking to make an impact at the state level or are an
undergraduate looking to network with medical students this may be the
opportunity for you! Signs up are due this week. More information is below!

Thanks so much,
Priya

What is Lobby Day?

Every year on President's Day, Health Equity Circle brings ~100 students
from the schools of public health, nursing, medicine, law, social work, and
more to Olympia to voice support for or against the passage of specific
bills that are critical to health equity
<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.rwjf.org/en/library/features/achieving-health-equity.html__;!!K-Hz7m0Vt54!g-69f_Zh6XUx0zAUU2go8rrAjGxiZKvXGAWHp4iwv7CbhmzqfwkUMx_O_Adxw1AHwb4kwPQfmuQj$>
in
WA. This is a wider collaboration with other health professional schools
within WWAMI. Health Equity Circle is currently researching bills that will
be presented in the house or senate during this legislative session to
determine which positions we should take. We are looking for volunteers
that will meet with individual policymakers in small groups to tell their
stories and influence votes. Not only is Lobby Day a chance to advance
policy around social justice issues, but it's also an excellent opportunity
to gain lobbying skills, become familiar with the legislative process in
WA, and meet students from across the state.

When is Lobby Day?

Monday, February 17th, we will be meeting with legislators to in Olympia
advocate for bills that advance health equity this year. Transportation
will be provided.

*What is the time commitment?*

Volunteers will be required to attend a 1.5 hour training session in early
February to learn about our legislative positions, how to speak to
representatives, and learn the itinerary of the whole day. Lobby Day is a
full day commitment. We will meet in Olympia at 8 am (if carpooling, we
will meet at 6:30 am at UW) and we will be done around 4 pm.

If you have any questions please contact *prichris at uw.edu
<prichris at uw.edu> *

You do not need to be affiliated with Health Equity Circle to attend. Anyone
- undergraduate or graduate - who is interested in advocating for policy
that affects health outcomes is welcome to join. Please spread the word to
your classmates & colleagues!

To sign up please fill out *this* Google Form:
https://forms.gle/D8eAnFYjSesNwX1a7


-- 
*Priya Christensen* *(**she/her/hers)*
Public Health-Global Health and Biochemistry Honors Class of 2025
Undergraduate Researcher @ King Lab | Institute for Protein Design
University District Street Medicine Co-Education Chair 2024-2025
University of Washington
prichris at uw.edu
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman12.u.washington.edu/pipermail/udsmlist/attachments/20250113/dd4bf987/attachment.html>