Advocating for the rights of others is not an easy job. It is difficult to bring awareness of your cause to the general public. There are 100’s of ways to get your message out and your audience could be scattered across the country. This is the challenge.

In this episode, I talk about with Jay and Shira Ruderman from the Ruderman Foundation. They are the President and Director of the foundation and advocate for the inclusion of people with disabilities throughout our society. They have run advocacy campaigns that have been picked up on national TV and received millions of views on social media.

Their Advice on Successful Advocacy

You have to be prepared to produce content. The importance of this can’t be overemphasized. Take control of your message, don’t be afraid to take a position and then disseminated it on as many media platforms (social media, tradition media, flyers, advertisements) as possible. It is also be important to produce your content with a variety of mediums (photo’s, video, essays, audio).

• Be prepared to do a lot of work. Jay stresses there is no shortcut. Advocacy is work.
• Build relationships with the media. Continually pitch stories.
• Build alliances with other organizations and individuals.
• Use social media: take a position.
• Say it strongly. Have a message. Don’t waiver.

And in any campaign it is important to be

• Authentic
• Relevent
• Timely

RESOURCE

Website: rudermanfoundation.org

Facebook: facebook.com/RudermanFamilyFoundation

Twitter: twitter.com/RudermanFdn