The Power of Storytelling: Key Takeaways from SPN

By The Policy Circle Team

The State Policy Network’s annual meeting is the “must attend” networking and knowledge sharing event for more than 1300 professionals from state and national policy-related organizations from around the country.    As a grassroots policy discussion network, The Policy Circle is a perfect complement to the work of these organizations who are on the cutting edge of developing and disseminating free-market-oriented public policy in each state; they research and prioritize policy reforms in the states, and The Policy Circle gets women talking about and acting upon them.  

For the third year in a row, Policy Circle representatives attended SPN and hosted the Policy Circle 5K for Freedom fun run with the theme: “Mind of My Own.”

This year another theme emerged among the groups at SPN:  the importance of stories.  Throughout informational panels on healthcare, education, tax reform, free speech, donor privacy, regulations, energy/environment and the opioid crisis, as well as professional workshops on communication and networking,  the power of storytelling was top of mind from think tank presidents to research analysts.   An entire workshop was even dedicated to the importance of people sharing stories.  Here’s what they have realized:

• Personal stories from the grassroots are crucial to the policy process.  Facts and stats alone don’t cut it anymore.   As Dave Trabert from Kansas Policy Institute said, “We need stories to tell the emotional side of issues.”
• Policy proposals need real faces and voices.  Policy organizations need constituents to provide comments and speak to legislators to drive legislators to act.  
• Legislators want to hear from constituents; they actually give them priority over lobbyists, associations, companies and vendors.   
• Your stories do have an impact and can make the difference when it comes to influencing legislation.

And stories are where The Policy Circle comes in.   

The Policy Circle roundtable discussion model provides a place and time to organize our thoughts, hone our voices and share our stories.  Do you find yourself saying “we need to do something!”   Sharing a story is a way to engage.  Contact your state policy organization  and share your stories.  Invite them to your next Circle meeting.  They are looking for examples for where policy intersects with people and you can become a part of the policy-making process.  For an introduction to your state policy organization, click here.

A variety of policy updates were also offered on key policy areas.  Here are a couple that stood out:

Education:

• State education officials are submitting their state Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) plan to the federal government for approval. As each state drafts their plan, they are required to gather feedback from stakeholders in the state.  Check these links Understanding Essa.org and US Department of Education State Plan Submission to see where your state falls.
• School choice and Education Savings Accounts (ESA) were a hot topic, with a focus on what states are doing in the absence of federal laws to expand school choice and improve access to ESAs; ESAs provide much needed freedom and flexibility in school spending for parents, particularly in places where schools are failing.

Healthcare:

• Given failure at federal level reform, it will fall to states to make changes; states have more flexibility so it’s entirely possible.
• Medicaid expansion hurt those who were meant to receive these benefits (low-income families and those with disabilities); they now wait in longer lines because healthy, working-age adults are now also eligible for Medicaid.
• Work requirements for Medicaid benefits is a policy change that states can make to encourage labor participation, reduce the numbers accessing and encourage them to access benefits via a work-related means; this is a popular change with 70% support from both sides.
• Check out the Foundation for Government Accountability and their ideas for curtailing Medicaid expansion.

The next SPN meeting is in Utah in October 2018  and is open to all those interested in deepening your policy perspective and networking with some of the most well known organizations in the policy arena.   Look for more information about a Policy Circle cadre of women attending together.   Storytellers unite!  

When a woman makes a statement she discovers her voice and capacity for thought leadership.  When she puts what she thinks into her own words, she owns those thoughts in a new, more powerful and confident way.

When a woman finds her voice, it’s transformational.

It’s a movement!

Recommend a Circle Leader.  Especially in Nebraska, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Missouri where circles are sprouting.

Start a Circle in your neighborhood. Add value in your community by giving women the facts and the space to strengthen their understanding of the issues.  

Invest in The Policy Circle. Together let’s build a network of women who want to assume their civic duties and understand the impact of policy in their lives.  

The Policy Circle is a 501(c)3 that provides a fact-based, nonpartisan framework that inspires women living in the same community to connect, learn about and discuss public policies that impact their lives.  Women across the nation are taking a leadership role in public policy dialogue on what human creativity can accomplish in a free market economy.