SUNY Students Organize Statewide Advocacy Effort
We recently spoke with Marc Cohen, the Senior Director of External Relations for the SUNY Student Assembly, about their recent lobby day at the state capitol.
Please tell us your name and current position with the SUNY Student Assembly. Please also tell us a little bit about who you are: your year, area of study, any other background info you’d like to share.
My name is Marc Cohen. I’m a Junior at the University at Albany studying Political Science and Philosophy, and the Senior Director of External Relations for the SUNY Student Assembly. I also serve the University at Albany Student Association as Vice President.Read more
Nevada Students Lobby in Carson City
We recently talked with Elias Benjelloun, the Student Body President of the Consolidated Students of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV CSUN). He spoke to us about a recent lobby day attended by Nevada students from across the state.
Please tell us your name and current position in student government. Please also tell us a little bit about who you are: your year, area of study, any other background info you’d like to share.
My name is Elias Benjelloun and I serve as the undergraduate Student Body President of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. I represent the 23,000 undergraduates at UNLV and oversee a $1.2 million annual budget. I am graduating this semester with my degree in biology and plan on pursuing graduate programs here at UNLV where I can continue serving my local communities.Read more
WWU Student Gets #Lobbylicious in Olympia
We recently had the opportunity to talk with Heather Heffelmire, the Legislative Liaison for the Associated Students of Western Washington University (ASWWU). In that position, she is spending the winter quarter in Olympia as a full-time lobbyist working on behalf of the students at WWU. She's been posting online about the experience under the hashtag #Lobbylicious. You can read her blog posts about lobbying here, here, here, and here.Read more
#HuskiesLobby: UW Students Take On Olympia
The Office of Government Relations at the Associated Students of the University of Washington (ASUW) recently organized a lobby day in Olympia. We interviewed two leaders from the OGR to find our more about the event.
Please tell us your name(s) and current position in student government. If you’re willing, please also tell us anything else that you think is relevant about who you are: your year, major, past student government experience, etc.
Lucas Barash-David: I'm the Director of the Office of Government Relations. I'm a senior majoring in Honors English and Political Science.
Kanokbhorn (KK) Saha: I'm the Legislative Programming Coordinator for OGR. I'm a junior studying Political Science and Economics. This is my first year as an employee in student government but during my sophomore year, I've held numerous volunteer positions.
What is the ASUW OGR? What do you do? What are your current priorities?
ASUW OGR is the legislative advocacy branch of the Associated Students at the University of Washington. We represent over 40,000 students at all levels of government including Federal, State, and Municipal. We have a pretty diverse set of issues that we tackle but we always work on increasing state funding to the UW!Read more
Organizing Tips: Lobbying 101
Lobbying is one of the key tools for getting a decision-maker to act. You can lobby a state or federal legislator by meeting with them (or their staff) at the statehouse or in DC, by visiting them while they’re in-district, or even by inviting them to come to campus.Read more