Leveraging Policy Advocacy to Keep Students Healthy

Overview

The capacity to leverage policy advocacy and systems change is critical to scaling up and sustaining efforts to ensure that youth living in Promise Neighborhoods are healthy and connected to the necessary services and supports to prepare them for college and career success. During this webinar, Rosa Ramirez Richter (Healthy Schools Campaign) discussed best practices to achieve healthy nutrition and active living through policy advocacy and will highlight successful efforts in Chicago to build a parent-driven coalition that successfully reforms food and wellness policies at the district-level. Mk Nguyen (St. Paul Promise Neighborhood) and Patrick Ness (Amherst H. Wilder Foundation) shared St. Paul Promise Neighborhood’s successful efforts to achieve and sustain Promise Neighborhoods results by: building a diverse and effective coalition, partnering with community residents, and forging strong relationships with elected officials at the local, state, and federal level.