1200 SW Executive Drive, Suite 100 Phone: 785-232-3000
Topeka, KS 66615-3850 866-232-3020
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more information, contact Billie Hall, President and CEO
Fellows graduate from inaugural health advocacy program
TOPEKA, September 17, 2009 – The Sunflower Foundation: Health Care for Kansans announces the graduation of its first class of Advocacy Fellows. The 15 members of the program finished a year of intensive training earlier this month with congratulations from Governor Mark Parkinson and a reminder that the advocacy they will do not only leverages the political power of their nonprofit organizations, but will serve those who often don’t have a voice in the public policy debate.
“This class is an exceptional group and we know individually and collectively they will be making a difference for Kansans for many years to come,” said Billie Hall, President and CEO for the Sunflower Foundation, which launched the program last year.
The Advocacy Fellowship is designed to equip nonprofit leaders with the understanding, experience and expertise needed to become effective public policy advocates for their organizations and the people they serve.
As part of the year-long program, participants attended six sessions, including one visit to Washington, D.C. Sessions covered key areas essential to developing skills and expertise in advocacy and nonprofit lobbying. Training session topics included how to develop advocacy strategies, build coalitions and grassroots efforts, navigate the political process and work with the media.
Leaders who successfully completed the Advocacy Fellowship are:
EMPORIA
· Vicki Worrell, Executive Director, KAHPERD (Kansas Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance)
GARDEN CITY
· Stephanie Waggoner, CEO, United Methodist Mexican-America Ministries
KANSAS CITY
· John G. Carney, Vice President, Aging and End of Life, Center for Practical Bioethics
· Kara Lineweber, Director of Policy Advocacy-Research, El Centro, Inc.
· Michael Mayberry, Executive Director, Community Health Council of Wyandotte County
· Phelps Murdock, President and CEO, Bridging the Gap
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Sunflower Foundation Advocacy Fellows – Page 2
LAWRENCE
· Mitzi E. McFatrich, Executive Director, Kansas Advocates for Better Care
· Elizabeth E. Weeks Leonard, Associate Professor of Law, University of Kansas School of Law
PITTSBURG
· Krista Postai, Executive Director, Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas
SHARON SPRINGS
· Chrysanne Grund, Project Director, Greeley County Health Services
TOPEKA
· Rick Cagan, Executive Director, National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), Kansas Chapter
· Shannon Cotsoradis, Executive Vice President and COO, Kansas Action for Children
· Cathy Harding, Executive Director, Kansas Association for the Medically Underserved
WICHITA
· Rosa Molina, Executive Director, Medical Service Bureau
· Brian Walker, Executive Director, Kansas Food Bank
The Sunflower Foundation is a health philanthropy with a mission to serve as a catalyst for improving the health of Kansans. The foundation’s funding priorities are health care access, healthy behaviors and prevention, capacity building and advocacy.
The 2010 Fellowship class will be announced in October. For more information about the Advocacy Fellowship, visit www.sunflowerfoundation.org.
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