Legislative Outreach

NBLSA will be highlighting various pieces of legislation across the country affecting the minority community. The Legislative Advocacy Specialists will work with each of NBLSA's six regions to keep them abreast create updates so regions are aware of important legislative changes.

National Lobby Day

NBLSA coordinates a National Lobby Day each year where law students from across the country come to Washington, D.C. to advocate for a national initiative with members of Congress and their staff. This year, NBLSA members have the opportunity to get training on legislative advocacy in order to prepare them to meet and network with Capitol Hill staffers to advocate on reforms in higher education. National Lobby Day will take place in the Spring of 2013.

Preparing for Legislative Outreach

One of our goals is to educate our membership before we do outreach throughout the year. In order to aid that efford, we will be conducting introductory advocacy workshops at our Academic Retreats. NBLSA will take the opportunity to host short workshops educating our members on the advocacy initiatives for the upcoming year. In addition to educating members on the issues, they will also be informed on various ways that they can participate in being the change they would like to see in the our communities.

Finding our Community Voice:

After training from the National Advocacy Team, we are asking our local NBLSA chapters to go into the community and conduct lobbying workshops with at least one local community organization. Community organizations can include any group from civic clubs, churches, agencies etc. Each chapter will identify a focus area; present the lobbying information/legislation 101 packets that will be distributed to each NBLSA Chapter and help the organization in the drafting, sponsorship, and filing of one bill during their state's spring legislative season. These chapters will be acknowledged at Lobby Day and on our national website. The National Advocacy Team must approve each program prior to commencement.

"We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy."
- Martin Luther King Jr.