We kicked off our efforts by joining forces with over 400 women from across the nation for our triennial Washington Institute Policy Conference in early April. On April 9, NCJW|LA took over Capitol Hill to meet with US Congressional representatives to advocate for reproductive justice, gun violence prevention, and an independent and diverse federal judiciary. We are grateful to congressmembers Karen Bass, Tony Cardenas, Ted Lieu, Adam Schiff, Brad Sherman and their staff for meeting with the Los Angeles section during our visit to the Hill.

On May 20-21, NCJW|LA led a delegation of 39 individuals to Sacramento to participate in Lobby Day 2019. Our team focused their advocacy efforts on bills themed around economic justice and improving the lives of families in California. While in Sacramento, our Advocacy team successfully attended 23 meetings with state lawmakers. Keeping up their momentum, the Advocacy team also attended the summer 2019 in-District visits with state senators and assemblymembers, focusing on key areas and bills previously advocated for during the 2019 Lobby Day visit. These laws include Childcare Access (SB321/AB 194)), Parental Leave (SB 135), Health Care ( SB 29/ AB 4) and Human Trafficking (SB 629).

Centered in our commitment to ensure all Angelenos can thrive, advocates, volunteers, and staff supported our local efforts and coalitions work with the Fair Work Week LA the Campaign, California Work & Family Coalition, the Los Angeles Coalition for Reproductive Justice and Housing Now.

In late September, we kicked off our annual Advocacy Training Project — a six-session training series for new and returning advocates to prepare them with essential tools for effective advocacy.

As we look ahead to 2020, we are excited and thrilled to continue our advocacy efforts pursuing economic justice and equity for women and their families! We hope you will join us.