The Sunflower Foundation has announced the graduation of 14 service leaders from the Advocacy Fellowship program.
The yearlong program helps community and state leaders develop the knowledge and expertise they need to be more powerful voices for the Kansans they serve. This fellowship class joins 60 previous graduates of the program, which began in 2009.
“We believe that better policy is made when more voices are heard. Nonprofit health and human service leaders are often in the best position to champion those voices, especially for the most vulnerable of our citizens,” said Billie Hall, president and CEO of the Sunflower Foundation. “The Sunflower Advocacy Fellowship helps nonprofit leaders become more effective advocates for the people, causes and communities they serve. The program focuses on the ‘practice of advocacy’ with Fellows learning from some of the most seasoned and successful public policy experts in the country,” she said.
“Our goal is to educate and activate a diverse network of community-based advocates who can inform, influence and shape policies that contribute to healthier Kansas communities,” Hall said.
The Fellowship identifies community leaders from around the state, who then commit to
attending six three-day sessions throughout the year. The Fellows learn skills and strategies necessary to participate in the public policy process on the local, state, and national levels. Sessions include grassroots advocacy, nonprofit lobbying, developing effective messages including storytelling, working with the media, building relationships with elected officials and traveling to Washington, D.C.
The 2014 Advocacy Fellows:
• Christie Appelhanz — vice president of public affairs, Kansas Action for Children in Topeka
• Bryan Brady — CEO of First Care Clinic in Hays
• Janis DeBoer — executive director, Kansas Association of Area Agencies on Aging and Disabilities in Topeka
• Jerry Jones — executive director, Community Health Council of Wyandotte County in Kansas City, Kan.
• Scott Lakin — director, Regional Healthcare Initiative, Mid-America Regional Council in Kansas City
• Teresa Lovelady — president and CEO, Center for Health and Wellness in Wichita
• Rachel Marsh — staff attorney, St. Francis Community Services in Wichita
• Lisa Moritz — administrator-school nurse, Greeley County Health Department in Tribune
• Kathy Mosher — executive director, Central Kansas Mental Health Center in Salina
• Michelle Ponce — executive director, Kansas Association of Local Health Departments in Topeka
• Dana Pugh — Medical-Legal Partnership Fellow-Staff Attorney, KU School of Law-KU Medical-Legal Partnership Clinic in Kansas City, Kan.
• Robert Stiles — director of operations-clinic director, Allen and Montgomery County Clinics, Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas in Coffeyville
• Tawny Stottlemire — executive director, Community Action Inc., in Topeka
• Marlene Willis — statewide coordinator, Migrant Out-of-School Youth Advocacy Project, Southeast Kansas Education Service Center at Greenbush in Pittsburg.