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“Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction.” (September 17, 1960 - John F. Kennedy)
That is exactly what we took to Washington, DC last week for the 10th Annual Legislative Policy Conference. As more than 300 National Urban League leaders and delegates represented “NUL on the Hill,” we were clear about our purpose and our direction: to ensure that our elected officials are prepared to act on the most critical issues impacting communities across America – jobs, education, and healthcare.
The Legislative Policy Conference is our most visible platform to elevate these critical issues and to showcase the strength, reach and vital services we provide to more than 2 million people every year. LPC also provides a great platform to educate Movement leaders on our national policy priorities and to train them on how to advocate for their policy priorities at both the national and state level. This training is crucial to their efforts during LPC and when they return to their home states and engage their state elected officials.
Our goal this year was clear: maintaining support for our programming and helping to bring jobs back to urban America. To that end, we championed the reintroduction and passage of the Urban Jobs Act and Project Ready STEM Act and stood alongside the respective sponsors of each bill – Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Rep. Chaka Fattah and Rep. Marcia Fudge – to spotlight the urgency of job creation and the need to invest in the education and skills enhancement of disadvantaged young people.
We also visited acting Secretary of Labor Seth Harris and Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment and Training Jane Oates to discuss the department's workforce training and employment resources available to complement our community development activities. We met with HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and HHS Director of External Affairs Anton Gunn to discuss the Affordable Care Act and an action plan for educating our communities. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and Assistant Democratic Leader, Jim Clyburn discussed their priorities with our delegation over lunch. Heather Foster, director of African-American outreach and associate director in the White House Office of Public Engagement, was also instrumental in scheduling a meeting for us with Senior Advisor to the President Valerie Jarrett at the White House to discuss our most pressing concerns around budget and jobs, as well as our proposed solutions.
We closed out the LPC program with a lively panel discussion during the State of Black America breakfast and explored some of the overarching themes surfaced in this year’s State of Black America.
Last week, we made it clear that there is power in numbers. But more importantly, we demonstrated the power of purpose.
