Advocacy Takes Many Forms at Capitol

The Women’s Foundation of Minnesota (WFM) invests in advocacy as a key lever to transform conditions in Minnesota so all people can thrive. Research in our Status of Women & Girls+ in Minnesota and listening to communities are tools for action we use create a policy agenda, and partner with organizations and coalitions committed to advocating for your rights and communities across Minnesota. Policies on our agenda are grounded in data and support access and resources in health, economics, and safety.

In every session at the Capitol, WFM is active in multiple facets of advocacy that includes initial coalition-building and partnership, and direct advocacy as essential components to passing a bill. Implementation and defense are the final phases of advocacy and can include ongoing work for as long as the legislation is needed. To understand the many facets of advocacy required for successful legislation, let’s look at how each one shows up in our current session.

Coalition-Building

As part of our mission as a statewide community foundation, WFM convenes partners and allies from across Minnesota to engage and mobilize around priority issues impacting women, girls, gender-expansive people, and families. In our legislative session, WFM is a supporting partner, committed to education, sharing research, and participating in coalitions. Policy wins are possible because of community-led advocacy made up of community organizers, nonprofit groups, direct service providers, elected officials, and other advocates. In this stage, we intentionally work with coalitions that are informed, made up of, and led by those most impacted by the issues at hand. This is the only way to build solutions that will have the long-term, meaningful results that communities demand and deserve.

Some of WFM’s coalition and policy partners are ERA Minnesota Coalition, Exodus Lending, the Food Group, Gender Justice, Minnesotans for Fair Lending, Maternal Mental Health Coalition, Planned Parenthood MN, Reproductive Health Alliance, UnRestrict Minnesota, and Violence Free Minnesota.

We also build power with young people through our Governor-appointed Young Women’s Cabinet, who train as policy advocates and advocate directly for policies central to their lives. The Women’s Foundation advocacy strategy is undeniably enhanced by the Cabinet, who use their voices to share their personal and professional experiences.

Direct Advocacy

Direct advocacy is probably the most visible and well-known aspect of advocacy. This can look like meetings with legislators to educate or lobby about or for an issue, working on an issue campaign, lobbying, signing a community letter of support, joining rallies, marches, and in-person and written testimony.

At the Capitol, we have advocated to codify all Minnesotans’ right to a comprehensive spectrum of reproductive health care, Paid Family Leave, Safe Harbor funding for trafficking survivors, statewide health standards for students, the Office of Missing & Murdered Black Women & Girls, and more. Currently, we are supporting insurance coverage for maternal mental health screenings and contraceptive methods, an inclusive Equal Rights Amendment, closing a loophole that allows predatory lending, increasing SNAP benefits for seniors, and increasing funding for support services for survivors of violence.

Conversations with lawmakers are part of the bridges we build and the success we achieve to center and invest in the well-being of women, girls, and gender-expansive people. We testify in committees, submit letters, share resources and our research, and come together for advocacy days at the Capitol alongside members of our Young Women’s Cabinet. We consult with partners on our advocacy strategies, so we show up in the ways that are most useful and that center the communities affected by the legislation.

Our Status of Women & Girls+ in Minnesota research shows that inequities persist and are often greatest for Black, Indigenous, and women of girls of color, rural, LGBTQ+, older women, and people with disabilities. In testimony and letters sent to committees, we use Status of Women & Girls+ research to provide timely, targeted information and disaggregated data to lawmakers and advocates so that, working together, we can create stronger policies that serve everyone in Minnesota.

Defense

Sometimes the best way to destroy legislation is not to vote it down but simply wait for the right moment to undermine it. This is an effective strategy for many reasons: Defense of already passed bills, like implementation, can be resource-intensive, draining resources that many affected communities may not have. It’s difficult to activate supporters for already passed legislation, especially after a long and public fight for its initial passage, or to show up for a highly complex bill that focuses on an obscure portion of legislation. Finally, it can be traumatizing for those impacted to share their stories again and again and to never be sure that the legislation they worked so hard to pass will be implemented. That’s why another key component of WFM advocacy is defense: protecting the already passed legislation from repeal, delay, or weakening by opposition.

This session, WFM is defending multiple issues from oppositional bills. After many years of advocacy, Paid Family & Medical Leave passed and was signed into law in May 2023. Effective Jan. 1, 2026, the program will provide financial support and job protection for all workers who need time away from work to care for themselves and their loved ones. Current access to paid time off is not evenly distributed, with significant disparities based on race, income, geography, and employer size in MN. Research shows that the law is crucial for women to maintain their income, build experience in their jobs, and maintain jobs that match their expertise, which can raise their earnings over time and help close the gender pay gap.

However, this session at the Capitol, implementation of the law is being threatened. No less than three bills have been introduced to delay the implementation or weaken the benefits. We have been actively defending this rollback using the data we used to argue for its passage, testifying in-person alongside partners like Isaiah Minnesota, the AFL-CIO, and countless organizations, business owners, and individuals who support and will rely on paid leave. At this point, we are hopeful that the legislation will pass, but we remain vigilant on this and other attempts to undermine progress.

One component of our advocacy is to share the leading research in the state that shows how women, girls, and gender-expansive people are faring on key measures of economics, health, safety, and leadership.

Implementation

Implementation is the final stage of advocacy, but as we have seen, it is never guaranteed. Because it’s complex and may take place years after the passage of the bill, implementation is not the flashy part of advocacy. It’s also here that the impacts of compromises made in order to pass legislation are fully realized.

For example, let’s say a bill comes up for a vote that requires a different process to be used in a manufacturing industry. The bill’s original text requires a report from each industry location on their use of this new method. The industry balks and calls the report burdensome. If the language is changed to make the report voluntary, they’ll support the bill. The policy may pass, but with haphazard reporting, there is little way of tracking if it’s being used, how well it’s working, and if there are issues that should be addressed. It also makes it easier to repeal because it lacks concrete data around its impact.

We support implementation to increase the accessibility and benefit of passed legislation for all Minnesotans. WFM was instrumental in the successful passage of the Women’s Economic Security Act in 2014, designed to protect and promote opportunities for women in the workplace. But the true success of the law is when women in every workplace understand and can advocate for their rights under the law.

Another example of implementation in progress is the menstrual equity law, passed in 2023, mandating that all public schools in the state provide free menstrual products in bathrooms regularly used by students in grades 4-12, effective January 2024. The goal is to ensure that all students have access to essential hygiene products, regardless of their financial situation. This session, we are partnering with researchers at the University of Minnesota, the Minnesota Menstrual Equity Coalition, and others to understand more about the implementation of the menstrual equity legislation in schools. They will use this data to create a toolkit that helps schools implement this new policy so that all students have access to what they need.
These researchers have created a survey to better understand distribution at schools. If you are connected with a school that serves students in grades 4-12, please take the survey to help inform the research to create a working plan for implementation.

Working Together

We know that policy changes and increased investment are just part of the solution to valuing gender and racial justice in our state. We are dedicated to working in partnership across sectors and aisles, with advocates, the Young Women’s Cabinet, and community leaders to push for progress and a state that values the dignity and well-being of all people.
WFM is at the Capitol every week during this legislative session, advocating for policies and funding rooted in the health, safety, and economic vitality of all Minnesotans.

Anyone can be an advocate and use these same tactics to push for progress on the issues that matter most to you. As you can see, there are multiple places to use your voice, from coalition-building to implementation. It’s all important, but no one is expected to do everything.

Here are a few places to start:
• Start small and find ways that work with your personality, skills, and comfort level.
• When you vote, consider candidates and policies that represent our communities and hold systems accountable to eliminate barriers, increase access to opportunity, and achieve gender and racial justice.
• Contact your elected representatives and let them know how you feel. See who represents you,
• Use our Advocate Toolkit to share resources, data, and social media graphics with your community.