In the first half of 2010, there were more consumer bankruptcy filings than at any point since the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act was enacted five years ago. These kinds of worrying headlines make us even more proud to be partnering with a group of 5,000 attorneys who are dedicating their clout to getting improved consumer bankruptcy protection laws passed.
The National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys (NACBA) is the only national organization serving consumer bankruptcy attorneys that is dedicated to protecting the rights of consumer debtors in bankruptcy. Over the course of the last year, grassroots solutions has been working with NACBA to develop an Advocates’ Program, which focuses on deepening member engagement to influence key policy makers positioned to help strengthen bankruptcy protection laws at the state and federal level. Last summer, we helped NACBA put together a blueprint for the Advocates’ Program that laid out its scope, objectives, and core strategies. This winter, our team helped NACBA hire a Field Director who is responsible for overseeing the Advocates’ Program and for further developing and executing the blueprint. Since then, we’ve been working with this talented individual to turn the Association’s advocacy plan into reality.
On April 13, grassroots solutions assisted the Field Director with the launch of the Advocates’ Program at NACBA’s Lobby Day on the Hill in Washington, D.C. Almost 200 association members participated in the event, making it a great venue for the launch and an empowering experience for the participants, many of whom had not engaged in direct advocacy before.
Through our engagement planning work with other professional associations, grassroots solutions has learned to pay special attention to members’ limited availability and varying degrees of interest in public policy. The NACBA Advocates’ Program is specifically designed to meet NACBA members where they are, providing them with opportunities to participate in public policy related activities at their preferred level of involvement. In turn, NACBA will continue to encourage and track members’ participation with the hope of deepening their involvement over time.
While attending the Hill event is a great step in making the voices of NACBA members heard, the Association is under no illusions that it doesn’t have an uphill fight ahead. Given tenacious, well-funded opposition comprised of banks and other financial institutions, meaningful policy changes at the state and federal level may happen slowly. Whatever short-term skirmishes it may face, we feel confident that the practical strategies for deepening and sustaining engagement over time that grassroots solutions built into the Advocates’ Program will now give NACBA a new focus and set of tools for bringing the weight of its members to bear on the fight for the long term.