Our Approach
Critical to Community Catalyst’s mission is building the capacity, influence and power of state and local organizations to bring a consumer voice to health policy change. Our approach is collaborative, with an emphasis on listening, sharing information and resources, and facilitating learning.
Whether the aim is to pass or prevent passage of legislation on a particular health care issue, defend against cuts to critical public programs or educate a particular constituency about the impact of a law or regulation, organizations seeking to advance a consumer health agenda must have six advocacy capacities to succeed.
They include the capacity to:
- Analyze complex legal and policy issues to develop winnable policy alternatives
- Develop and implement health policy campaigns
- Build and maintain strong broad-based coalition and stakeholder alliances
- Design and implement communications strategies
- Build an active grassroots network
- Generate resources
Most advocacy organizations do not have all of these capacities, so they must partner and share expertise to create a system of advocacy. In a system of advocacy, the six capacities work in conjunction and transform many separate organizations into a coherent whole that is better positioned to achieve health policy change.
Community Catalyst works with our partners to build each of the capacities and create a system of advocacy in every state. We do this by coaching our partners and grantees and fostering robust learning communities. Community Catalyst offers policy, legal, communications, and organizing and advocacy expertise so advocates are equipped with the right strategies, information and tools to succeed.
Community Catalyst’s commitment to collaboration also extends to the national level where we believe coordination of state efforts on a national scale is critical both to strengthen state-based consumer advocacy and achieve national impact.