Advocacy Development Committee
DRAFT MINUTES
Thursday, May 11, 2017
3:00 P.M. - 5:00 P.M.
Hilton Garden Inn, Cary, NC

Members Present: Wendy Boyd, Eric Chavis, Mary Edwards, Jason Faircloth, Katie Holler, Cheryl Powell, Nessie Siler, Clare Shocket, Deborah Zuver

Members Absent: Kelly Kimple, Rep. Verla Insko

Staff in Attendance: Melissa Swartz, Chris Egan

Guests: Jennifer Bosk, Lauren Borchert, Karen Hamilton, Brandon Matthews

Welcome and Introductions:
Committee Chairperson Nessie Siler called the meeting to order, and welcomed all members and guests.

Approval of Minutes:
Eric Chavis made a motion to approve the February, 2017 Advocacy Development Committee minutes with the revision that Clare Shocket was in attendance, not absent. Mary Edwards seconded the motion. The motion was approved.

Team Building Activity
The members of the Advocacy Development Committee participated in a team building activity focused on positive leadership skills, characteristics, and qualities. Committee members discussed what they perceive as good leadership as well as the personal leadership qualities/characteristics/skills they have. The purpose of the activity was to emphasize the link to the primary state plan goal of the committee and recognize the complimentary but diverse leadership of committee members.

Initiative Update Inclusive Advocacy Leadership Development Initiative (IALD):
Lauren Brochert and Brandon Matthews, co-coordinators provided a detailed update of the of the NCCDD In-House Inclusive Advocacy Leadership Development Initiative (IALD). The two primary activities of the IALD are developing a NC Self-Advocate Collaborative and an Inclusive Leadership Curriculum.

With guidance from Disability Rights NC staff, this quarter, a major achievement of the NC Empowerment Network (NCEN) was taking steps for the transfer of responsibilities of the Association of Self-Advocates of NC (ASANC) 501c3. At the May 1oth meeting of the NCEN, Disability Rights NC executive director, Vicki Smith walked-through the existing by-laws and made recommendations for revisions to advance the transfer of responsibilities. Next, again with support from DRNC, the revised by-laws will accompany appropriate documentation submission to the NC secretary of state for the NCEN to acquire non-profit status. The next meeting of the NCEN is Tuesday, June 20 and the primary business item will be revisiting the updated by-laws and coordinating marketing/outreach to engage listening sessions with self-advocates/self-advocate groups across the state.

The second activity of the IALD initiative involves advocacy leadership training exploration. NC Partners in Policymaking and NC Advancing Strong Leadership graduates, participants, mentors, and program staff make up a core steering committee that met three times this quarter. Primary accomplishments include: identifying a strategic approach to steering committee activities, determining a focus group structure, drafting information gathering tools, determining possible locations across the state for focus groups, and identifying schedule "parameters" for information gathering.

Tentatively, information gathering will occur in July and August and between four and six focus groups will be held between the far east and the north west of the state. The next meeting of the curriculum development steering committee is Tuesday, June 6.

Future Investments Discussion
IALD
[Major initiative accomplishments and next steps detailed in the previous section]. Nessie Siler provided the Advocacy Development Committee with a comprehensive overview of the IALD planning initiative activities and next steps since its October 1, 2016 start date. Delayed implementation start related to co-coordinator identification and hiring process, and the unexpected opportunity for transfer of responsibilities of the ASANC 501c3 to the NCEN necessitates a no cost extension to achieve over all initiative intent related to both initiative activities.

Clare Shocket made the motion for a "No Cost Extension" for the Inclusive Advocacy Leadership Development Initiative from October 1, 2017 - December 31, 2017. Eric Chavis seconded. The motion was approved.

Outreach: Hispanic/Latino Developmental Disability Community
The ADC discussed the development of a NCCDD Language Access Plan that includes internal operations processes and coordinating information gathering opportunities to address this state plan goal objective and federally mandated targeted disparity requirement. Committee members discussed NC Hispanic/Latino population statistics (refer to NCCDD 5-Year Plan Comprehensive Review Analysis}, known existing resources and processes of ADC members, and barriers identified by staff during exploration of this topic (e.g., interpretation and translations services costs and cultural "exclusivity" regarding relationship-building).

Wendy Boyd made the motion to approve the Outreach: Hispanic Latino Communities Future Investment recommendations as written [in the one-pager]. Katie Holler seconded. The motion was approved.

Adjournment:
Motion to adjourn was made by Clare Shocket. The motion was seconded by Cheryl Powell. The motion was approved.