More women – over 25 percent – are serving in Congress than ever before. How can you as a women leading a printing company initiate grassroots advocacy engagement with this group of women lawmakers on Capitol Hill (or at the state or local level, too) to benefit your company, your employees, your customers, and, at a macro-level, the printing industry?

This five-step plan can kickstart this unique and mutually beneficial relationship.

  1. Recognize one another. Recognition is a basic step to foster community. Write a letter of introduction to the elected women official(s) representing your company or home state or Congressional district. Congratulate her on being sworn-in to the 118th Congress and offer encouragement for what is likely to be a tough job ahead. Do your homework by first reviewing your elected official’s bio, and be sure to share yours with her. Sign up for her newsletter, and include her press staff on any milestones, awards, or major news affecting your company.
  2. Offer yourself and your company as a resource. This can be an informal offer letting her know that you stand ready and availability to provide a business or industry viewpoint on legislation or regulations. Additionally, it can be an inquiry about more formal channels through which to provide perspective and information. Ask if the lawmaker hosts a small business roundtable (and if can you host it at your facility), a workforce development council, or initiatives related to manufacturing, sustainability, and, of course, any special projects or events designed to promote the role of women in the workplace on which you might serve or participate. It’s okay to branch out and engage on issues beyond print, too, particularly if there is an issue on which you are personally passionate. The key here is building relationship through information exchange and by volunteering your time and expertise.
  3. Open the doors to your business. Without a doubt, the best way to educate any lawmaker is to invite her to visit of your business. This is really crucial if your print operations extend beyond the scope of  traditional ink-on-paper segment of commercial print (i.e., signs, books, magazines, or what the lawmaker THINKS she already knows about the industry – which is probably just the tip of the iceberg). Conducting a walking tour through your facility hosted by a female owner or executive will not only create first-hand awareness of your company’s importance to the local economy and community, but will likely prove useful down the road when the lawmaker is voting on legislation that could impact the printing industry.
  4. Don’t overlook the women staffing the women (and men). The “nextgen” pipeline of talented female politicians, non-profit leaders, media professionals, and business executives often runs through a Congressional office. You’re almost guaranteed to find a curious, ambitious, and talented women (or more) working as  schedulers, press aides or policy wonks, all of which are in a position to help build your company’s advocacy relationship with her boss. And most of them are open, eager and receptive to observing and learning from successful women leading companies in the state or Congressional district for which they work. Plus, you never know which one of these staffers might just be in her boss’ chair one day. Just ask Senator Katie Britt, once a staffer for powerful Senator Richard Shelby, and, as of January 3, the first-ever female elected to the US Senate from the State of Alabama!
  5. Participate in Women in Print Alliance advocacy events. Raise your hand if you’ve read this far but thought, “Um. Problem. All of my elected officials are men.” Valid concern. A solution? Participate in Women in Print Alliance advocacy events, whether hosted virtually, at industry conferences, or even in the nation’s capital, as a way to engage with women lawmakers who may represent a state or Congressional district different from your own. While your company may not benefit directly from this engagement, the overall printing industry will. You’ll also become comfortable with grassroots advocacy so that if and when a women wins an election to represent you or your company, the outreach efforts above will be easy to implement. Also, see #4. There are many male Members of Congress whose Chiefs of Staff and top aides are women. Go figure!

Finally, let’s talk logistics. Where are you supposed to find the biographical summaries, contact info, or staff directories for your women elected officials? Who has the time? And what if you don’t even know exactly who your US Senators and Representatives are? (They do change frequently, so no shame in that!)

We’ve got you. Women in Print Alliance, in partnership with PRINTING United Alliance, offers a free, easy to navigate online Advocacy Center that provides all of this info (and more) to facilitate the engagement actions outlined above. And if 5-steps is one (or four) too many for you right now, start slow. Simply complete step one, and then scale up as time permits. Building relationships with your company’s external stakeholders are a marathon, not a sprint, and the goal is to maintain and enhance relationships with this targeted set of elected officials over time.