ESOP Advocacy Day brought employee owners and ESOP professionals to Capitol Hill with one clear message: ESOPs help workers, businesses, and communities thrive. The meetings in Washington were powerful, but advocacy does not have to end when volunteers leave DC. Here are ways every advocate can keep building support for employee ownership throughout the year.
Follow Up with the Staffers You Met
Send a short thank you email to each office you visited. You can do it easily in your Advocacy Day app! Reiterate your ESOP story, share any requested information, and offer to be a resource whenever employee ownership issues arise.
Host a Member of Congress at Your ESOP Company or a Roundtable
Nothing makes employee ownership real like meeting employee owners. Invite a Member of Congress to tour your company or bring together multiple ESOP companies and professionals for a roundtable discussion in the district. The ESOP Association will provide the resources to make the event as easy as possible. This is one of the most impactful tactics to turn an ESOP supporter to an ESOP champion in Congress! You can find an easy guide and sample communications for inviting a Member of Congress in this toolkit.
Request a District Office Meeting
You do not have to travel to Washington to have a policy-focused meeting with a Member of Congress. Request a meeting with your Representative or Senators when they are back in the district to make a specific policy request, such as requesting them to cosponsor the American Ownership and Resilience Act (AORA)!
Join the ESOP Ambassadors Program
ESOP Ambassadors are volunteer advocates that have or want to build personal relationships with elected officials. Ambassadors help ensure lawmakers have a familiar resource in their district for all ESOP-related matters. See the ESOP Ambassador’s toolkit for more information!
Become a Volunteer Leader in the Association
Serve on the Public Policy Council, become a Chapter Vice President of Advocacy, or serve on your chapter’s Advocacy Committee. These are crucial positions that help guide TEA’s advocacy efforts and take action.
Proclaim October as Employee Ownership Month in Your State
A state proclamation is a simple way to raise awareness and educate elected officials about employee ownership. Requests can take time, so begin outreach to your governor or state legislature well before October. Check the Proclamation toolkit to see your state’s procedures!
Take Action Through EOAN
When the Employee Ownership Action Network (EOAN) sends an alert to contact your elected officials, take action! In just a few minutes, you can contribute to the final push that a pro-ESOP policy needs to pass in Congress. Our voice grows stronger with every employee owner who participates. Use this toolkit to share EOAN with colleagues through an email, company meeting, lunch event, or sign-up effort.
Vote in Primary and General Elections
Advocacy begins with civic participation. You can use this toolkit to help you make a plan to vote and encourage fellow employee owners to do the same. ESOPs enjoy bipartisan support, so this is not a partisan request! ESOPs are simply stronger when their supporters consistently head to the polls.
Learn More About ESOP PAC
ESOP PAC unites small personal contributions from ESOP supporters to make large contributions to federal candidates that have shown their support for ESOPs. If you’d like to learn more about ESOP PAC, contact TEA’s Director of Public Policy Patrick Russo at prusso@esopassociation.org.
Contribute to Corporate Council
While ESOP PAC cannot accept corporate contributions, companies can also support advocacy through Corporate Council, which provides critical resources for The ESOP Association’s strategic policy efforts.
Keep Up The Great Work!
ESOP Advocacy Day demonstrated what we can accomplish together, but it doesn’t have to stop there. For the rest of the year, you can keep telling your ESOP story and building a stronger future for employee ownership. Check out this toolkit for more information on all of the ways you can take action to advocate for ESOPs this year!
