The Policy Cafe provides direct support to individuals and groups who are working to create new solutions for resilient local economies through policymaking and is part of our Transformative Policymakers project. It's modeled after our Resilient Communities Legal Cafe, which provides donation-based legal advice for the community.

At the Policy Cafe, people can bring their specific policy ideas and get individualized advice on questions such as:

• What are the next steps after I have come up with my policy idea?
• How do I draft a piece of legislation?
• How do I approach council members, county supervisors, or other legislators about my idea?
• How do I navigate the legislative process?
• In what ways can my nonprofit participate in policy advocacy?

In the past, we've paired our policy cafes with short teach-ins around policy advocacy. Some of these topics include: 

• How and Why to Serve on a State or Local Appointed Commission
• DIY Policymaking: An introductory overview of the policymaking process

We host 3-4 policy cafes a year. Check out the events page for upcoming cafes or sign up for our newsletter, and select the "Policy Advocacy" tag to get emails about our policy cafes.