Workshop Teaches Students Advocacy Skills.

April 21, 2016
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It's easier to child-proof your gun than bullet-proof your child.
A billboard by Stop Handgun Violence. Co-founder John Rosenthal was among those who shared their experience at the workshop.

More than 30 School of Public Health students came to campus on a recent Saturday to participate in the Activist Lab’s inaugural, day-long Advocacy Workshop.

“Advocacy for public health change is a prime mission of the SPH Activist Lab and a concern for all public health professionals,” says course organizer Anne Fidler, assistant dean for public health practice and associate professor of environmental health.

Using proposed legislation to define, develop, and implement smart gun technology in Massachusetts as an example, the students learned about building and sustaining partnerships and coalitions, selecting and framing issues, developing strategic advocacy plans, and writing and delivering legislative testimony.

The workshop was led by Associate Dean of Public Health Practice Harold Cox and Adjunct Instructor Allyson Baughman (’07). They were joined by John Rosenthal, co-founder of Stop Handgun Violence; Rebekah Gewirtz, executive director of the Massachusetts Public Health Association; Tami Gouveia, senior associate at ReThink Health; and Ashley Floreen (’16) of the Massachusetts Eye Research & Surgery Institute and a former Massachusetts legislative aide.

Fidler says the workshop aimed to help students “to take what they are learning in the classroom, combined with their passion for public health, to effect real and lasting change.”

The Office for Public Health Practice launched the Activist Lab this spring to help bridge the gap between academic work and regional action. The lab’s first areas of focus are gun violence, government infrastructure, and public housing.

—Michelle Samuels

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Workshop Teaches Students Advocacy Skills

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  1. The session is an exciting example of how BUSPH is encouraging students to integrate advocacy skills into public health practice. I got my start in public health through advocacy by way of studying environmental justice and lead poisoning prevention in Lowell in the early 1990s. The Activist Lab seems to be BUSPH’s way of embracing activism, advocacy, and policy making as integral to our work. This is important because it will help the field achieve even greater results in reducing health disparities, reducing costs, creating thriving communities, and helping individuals reach their fullest potential.

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