Advocacy is essential for anyone working with low-income communities and communities of color; it is the major means of winning policies that ensure all people can share in prosperity and economic opportunity.

The Internet has fundamentally changed the face of advocacy. Organizations are arming themselves with technology tools to mobilize constituents, advance their issues, support political candidates, and engage individuals in the political and policymaking process.  This new Internet-based approach to advocacy—electronic advocacy (e-advocacy)—is a multifaceted process that uses an array of technology tools, tailored to an organization's specific campaign goals.

Click Here for Change: Your Guide to the E-Advocacy Revolution features technology tips to help organizations and coalitions strengthen their offline advocacy tactics; target decision-makers to pass or defeat a proposed change; connect with "hard to reach" communities; organize for mass mobilization; track online activity to identify strong supporters; and reach out to more supporters for online donations.

The report also offers case studies and guidelines to help organizations create advocacy websites and format emails and newsletters for maximum effectiveness.  It examines both barriers and opportunities for organizations that want to integrate technology into their communications strategies, and a detailed list of technology vendors and strategic service providers that can help with the implementation process.

Click Here for Change illustrates that advocates can find new ways to make their voices heard and engage their communities in working for change—one click at a time.

To download a copy of Click Here for Change in PDF, visit http://www.policylink.org/projects/eadvocacy.

Last February, Tavis Smiley joined with prominent African American leaders, activists, and intellectuals to release the Covenant with Black America book at his annual State of the Black Union event. Since then, the Covenant has evolved from a concise, accessible volume of essays examining critical issues facing the black community into a nationwide grassroots movement for social action and policy change. Fueled by State of the Black Union 2006, a book tour of black churches across the country, and word of mouth, the Covenant with Black America reached #1 on the New York Times bestseller list—a remarkable achievement for an independent press book with no mainstream media promotion.

The book's thousands of readers are now taking its message off the page, joining with individuals and community institutions to make the 10 covenants a reality for African Americans and for all people. Nearly 250 people in 30 states hosted Covenant house parties to raise awareness and help organize friends and neighbors to work toward economic and social equity. The National Forum for Black Public Administrators invited PolicyLink founder and CEO Angela Glover Blackwell to address their leadership meeting, and the organization is discussing ways to mobilize their membership around the movement's civic and policy goals.

In San Francisco, a town hall meeting on the Covenant in February 2006 inspired the city to launch its citywide wireless access project in one of the region's most disconnected low-income African American communities. Two hundred fifty homes in a public housing development (each of which also received a desktop computer) were able to access the internet through a new wi-fi connection that also encompassed an adjacent school and another 300 homes nearby; that site became a model for how San Francisco can successfully roll out broadband in other underserved communities. The mayor's office also partnered with the African American Action Network—an organization that formed after the town hall—to host a summit on health disparities in December 2006. One of the most encouraging outcomes of the Covenant-related work is the involvement of young people; over 270 youth are active in Covenant clubs around the Bay Area, working to better their communities and, in many cases, lead initiatives themselves.

A new and improved Covenant with Black America website connects visitors to information about the 10 covenants, invites readers to join the discussion on a Covenant blog, and encourages individuals, community groups, and faith-based organizations to take action for change.

On February 10 , Tavis Smiley will gather a range of expert panelists including Cornel West, Angela Glover Blackwell, and Bruce Gordon for State of the Black Union 2007 in Hampton, Virginia. The event, which will be televised on C-SPAN, will examine the history and the social, political, and economic future of African Americans. State of the Black Union 2007 will also be used to release The Covenant in Action, a new book that serves as a guide to organizing and a follow up to the Covenant with Black America.

The Covenant in Action describes some of the past year's Covenant-inspired efforts and also profiles of young black activists who exemplify emerging leadership.

The book also includes a toolkit to help address the issues described in the Covenant with Black America—whether organizing a campaign to change a law, launching a media campaign to draw attention to racial inequity, or filing a lawsuit to address an injustice. The toolkit covers innovative and creative techniques to assist communities in getting started, connecting with one another, and moving Covenant issues into action.

Since our founding in 1999, PolicyLink has worked with partners around the country to illustrate that where you live affects how you live. Our equitable development approach sheds light on the link between neighborhood conditions and the health of its residents, and promotes policies and strategies that eliminate local and regional disparities.

The PolicyLink Center for Health and Place builds upon years of research, collaboration, and community engagement. It weaves research and action into policy initiatives to ensure that everyone—especially those in low-income communities and communities of color—can live, work, and play in healthy environments.

"We need fresher and bolder approaches to policies that address the link between health and place," said Angela Glover Blackwell, founder and CEO of PolicyLink. "Since policy informs the answers to the questions, 'who benefits, who pays, and who decides,' we must work collaboratively and aggressively to advance policies that ensure everyone an equitable share of our nation's resources. That has been the continued mission of PolicyLink and that's the vision for our new center."

The center's primary goal will be to push for more effective health policies and practices; conduct innovative research; shape public opinion through integrated communications and advocacy strategies; and build the capacity of community leaders, organizations, coalitions, and policymakers to craft effective approaches and to collaborate on strategies for policy change.

Mildred Thompson, the center's director, leads a team of professionals—with expertise in public health, urban and regional planning, public policy, clinical psychology, and communications—in creating solutions to old problems. "So many of America's biggest health problems are directly linked to the environments we live in," said Mildred Thompson. "Whether it's advocating for legislation to help build grocery stores in woefully underserved communities or eliminating environmental factors that account for the recent alarming jump in childhood asthma, we can advance public policies that lead to better, healthier, stronger neighborhoods."

For a complete list of our initiatives and to partner with us to build an equitable policy agenda, go to www.policylink.org/healthandplace.

Affordable housing advocates celebrated another milestone in December when the District of Columbia city council unanimously passed inclusionary zoning legislation that will help expand affordable housing opportunities for low- and moderate-income residents.

The victory was a culmination of years of advocacy by a diverse coalition of policy, labor, faith-based, and community groups—and many intermediate review processes involving public hearings, councilmembers, and local planning and zoning officials. While the legislation must still be formally approved by Congress, advocates are confident that, with the city council's passage of the bill, inclusionary zoning will soon become a reality in the District of Columbia—and a new source of hope for lower-income residents who wish to stay in their communities to reap the benefits or revitalization and neighborhood improvement.