The Power of the Individual in Advocacy

A central component to case-making and systems change is personal advocacy, driven by the individual. How we translate our personal beliefs and biases into tactics for advocacy is an essential skill for all practitioners. This article shares four tactics to guide practitioners through this process, including storytelling, social media use, word choice, and relationship forming. Within each, guiding questions are formed through three lenses focused on communications strategies, the dynamics of systems change, and acknowledging progress. It concludes with a call to action about the professional responsibility of arts and cultural education practitioners to become effective advocates to make the case and affect systems change.