ROUGH EDITED COPY

RESULTS.org Appropriations 2-3 pm EST 3/14/15

TRANSCRIPTION PROVIDED BY: Stacie Valle CAPTIONACCESS [email protected] www.captionaccess.com RESULTS.org Webinar Saturday, March 14, 2015

Joanne Carter: Welcome everyone to a global gathering. I want to send out an acknowledgment to the Texas folks that are gathered today. I am excited to hear about your big plans.

I know that most of you are engaged right now in asking Congress members to weigh in on appropriations and priorities. I know many are doing great work. I heard recently that the N. Virginia folks have even asked their senator to consider a special hearing about ending preventable child deaths. Fantastic work.

I also want to acknowledge how fantastic to have the young leaders in Washington, D.C. for training for stargazing and to have about 100 critical meetings on domestic anti- poverty issues and appropriations work and pushing for congressional action for funding to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria

We had someone come to Washington, D.C. to talk about his sister, a nurse that died treating Ebola patients in Liberia. It was grounding to me. This appropriations work can get detailed and complex and can be hard to remember the big picture. I think Tark Puhr's story and the impact on these dollars in peoples lives can ground us in why this matters.

In a minute we will hear from a powerful and grounded woman in Congress, Rep. Barbara Lee. Jose, her aid is here with us now.

Jose: She is ready!

Rep. Barbara Lee: I am on and ready to get started!

Joanne Carter: Just give me 30 seconds to acknowledge you. I know you know Rep. Barbara Lee and love her as I do, but remember that since she has joined Congress she has been the lead or co-lead on important AIDS legislation and a courageous fighter on women's issues. It was her early legislation with Jim Leach that gave birth to the fund to fights AIDS, TB and malaria.

Rep. Barbara Lee: Let me thank you for giving me the moment to say hello to you and command you for your work. The appropriations process is cumbersome and often people don't understand the process. It isn't a committee with a lot of press attention. What you have done is make the appropriations process more democratic. I say that in all sincerity. Seldom do groups that share our values, ridding the world of HIV and AIDS, and women's care, anti-poverty legislation ... very seldom do we see ... {call cut out.}

Rep. Barbara Lee: All of that is so important and that is what we do and I thank you for it. You know we're an extreme part of Congress and moving our agenda forward is important. We are still under sequester, looking at tax cuts for the wealthy, looking at defense cuts, proposed budget cuts ... I am on the budgets committee also. A budget cut that really doesn't make sense. We have to keep fighting for all the things you are fighting for to keep them funded. Because this is political you must talk to your members of Congress and their staff. Members will respond to you. It is just very political. It entails grassroots organization and don't forget that. You move through this process and you make America more democratic. We are making sure your values are incorporated. Thank you again and I can answer a couple questions before I run. Its a busy day!

Joanne Carter: thanks for joining us. I want to ask first, it comes from the grassroots "if my member of Congress has never acted on our requests, what is a powerful way to get them engaged? A request letter, sign on letter, talking to your leadership?" And if you can talk a bit louder that would be great.

Rep. Barbara Lee: Yes. Everything you said is very important. I think one of the most important is getting to know the district electorates. I would suggest in addition to everything are emails, meetings, etc. If done out of context without local involvement, members will ignore it. So go to their district office and if they know their constituents it will translate.

Joanne Carter: Thanks. We are working on that and building support at the district level. Another question, "could you say a word about how you stay so passionate and energized when you face these challenges daily. What inspires you?"

Rep. Barbara Lee: as an African American and a woman, and recently I was in Selma, and I remember the days back when. My family and the community, my heroes from the civil rights movement - if they had given up when tired, I wouldn't be here. That keeps me going. I have experienced terrible racism in my life and I know I have to keep fighting for those that are still marginalized and discriminated against. Many of you might not have experienced who black people or women have, but when you come from that base, like I do, you just don't get tired there is so much work to do.

Joanne Carter: Thank you for that. We're glad you don't get tired, you are a source of enormous energy and courage for us in many areas.

Rep. Barbara Lee: Thank you. You keep me inspired and going. You are a group of people that get it and are part of the community and network of morally correct and politically active people that know the change can occur and you keep working to put the heat on the officials. You guys are the ones. Keep doing that and more members will feel energized with options.

Joanne Carter: We look forward to working with you on appropriations and child survival legislation. Thanks for being with us.

Rep. Barbara Lee: Thank you! I hope to see you soon. Joanne Carter: I want to end with saying 1) I want to extend a personal invitation to each of you for the RESULTS 35th anniversary July 18-21 in Washington, D.C. We want you there to share in the celebration with us. And to help us strategize about where we can be. If you look at the next big one it will be in 2050, 15 years from now, and where we will be in that time will depend on what happens now. There will be a shift to post 2015 goals, and a 2016 election. There will be hill meetings and we want you there. Partners from 15 countries, and Jeffrey Sachs will be there to help set up the goals. Sen. Brown to kick off lobby day and other exciting folks. For those of you that have come before, we want you back and I want to invite you to look to bring a new person. Really look in your network and your group and help support a new person to come to the conference and join us in the important work. For the new people, we really want you there. 100 young leaders and a new crop of change leaders. We want to work with you to make it happen and to get you there.

I want to end with saying 2 things: What Rep. Barbara Lee said, your willingness to do this work on appropriations makes all the work we have done for decades a reality now. It sits with the Congress on these decisions, and the work we have done to get pledges form the administration on the fight for AIDS, and TB and malaria help to make all this real on delivering on these pledges. Your willingness to do this makes a big difference in these expanding in the world.

Also, in the materials you have gotten, we fought hard a year ago to get a big additional pledge from the US in funding. We got more than the administration had been doing previously, but still less than we wanted. But this year the presidents budget had a 70 million increase and remember the work we do in any given moment doesn't show up that moment, but it can show up later. Sometimes we see the fruits of our labor a few days after a meeting, and other times it takes longer. So thank you for what you do. I am honored to be with you today.

Now, for Lisa Marchal. Lisa: Hi!! I am here in Lousiville, Kentucky and they all say hi! I am joined with Lila Cruikshank and she can put on her video. Hopefully you can see both of us, I am Lisa Marchal and this is Lila Cruikshank and she is with us to help really put a personal face on the appropriations work we are doing. The "why" we are doing it and what it means to real people. Lila began partnering with us at Results and she is a global health professional.

Lila, your story is that your global health work and your expertise collided with your personal world. What happened?

Lila Cruikshank: Yes, it did collide. I am in Durham, North Carolina and about 2 years ago my two lives really did collide. I have worked in public health for a number of years and spent 4 years living/working in S. Africa in Mozambique. I had been home here for 1.5 years and in graduate school. I hadn't been feeling well. I had a cold for a month and went on to the student health center and they sent me home and said to rest. So I carried on and went to classes, restaurants, time with friends, etc. Over the next two weeks I was diagnosed with TB. I went back to the health center. I found a Dr. that had seen TB in recent time. She looked at my history and TB came up and she realized she needed to test for it. I had a little cough but wasn't that sick. TB is really serious but I wasn't that sick yet. So to describe this, they sent me for a chest xray to rule out or identify TB. After the xray I had the TB skin test, the little bubble under the skin. They watch it and after 72 hours they check it. We are chatting while she places the bubble in my arm and the Dr. walks in with a mask, and gives me one. She says not to be scared but to wear it and go to her office. I knew then that it must have been TB.

It struck me that despite being a public health professional I had no idea what was lying ahead and I knew little about TB. It was strange to realize.

Lisa: Can you say a word or two about the emotional and social consequences? How it was in reality? Lila Cruikshank: I have talked to Lisa about this and how much the emotional toll was a big part of things. It was a Friday afternoon that I was identified as having potentially having TB, and the Dr. said this is one of those rare cases where we will refer you to the county health department because they handle the TB cases. So it is Friday and I need you to stay home all weekend. You are potentially contagious and then Monday morning go to the clinic. So that weekend was an example of the difficulty of TB and the isolation so you don't spread it.

There was the physical isolation too, but I don't have roommates so I was able to be home and not risk others. That first weekend was especially difficult. I wasn't sure I had it but I did a lot of reading about it. I realized quickly I didn't know how to talk to people about it. I had a lot of feelings of guilt that I might have put others at risk with this contagious disease I didn't know I had. I had been out and about and it was difficult to think about having exposed other people to tuberculosis. Along with that was the fear of how others would react. I just didn't want to talk to others about it.

It did get better, but that wasn't something that went away. Even today I don't talk about it to everyone because it is easier not to.

Lisa: That is why we're grateful you are a new ally of ours. Thank you for trusting in us. We have other things we have to move on to, but what can you say to us as advocates?

Lila Cruikshank: First, I want to thank you for volunteering your time and energy to advocate around issues for TB. I didn't tell you about the difficult diagnosis process, but we need more investment for better diagnostics. And the drug regiment needs improvement. And I was afraid my TB would be drug resistance, and luckily it wasn't, but that is a growing concern. TB is a growing issue, not just in the 3rd world, but here in the US too. It is tough to be a TB patient, and support for patients is really important at the local level. County resources need more in order to support their patients. Thank you for making this disease real to people and helping to put a voice to the call to action for investment in treatment. Lisa: Thank you so much for being with us and for this conversation. Now, on to Ken Patterson.

Ken Patterson: Thanks everyone and Lila for your powerful story. It gives us a reason for why we advocate on these issues and Joanne thank you for your work with Rep. Barbara Lee.

So, this is grassroots central coming from Asheville, North Carolina. I want to start with news, I get great news weekly, but I want to share a couple with you. You heard from Joanne about the great work in N. Virginia and a lot of those folks all met with their senators and their representatives. From Detroit I heard they had a meeting with their rep. David Trapp and they thought they were starting at scratch but he had understanding of our issues. People in the Northwest conference, 13 Canadians, all met in a regional conference and it was great. Kids in Washington just held a fundraiser and raised 22,000 dollars. Holy cow! A fantastic effort. You don't hear often about the expansion work, but Beals has started new groups in Louisiana, Arizona and McDuffy in Iowa. All these groups are in training and that is critical, but we're off to a great start.

Also, I want to hear from one of our volunteer groups, from Topeka, KS and Lila Bartel. Are you there, Lila? You are choppy but go ahead.

Lila Bartel: [Can't understand]

Ken Patterson: Maybe you have a tough signal. We can't understand you.

Lila Bartel: [Can't understand]

Ken Patterson: No, I don't think it will work. See if you can get to a better location for connection. But our Topeka group was restarted and Lila was a part of that. Amanda Beals worked with them to get them started and this time it took. Lila and Meredith took on co-leadership and they felt it challenging to work with conservation Lynn Jenkins. At first they didn't respond to the meeting request but they persisted.

Lila Bartel: I am here now! I was going to start that Ken was responsible for us. He came to Topeka and started our core group and ended up with people committing. Then we rounded up some more new people and we met Meredith, Angelique and others and suddenly we were rescued. 1) Ken continuing to cheer for us. 2) Amanda Beals, our global expansion manager on top of everything. 3) shrimp cocktail. We met over that and got our common enemy going to build group cohesiveness and emerged as a group with a mantra against poverty. We established a meeting with Lynn Jenkins - she had never heard of Gavie, but we recently had a letter from her that she wants to have robust input on Gavie, wants to work on maternal health and pledged to us we made a tremendous amount of difference. We will be watching her votes, of course. We are plugging along and helped a lot by the Results website. So there we are, struggling but we need your support. Thank you everyone.

Ken Patterson: Thank you Lila. Excellent story. To let everyone know that Lynn Jenkins did sign on to the child/maternal health sign on letter. One of the few republicans that has.

Next, I want to share a bit about 3 of the most critical upcoming actions we need to work on. Appropriations, face-to-face meetings and engaging new advocates.

Appropriations: Many of you have been in action with this. Cricket has reported at least 30 requests to fill out forms from Congress members because of your requests. This is tedious work but critical. You heard Rep. Barbara Lee reemphasize that. Agave fund pledges are meaningless with congressional support. So please keep getting these request in front of your people. You aren't done with a request until you have a yes/no answer, and it is simple to ask the rep. themselves which they will be supporting. Ask them straight out which will be included. If you need help figuring out appropriations you can speak to us and we will make sure you have everything you need.

As you follow up you can also ask your reps. to sign on to one of the 3 house sign on letters. For reps that are reluctant to set up a certain amount, these are great. These letters call for robust funding but not a certain amount. The TB letter asks for 400 million like the appropriations. The TB letters has 26 signers and the deadline is March 19. The education letter has 15 signers and a deadline of the 18th. So this week is the last chance to follow up.

Your top action for today is to make an action plan to get these request in and follow up with your senators. All the fact sheets are on our website. Be sure today your plan includes designated people for your reps and senators. And support each other to take these actions.

Related to these request through the end of the month, to support you in being more proficient from the narrative project, we are offering a webinar workshop on the 17th at 9pm. That is action #1.

Next is to engage your advocates to participate in the $2 challenge. This is experimental learning opportunity to see what it feels like to live with extremely limited resources for food and such. That happens April 6-10 and doing it with OxFam and the $2 at colleges and universities. It is to bridge what Kristoff talked about, the empathy gap. To connect people to what it really means. We will pair it with readings and discussions, before and after the experience. It is a great way to engage colleagues and friends from networks and other communities. Please discuss this and more information is on our website.

The 3rd action is face-to-face meetings. Quite a few of you have requested meetings with your reps and that's great. We want to meet with every rep. and senator in person. It can be a challenge but be persistent. Town hall meetings can make it easier too. As Lila said, the in person meetings have the greatest potential for impact. March 28-April 12 is a recess. A good time for face-to-face meetings. I want you to talk with your group about which reps and senators you will meet with during the recess. Come up with the names and type them in the chat window, or if on the phone I will have you shout out your answers and we will try to record that. Take about 2 min. for a quick chat with your group and note for us who you will try to meet with face-to-face and then you can unmute your phones. Go ahead.

Continue putting the names in the chat box, or on the phone shout the answers out. Then we can know what your plans are for the recess and we can support you in that.

Denver: DeGette

Ken Patterson: Excellent. Just take another quick minute to finish that conversation.

Gig Harbor: We are planning to meet with Derek Kilmer end of this month or early April.

Ken Patterson: Excellent. OK, we will finish this up in a moment, but continue this conversation. Send this to your regional coordinater as well. Great work everyone and thanks for taking the time. My final note today is about the international conference. We have reduced registration to $100 for volunteers and there will be no additional person fees per room. Up to 4 people can share a room and there isn't extra fees. As Joanne mentioned, this is the greatest way to convince people our work is changing the world. Bring someone and you will have a committed activists on your hands. I would love to see 150 global volunteers in Washington, D.C. this year. And anyone under the age of 30, fellowship is a great way for them to experience this.

Thank you for all you do and I am honored to be with you. Thanks for your courage and passion. Have a great weekend and lets enjoy our work!

{Everyone saying bye} [End of call]