Women's Policy Institute - keep it operating!

Thank you for the opportunity and support of our group and this program. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity. I have learned so much and being in the presence of so many amazing individuals has been incredible. - Tamara Burman, 2021 WPI Fellow

The Women’s Policy Institute (WPI) was launched to build a progressive movement in Rhode Island that focuses on a broad range of women’s issues, fostering opportunities for cross-issue learning during sessions, encouraging participants to work in coalition and developing an alumni network. WPI explicitly focuses on supporting the culture and agenda of policy advocacy within participants’ home organizations and communities, expanding the program’s reach beyond those who directly participate. We are seeking funding for the annual operation of the policy institute. This means continuing to offer it free of charge to fellows to keep it equitable for all ages and socio-economic groups. We will also use the funding to pay childcare stipends and a day off of work stipends for fellows who require them to participate. 

WPI is a program designed to train women who are community and nonprofit leaders from across the state of Rhode Island. The second program of its kind in the nation, the intention is to increase the number of community-based women leaders in Rhode Island who are actively shaping and implementing policies that affect the well-being of women and girls.

 Participants in the Women’s Policy Institute learn and practice important skills in lobbying and advocacy, media messaging, community organizing, drafting legislation, and public speaking. They also build relationships with key influencers, engaging legislators, and community leaders on the advocacy project that Fellows will work on throughout the program. The program is deeply committed to both racial and gender equity.

As each retreat builds on the activities of the previous retreat, program milestones are met throughout the program, including identifying legislative solutions to a specific community issue, creating an advocacy plan, conducting research on policy implementation, drafting legislation, finding sponsors to shepherd the desired bill through the legislative process and testifying before committees. 

WPI draws from three philosophical traditions:  Feminism, Social Justice, and Participatory Democracy. The program is structured around four retreats and runs for nine months. Each retreat provides intense training on every step of the policy advocacy process, including research, developing bill language, meeting with legislators, providing testimony, and conducting a budget analysis. 

The content of each retreat relates to the local legislative cycle and culminates in a policy project. Fellows choose their policy project issues and are responsible for shepherding their bills or proposals through each stage of the advocacy process.