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Get to the Core of It, Part V: Systems Advocacy

Presented by Chris Hilderbrant, Chief Operating Officer (COO), Center for Disability Rights (CDR), Rochester, New York, on June 16, 2010

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About the Training

Get to the Core of It is an on-demand training series on the four-core services of Centers for Independent Living. Each presentation in the series features CIL staff and programs that are especially successful at providing excellent services to their communities. The five-part series explores best practices and innovative approaches to the four core services and is presented as follows:

• Part I: Information & Referral
• Part II: Peer Support
• Part III: Independent Living Skills Training
• Part IV: Individual Advocacy
• Part V: Systems Advocacy

The last of the five episodes, Systems Advocacy, features Chris Hilderbrant from the Center for Disability Rights (CDR) in Rochester, New York. Chris outlines his Center's outstanding approach to systems advocacy. This presentation is a helpful reminder that, YES!, Centers can and must advocate for the rights and access of people with disabilities! Chris outlines CDR's use of the pitchfork approach to advocacy and explains how you can use it in your community. He discusses advocating at all levels of government, how to get media coverage, and gives tips on protest and direct action. In addition, you'll learn how to help consumers become effective systems change advocates and how, as a Center, you can measure and document your success.

Learning Objectives:

Upon completion of this on-demand training, participants will have knowledge and resources which will enable them to:

• Explain the philosophy and role of systems advocacy as a core service that builds community and changes people's lives.
• Describe the five elements of a best practice systems advocacy model that, when used together, serve as effective catalysts for change.
• Describe how social media can be used as a highly effective advocacy tool for communication.
• Explain strategies for measuring success of their CIL's systems advocacy efforts.

About the Presenter

Chris Hilderbrant

Chris Hilderbrant is the Chief Operating Officer (COO) at the Center for Disability Rights, managing all of the day-to-day operations of offices in Rochester, Corning, Geneva and Albany. The creation of this new position is in direct response to CDR's rapid growth and promising future. Since 2003, Hilderbrant served as Director of Advocacy. As a person with a disability due to a spinal cord injury at the age of 14, he has used his personal experience over the past two decades to guide the organization's advocacy efforts on behalf all people with disabilities, which is representative of CDR's peer model of advocacy and services. He has led non-violent, direct action efforts for the rights of people with disabilities throughout New York State and the country, including being arrested for committing civil disobedience. One of the most significant accomplishments during his tenure in advocacy has been the enactment of legislation to develop the Nursing Facility Transition and Diversion Waiver in order to ensure that New Yorkers with disabilities, regardless of age or type of disabilities, can access services needed for life in the most integrated setting.

Transcript and Resources:

• PowerPoint presentation (PPT file)
• PowerPoint presentation (Accessible HTML file)
• Transcript of the Program (rtf file)

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Presented by CIL-NET, a program of the IL NET national training and technical assistance project for Centers for Independent Living (CIL-NET) and Statewide Independent Living Councils (SILC-NET). The IL NET is operated by ILRU, Independent Living Research Utilization, in partnership with the National Council on Independent Living (NCIL) and the Association of Programs for Rural Independent Living (APRIL).

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