Planned Parenthood Advocates of Iowa

Advocates of Iowa staff operated a sophisticated digital program that generated 23,326 website visits, 18 blogs, 409 new facebook followers, 69 new twitter followers, and 497 new instagram followers. During fy23, 320,822 emails were sent to supporters asking them to take action on behalf of Advocates of Iowa. In fy23, Advocates of Iowa staff continued partnerships with allies at the Iowa legislature to advocate for health care access and defend against anti-sexual and reproductive health care policies. (continued in schedule o)the Advocates of Iowa staff also educated and mobilized supporters to engage on bills impacting reproductive health during the 2023 Iowa legislative session, including working against medically unnecessary abortion requirements and continued efforts to give taxpayer dollars to deceptive and unregulated crisis pregnancy centers.during the 2023 legislative session, Advocates of Iowa staff engaged over 13,000 supporters through 1:1 meetings, lobby day, and relational organizing. The goal of this work was to activate supporters against harmful bills and advocate for proactive legislation to protect and expand sexual and reproductive health care and rights. Iowa volunteers gave their time to help contact their fellow supporters and invite new participants to fight against anti-sexual and reproductive health policy initiatives, and build support for Planned Parenthood across the state. Advocates of Iowa staff hosted legislative education conversations near the start of session to make the legislative process and current bills more accessible and understandable.advocates of Iowa staff grew our youth and campus organizing program to four college campuses. Young iowans from our Planned Parenthood generation action campus chapters hosted events to engage their peers, offer sexual and reproductive health education to students, and build community connections. These groups also tabled at local events and attended lobby day at the Iowa capitol.advocates of Iowa grew its presence in the latinx community through the raiz program, which included dedicated community organizing, increased presence at community events, and bilingual events with partner organizations throughout the year.in fy23 staff collaborated to empower supporters to write letters to the editor, dozens of which were published in local newspapers on the topics of reproductive freedom and bodily autonomy. Organizing staff continued to build community by creating volunteer leadership structures in communities across Iowa. They also hosted online and in person trainings and workshops about abortion stigma, sharing stories of personal experiences with access to sexual and reproductive health care, legislative updates, and relational organizing.staff organized 28 partner organizations to meet monthly in coalition to build strategic partnerships on shared interests. It was this group's vision to keep building power centered on historically excluded and underrepresented communities while collaborating on defensive strategies. Critical to this work is a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.