The Amputee Coalition of America (ACA) has experienced a great deal of success in advancing prosthetic parity at the state level. In order to take this fight to the U.S. Congress, the ACA hired a new staff member to help coordinate the outreach and organizing efforts it will take to launch a federal initiative. The ACA is proud to announce the hire of Sheila Van Pay in the position of federal campaign field organizer.
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Van Pay comes to the ACA with a background in campaign management, community development, and public policy. She was previously employed as a member of the Scottish Parliament, where she helped elect 17 parliament and council candidates in the Gordon constituency during the 2007 Scottish Parliamentary elections.
As the ACA's federal field organizer, Van Pay will support all aspects of the federal campaign, including designing and implementing outreach strategies, distributing federal alerts to educate members, and organizing events to generate media attention and mobilize activists. This will include a National Day of Action in the spring, where activists from all over the country will put on an event to help push the federal campaign. This nationwide day of activism will help to demonstrate the support base for federal prosthetic parity.
Van Pay will also help to build the federal campaign through strategic initiatives, including letter-to-the editor campaigns, petition drives, in-district meetings, and lobby days, as well as using the local volunteers to meet the needs of the federal program.
"The ACA has grown substantially in the past few years, and the launch of our federal campaign is proof that the efforts of our staff, sponsors, and volunteers have been both beneficial and successful," Van Pay said. "Public health research and awareness has always been my passion. I am very excited to be a part of this important campaign."
Morgan Sheets is the national advocacy director for ACA's Action Plan for People with Limb Loss (APPLL) initiative. She can be reached at APPLL@amputee-coalition.org. For more information, visit www.amputee-coalition.org/advocacy/index.html
