Matt established a sustainable structure for two advocacy committees in the Portlandarea, one consisting of direct-service providers, and the other of their clients. Both committees partner with the Oregon Food Bank to work on joint advocacy projects. Matt also documented the process of creating an advocacy committee of direct-service clients to inform future efforts.
Connecting People to Power: How to Establish a Citizen’s Advocacy Group at a Food Bank guides service providers through the process of bringing together food pantry clients to do sustained advocacy. The guide provides helpful examples, models, and references to make it easy for anyone, regardless of background, to mobilize clients to engage in advocacy.
Matt worked with the Washington Office of the Presbyterian Church (USA) on federal budget policy, tax policy, and budget process issues. He prepared educational resources for Presbyterian networks on these issues, as well as contributing articles on budget and tax issues to print media.
Matt is a 2005 graduate of Dartmouth College with a degree in history and minors in government and Japanese. He worked as a policy analyst for the Vermont and New Hampshire Legislatures, where he completed a comparative analysis of No Child Left Behind policies in both states. He also served as an intern at the National Coalition for the Homeless, and at Northwestern University School of Law’s Center on Wrongful Convictions. Matt spent a summer volunteering for the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights on a campaign to register voters in immigrant communities.
At CHC’s June 7, 2012, Congressional Awards Ceremony… Read more we will honor Senator Dick Durbin and Senator Roy Blunt. We invite
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