Call to Action: Joint Baltic American National Committee Virtual Advocacy Day

JBANC is calling on Baltic Americans to join us in welcoming the new Congress and letting them know about the issues that matter to us! Baltic Advocacy Days 2021 will take place virtually March 8-12 and requires registration by February 15th. Participants will have opportunities to speak up for Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania through meetings with their Senators’ and Representatives’ offices, making calls, and sending e-mails and letters. Training and background information will be provided.

Since 2018, JBANC, with support from its parent organizations: the American Latvian Association (ALA); the Estonian American National Council (EANC); and the Lithuanian American Council, along with the Lithuanian American Community; and sponsorship from the Baltic advocacy group, Baltivist; have organized annual Baltic Advocacy Days on Capitol Hill. The goal of these advocacy days has been for Baltic Americans and constituents to meet with their Members of Congress (MoCs) and voice their concerns over U.S. policy issues relevant to the Baltic nations. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, in-person meetings are not possible this year, therefore JBANC and Baltivist are working hard to make these meetings possible virtually!

There will be a limited number of meetings scheduled for the week, and there is limited space for attendance, so we urge you to register promptly by February 15th. If we’re not able to schedule meetings with your MoCs’ offices, your calls and correspondence will still have a huge impact in sharing our message and raising awareness on our issues of concern.

We ask that you sign up through the Baltivist advocacy site here: baltivist.com/advocacy-day-2021-sign-up.

There you will also find valuable resources to aid in preparation. We will send out informational one-pagers on the issues and other supporting documents to participants closer to the event. In addition, Baltivist will provide training the week before the event.

If you have any questions, please contact EANC Washington, DC Director Karin Shuey at [email protected]. Updates will be published here and on the Facebook event page titled First [Virtual] Baltic Advocacy Week. JBANC and EANC look forward to seeing you there!

Karin Shuey

Washington, DC

Director

Estonian American National Council