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24 OUR LIFE • July-August 2022 Soyuzianky have been advocates for Ukraine since the UNWLA was founded almost 100 years ago. We were among the first in the U.S. to sound the alarm about the Holodomor, and our cultural advocacy has con - nected Americans across the country with Ukraine’s uniquely beautiful art, music, and literature. Earlier this year, the UNWLA formalized and gave structure to this important work by setting up an Advocacy Committee under my chairmanship. The committee’s work began with a fortuitously sched - uled Advocacy seminar by Vera Andryczyk on Feb - ruary 24. When this date was scheduled, I’m sure no one truly knew the significance. As we met that evening, still in shock, we were empowered by Ve - ra’s presentation and galvanized to act. We kicked everything off with a seven-day advocacy challenge, each day offering our members different ways to speak for Ukraine. These included contact - ing Senators, House Reps, and the President; writ - ing op-eds; and pushing for divestment from russian businesses among university endowments and state pension funds. We also pushed to counter russian propaganda and began a campaign to have U.S. ca - ble providers drop russian state-sponsored chan - nels from their packages. The petition we started on Change.org garnered more than 70,000 signatures, and our work resulted in RT and its sister networks being dropped by U.S. cable providers. RT America closed its doors in March. After our initial advocacy blitz, our committee began holding weekly meetings with members from all over the country who wanted to join in our work. Our campaigns fall into three categories: Political Advoca - cy, Corporate Advocacy, and Cultural Advocacy. Marianna Tretiak , Member-at-Large, Philadelphia, PA The UNWLA has a long history of activism and advocacy. UNWLA Launches New Advocacy Committee POLITICAL ADVOCACY • Following current political issues and coordinating member advocacy when key bills are up for vote in Congress – including the Lend-Lease Bill and the Ukraine funding act. • Tracking how officials voted, researching bills relat - ed to Ukraine, and creating information packs for UNWLA members. • Leading advocacy workshops for local chapters to em - power them to connect with their elected officials. • Traveling to Washington, DC, to meet with elected officials. CORPORATE ADVOCACY • Compiling information about the corporations that continue to operate in russia. • Creating information packages for members about which U.S. brands are owned by conglomerates that are doing business in russia so that our members can avoid these brands. • Reaching out to C-suite executives and Board mem - bers to advocate for a complete pull-out from russia. • Tracking economic and financial issues related to sanctions. CULTURAL ADVOCACY • Coordinating and tracking the ways in which our mem - bers advocate for Ukraine in their local communities. • Coordinating a national project to pair U.S. cities with Ukraine’s cities through Sister Cities International. • Forging ties with American organizations to help us magnify our voices within the American Communi - ty; these include Rotary International, Daughters of the American Revolution, and the Junior League. • Developing a template for UNWLA members to ad - vocate at their local libraries for Ukrainian-language books and English-language books about Ukraine. This summer, in addition to our continuing work, we broke into working groups focusing on the following issues: Sis - ter Cities, Ukrainian Language Advocacy, and American Community Outreach. As our working groups develop their projects, we will be able to create templates and instructions that we can share with our members across the country. Our goal is to give our Soyuzianky as many tools as possible so that they can continue to advocate, educate, and cultivate support for Ukraine. Our committee is open, and we are always happy to wel - come new members. If you are interested in joining our work, please email advocacy@unwla.org, and we will include you in our mailing list and invite you to our next meeting. At a time when we may feel powerless, advo - cacy provides a way that you, in your corner of the world, can empower yourself and make a difference for Ukraine.
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