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Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP) - Women Making a Difference on the Hill

The WBDC has been a long-time member of Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP), a national bi-partisan public policy organization representing over half a million in business and women business owners nationwide. WIPP is a community of direct members, corporate associations, and 45 coalition partners, including NAWBO, NAFE, WPO, and WBENC. Participation in an organization that advocates on behalf of women business owners is a valuable investment for our WBEs. Major changes in public policy can affect the way women run their business in issues ranging from healthcare to technology to business taxes; WIPP provides a method to ensure each business owner’s voice is heard as part of a larger community. Policy is changed based on the needs of ‘numbers’ – each person can speak out, individually, and have their say. If those individuals join forces and speak out collectively, in a larger group as with WIPP, suddenly Washington takes notice.		Listen to Audio Interview with Jennifer Bisceglie, WIPP Instant Impact National Chair

WIPP’s momentum is based on five tenants:

1. Bi-partisanship – WIPP focuses on the issues of woman-owned and small businesses. The issues that affect these companies are not based on one side of the aisle or the other; the issues are in the current and future legislation. WIPP uses the voice of its membership to shape this legislation to benefit the businesses it represents.

2. Numbers – As stated above, WIPP’s membership is well over half a million people and growing. While 500,000 is a good start, in order to become a real powerhouse WIPP needs to represent millions of women and minority business owners. Instructions on how to get involved are provided later in this article.

3. & 4. Collaboration and Participation – WBDC is already doing it as a coalition partner of WIPP. That said, direct involvement, as indicated above, and further discussed in the Instant Impact Teams WIPP is launching across America, is needed to push policy forward.

5. The Future – Everything you do today affects the shape of tomorrow. From the effort you put in your company, the participation you have in your community and the involvement you have with other WBEs, all of this is shaping the future of America for those that come behind you. This is the same with WIPP. WIPP is focused not only on the near term policy objectives but also on the long term effects of the work they’re doing. In addition to focusing on the gain from the work being done in current legislation, they also look to ensure that future legislation is shaped and that the lines of communication to Washington will be remain open and sought out by Legislators.

Women have the ability to affect political change with their participation in the political process. Please take a moment to read about WIPP’s efforts to establish local teams in each state of women and small business owners who can become actively engaged with the district offices of their federally elected officials. This national grassroots initiative is called Instant Impact and will arrive in Florida early next year.

GET INVOLVED: Join WIPP’s Instant Impact Teams

In order for WIPP to make the greatest impact in Washington it must continue to increase the number of woman-owned and small businesses that it represents. To make this happen, the time has come to engage and energize membership in their home districts to become actively involved with the district offices of their federally elected officials. Within each state, WIPP is holding “Instant Impact” meetings to actively involve the membership, and other woman-owned and small businesses in the area, by updating them on WIPP’s Federal legislative focuses so they in turn can “spread the word” and update other businesses in their communities as well as communicate with their Federal officials’ district offices. The effect of this effort is two-fold: (1) it is ensuring that Washington, DC is getting the message that WIPP is a voice worth listening to from the grassroots level, and (2) it is creating an infrastructure from where a self-sustaining, active community can thrive and gain the required active membership increases and coalition partner involvement. In short, the Instant Impact Implementation Program is core to continuing WIPP’s reputation as being the voice for women business owners and small business on the Hill.

The following strategy is being implemented across the country:

• There is at least one (1) major kick-off launch per month in a state. At the same time, there may be several smaller luncheons held in another city in the state or other states, to begin to get the membership talking amongst themselves and forming the core group that will continue on. At the major launches, at least two (2) Federal officials (or staff) are invited to each event, a Republican and a Democrat, to speak with the attendees and help them understand how best to form relationships with their district offices and the importance of such a relationship. At each launch, the attendees are updated on the latest WIPP-focused legislation from the Hill and any support that is being asked for at this time. Support can include phone calls to the district or DC offices or letter writing on behalf of WIPP and the attendee’s business. These ‘Calls to Action’ are monitored by WIPP staff and the WIPP Government Relations Team in Washington, DC follows up to ensure the DC Legislator’s office has received the information from the districts and understands the power of WIPP.
• Each team is headed by at least two (2) WIPP members. This ensures that all team members have a conduit to WIPP headquarters and to the Hill. They are kept abreast of legislative updates and each team member is asked to ‘adopt’ a local district office to form a relationship with. This provides for a long-standing relationship for the member, and for WIPP, to communicate on various topics. This also gives the Federal official a tie to their constituents which has been leveraged in the past for legislative input, industry research, and district office sought opinions.
• WIPP is investing internally, as well, to ensure this program is sustainable. Each launch is facilitated by a WIPP Communications Task Force that works with the teams to gain visibility in the local press, which in turn will promote the work being done by the membership as well as the individual team member’s company. There is also a Membership Task Force that will make contact with any new members to bring them immediately up to speed and get them involved. No advance knowledge of public policy is required, just the knowledge that you need to get involved to protect your business and its needs and the energy to take part.
• WIPP will also be launching an updated website, shortly, to promote the local area events and provide another venue for people to get involved.

“To be a concerned citizen and successful woman business owner, you must reach a point where you look beyond the nuts and bolts of your business, beyond how many pencils you sold this week, to a greater vision for not only your company, but for your community and for your country. If you do, you, too, can become a catalyst for change. No one can speak better for you than you – and you owe it to your self, your family, and your business to do so. Become engaged, become politically aware, join more than half a million woman business owners as part of WIPP, and be heard. WIPP is the voice for women in business in our nation’s capital.”

Barbara Kasoff, President and CEO of WIPP

The current Instant Impact launch dates are posted on their website at www.wipp.org. Please visit this regularly and ensure that when the launch comes to your city and state, you make the time to get involved. For immediate questions of how to get involved in WIPP and the Instant Impact Teams, please contact Jason Lalak at 415-434-4314.