CT Nonprofits Advocates at White House

HARTFORD — This last week marked a defining moment for Connecticut’s nonprofit organizations and the communities they serve, as Connecticut Association of Nonprofits (CT Nonprofits) advocated for the state’s nonprofit sector at the White House and on Capitol Hill.

Ron Cretaro, Executive Director of CT Nonprofits with Tim Delaney, President & CEO of the National Council of Nonprofits

In an historic first, Ron Cretaro, Executive Director of CT Nonprofits, along with 80 fellow leaders representing more than 20,000 nonprofit members from across the country, met Tuesday with a senior White House official to explore ways government and nonprofits can best partner to serve local communities.

Meeting in the celebrated Indian Treaty Room, the White House was represented by Michele Jolin, Senior Advisor in the new Office of Social Innovation & Civic Participation. Jolin noted that the Office was created by a President who has an unprecedented commitment to and personal understanding of the vital role nonprofits play in their communities. Jolin and the nonprofit leaders discussed ways the National Council of Nonprofits, which includes CT Nonprofits, can leverage its unique national/state/local network to help the Office of Social Innovation & Civic Participation connect to small and midsize nonprofits in local communities to identify, promote, and support innovative and scalable programs. The discussion also covered how to create a better policy environment for nonprofits so limited government and nonprofit resources can be leveraged for greater impact in local communities.

On Wednesday, July 15th, Cretaro and CT Nonprofits’ Public Policy Specialist, Liza Andrews also participated in the second annual “Nonprofits Advocate!”Lobby Day. The leaders were briefed by key senior staff members of Senators Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) on the progress of legislation of concern to nonprofits. Cretaro and Andrews then traversed Capitol Hill for meetings in the offices of Congressmen Joe Courtney (D) and Jim Himes (D). These visits focused on two core messages: (1) protecting the funding for the “Nonprofit Capacity Building Program” in the Serve America Act; and (2) ensuring that nonprofits – which employ about 10% of America’s workforce – are not forgotten in health care reform.

These discussions with Congress and the White House occurred as part of the annual Member Meeting of the National Council of Nonprofits. In addition to sharing innovative ideas and knowledge about best practices, nonprofit leaders heard evidence of the economic recession’s serious impact on nonprofits from Dr. Lester Salamon, a national expert on nonprofits and civil society who leads the Listening Post Project at Johns Hopkins University.

“It is an exciting time to be taking the message of nonprofits in Connecticut down to Washington, DC,” said Cretaro. “With so many developments around healthcare and the federal budget, including capacity building grants for nonprofits, it was important to let our Congressmen and women know how hard nonprofits in their state are working and to ensure that adequate protections and opportunities exist to further these efforts.”

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Established in 1977, Connecticut Association of Nonprofits (CT Nonprofits) is a collaborative of over 500 organizations that supports its members through partnerships and collaborations; cost-saving benefits; information, education and advocacy. The mission of CT Nonprofits is to support and strengthen nonprofit organizations in building and sustaining healthy communities in Connecticut. Learn more at www.ctnonprofits.org.