By Rhonda Sewell, Toledo Museum of Art Director of Advocacy and External Affairs
Special Guest Contributor
As a professional whose role is steeped in advocacy and governmental affairs, a huge component of my job at the Toledo Museum of Art entails forming and maintaining key relationships with legislators and policy makers at the local, state and federal levels. These relationships are important in bringing awareness to the needs of arts and culture funding.
Attending this year’s 53rd Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Annual Legislative Conference (CBCF-ALC) in early September, was a reminder of how important this gathering is in moving toward a better tomorrow for our country.
My good friend, Toledoan Alan Bannister, a nationally respected governmental affairs consultant for a Columbus firm, encouraged me to attend last year’s 52nd annual ALC convening. It was then that I knew how important this conference was to my success at networking on a national level to convey the need for critical arts and culture funding.
The CBCF-ALC is the leading public policy convening focused on issues impacting African Americans and the global Black community. The ALC is a unique platform where thought leaders, legislators, influencers and concerned citizens converge in Washington, D.C., to discuss and address critical issues, forge partnerships and promote the political, economic and social advancement of Black communities.
Like last year, attending this year’s ALC provided me an opportunity to visit northwest Ohio legislators and their aides to update them on the state of the Museum, our infrastructure concerns, our programmatic success, our future reimagining plans and to inform them on how we are interacting with the community. Taking time to meet with northwest Ohio members of the United States Congress is vital to bring our elected officials closer to our mission, values and funding needs.
I was so fortunate this year to travel with Felica Clark, of the Toledo Metroparks. Clark and I both oversee our organizations’ DEAI (diversity, equity, access and inclusion) strategy and are part of a group of founding members of the DEAI ALLiance of Northwest Ohio. Like my experience last year, it was Clark’s first CBCF-ALC. For both of us, I arranged a meeting with a policy director and aide of Senator Sherrod Brown’s D.C. team to discuss the goals of the Museum and Metroparks and how the two popular and important organizations are aligned in planning for future growth.
Clark and I also attended sessions for professional development, but our most value-added takeaway were the abundance of resources and new people we met at CBCF-ALC. Conference networking at this convening gave us a chance to share what we do and to convey how both arts and culture, and preservation of our environment are making a difference for our communities, especially those which remain untapped and under resourced.
As chief diversity officers, Clark and I gravitated to sessions discussing DEAI guiding principles, including a podcast gathering on the socio-political backlash of DEAI.
My personal highlight was meeting and talking to Senator Cory Booker, a well-known and respected senator who immediately waxed poetic about Sen. Sherrod Brown when he discovered that I was from Ohio.
Connecting with good friends from Ohio to discuss and highlight the landscape of our great state is always a plus. Present this year included Columbus lobbyist and strategist Derrick Clay who is from Toledo; members of Toledo LISC; Jonathan Bridges of Jobs Ohio and Alan Bannister, who opened so many doors for me at my first CBCF-ALC.
In addition to sessions and workshops, CBCF-ALC also includes galas, state receptions, prayer breakfasts, talks and key legislative hubs. A major closing event during the ALC is titled The Saturday Brunch, hosted annually by theGROUP, a key DC lobbying and strategy firm in governmental affairs.
Cynthia Thompson, Toledo Museum Board member, is the mother-in-law of Art Collins, founder and chairman of theGROUP. During this brunch, key members of Congress speak on the issues of the day. Speakers included the U.S. Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, minority Leader of the House of Reps, and Atlanta Mayor Andre Dicken.
Thanks to my family friend from DC, Clif Porter, I am invited as a guest at this important affair. Porter was just named CEO of the American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living. Porter and wife Deborah, a national Mom Coach, and who I refer to as my sisterfriend, lived in the Toledo area for many years where they raised their three now adult children.
Next year, it is my wish that more Toledoans attend the CBCF-ALC, epically those with governmental affairs or DEAI roles for their companies. The return on investment is undeniable for both personal and professional development.
To learn more about CBCF-ALC: https://www.cbcfinc.org/events/annual-legislative-conference/
Special guest contributor Rhonda Sewell can be reached at rsewell@toledomuseum.org