Policy decisions made in city halls, statehouses and Congress shape the everyday realities of our lives—our health, our housing, our work and our sense of safety and belonging. But policies are not fixed; they can be shaped—and reshaped—by the voices and lived experiences of the people they affect.
Make Policy Personal is an LPA initiative designed to celebrate—and support—advocates who know that the most effective advocacy connects lived experience to the policies that impact it. It supports advocates who bring their personal stories into legislative spaces so decision-makers can better understand the people behind the policies they debate.
In the stories linked below, you’ll meet some of those advocates. They share the successes and challenges of advocating in this very specific context—and how they’ve worked to have real, authentic impact within what is often a very short window of opportunity.
Rebekah Edmondson – advocating for Afghani women, military partners she fought alongside during the Afghan War. Read her story.
Barry Scanlan – advocating for the preservation of the desert land he first connected with nearly five decades ago. Read and hear his story.
Zach Wahls – advocating for marriage equity. Fifteen years ago a video of his advocacy went viral; now he’s running for office View his viral video.
Reberkah Edmondson (c)
Barry Scanlan
Zach Wahls, then and now
Mindy Woods
“Watching these legislators: most of their heads were down and they were busy on their laptops. But when I started to talk about my story, their heads rose up. I got their attention. For them to hear that a single mom, a Gulf War veteran, with a child with special medical needs, that this was happening to us, and that there weren’t resources out there for us. . . . That day is when I learned the power of telling your story and how it makes a difference.”
Mindy Woods – shared this moment with us from the first time she shared her stories of being unhoused with legislators. Read Mindy’s full story in Living Proof.
ABOUT MAKE POLICY PERSONAL WORKSHOPS: If you and your advocates are aiming to impact policy change with personal stories, contact us to learn about LPA’s Make Policy Personal workshops, which turn our proven storytelling-for-advocacy method into a focused, action-oriented pathway tailored specifically for policy advocacy. Workshops help advocates clarify what matters most, craft messages with intention and speak with purpose—so their stories don’t just move hearts, but inform decisions.