At a glance
Olympia Lobby Day, hosted by Health Equity Forward (HEF) and led by the UW Climate Health Committee, provides students with a… Read full summary
- Funding received
- 2025-2026
- Mini
- Awarded
- $634
- Funding partners
-
- Services and Activities Fee (SAF)
- Website & social links
Olympia Lobby Day, hosted by Health Equity Forward (HEF) and led by the UW Climate Health Committee, provides students with a hands-on opportunity to advocate for climate health legislation. Twenty students will attend a Prep Day on April 5 at UW, learning to research policymakers, craft personal narratives, and practice advocacy skills. On April 6, students will travel to the Legislative Building in Olympia to meet with lawmakers and their teams. This project empowers students with civic skills, strengthens community-focused research and planning abilities, and contributes to climate and health equity across Washington State. CSF funding will support travel and room rental costs.
Olympia Lobby Day hosted by Health Equity Forward (HEF) and led by the Climate Health Committee at UW aims to lead an opportunity for students to engage with Congress members to advocate for climate health related bills. Through this trip, HEF will lead UW students to gain stronger civic skills, learn what it means to advocate for community and engage in strengthening research and project planning skills. The team would consist of 20 students who will attend a prep day on April 5th at UW and travel to lobby on April 6th at the Legislative Building in Olympia, Washington.
Our event would be a one day endeavor where students learn how to navigate Washington's governmental system. Through extensive research on State Representatives and crafting personal narratives to emphasize the need for policy action in regard to climate health bills, students can gain critical advocacy skills on what it means to lobby for something they are passionate about. On the day prior to Lobby Day, our team will travel through use of the Amtrak. The day prior, the team will issue a Prep Day at the UW where we go over our materials and emulate a final practice of what will occur so that the team will be fully prepared to talk to Congress leaders teams. There will be three workshops followed with an immersive activity to ensure everyone on the team is fully prepared and informed.
The funding needed for this project will be allocated towards the price of travel (Amtrak) and for booking a room affiliated with the University of Washington for Lobby Prep Day. The funding received from CSF will help ensure a more sustainable life for not just UW students, but for all Washington residents in ensuring that in the midst of climate change our health is protected.
Kenna Samples
Project lead
- ksamples@uw.edu
- Affiliation
- Student
- Years
- 2 year(s) remaining at UW
- Affiliated groups
- Health Equity Forward - UW Chapter
Anu Marimuthu
Team member
- anumari@uw.edu
- Affiliation
- Student
- Years
- 2 year(s) remaining at UW
- Affiliated groups
- Health Equity Forward - UW Chapter
Alicia Nam
Team member
- anam88@uw.edu
- Affiliation
- Student
- Years
- 3 year(s) remaining at UW
- Affiliated groups
- Health Equity Forward - UW Chapter
Lina Macabalito
Team member
- amacab15@uw.edu
- Affiliation
- Student
- Years
- 2 year(s) remaining at UW
- Affiliated groups
- Health Equity Forward - UW Chapter
Request amount and budget
Plans for financial longevity
After the funding for HEF’s Olympia Lobby Day ends, this event will continue as an annual opportunity for students to gain experience with climate health related bills and advocacy. An output of this year’s project will be a lobby day planning guide, including a detailed timeline, budgeting templates, legislator cold-emailing strategies, and public health advocacy workshop slides. This resource will be maintained and updated annually to ensure this project is able to be replicated. Since most expenses for this event such as transportation and lodging are a one-time cost, there will be minimal funding needed to maintain this activity. As current leaders graduate, new club members will be trained to plan and lead this event, and students will learn how to lobby more effectively in the future as well.
Saturday, April 5th, 2026: Lobby Day Workshop Event
- 8:00-9:00 AM: Leadership set up
- 9:00-9:30 AM: Welcome and icebreakers
- 9:30-9:45 AM: Introduction to Health Equity Forward and climate health committee
- 9:45-11:30 AM: Workshops
- Introduction to Washington state legislature structure
- Introduction to the role of advocacy in public health
- Story of self workshop
- 11:30 AM-12:45 PM: Lunch Break
- 12:45-2:00 PM: Workshops
- How to learn about a legislator and their “profile”
- Run through of our bills
- 2:00-3:45 PM: Run through of teams, scripts, and how Lobby Day will be organized
- 3:45-4:30 PM: Leadership debrief and close
Sunday, April 6th, 2026: Olympia Lobby Day
- Amtrak from King Station Seattle to Olympia-Lacey Station at 7:10AM arrive 8:31PM
- Uber to Legislative Building arrive ~9:00AM
- Meetings with legislative staffers from 9:30AM-4PM with lunch break
- Return to Olympia-Lacey Station by 5:30PM
- Amtrak from Olympia-Lacey Station to Seattle 6:01PM-7:51PM
Plans for long-term project management
After the funding for HEF’s Olympia Lobby Day ends, this event will continue as an annual opportunity for students to gain experience with climate health related bills and advocacy. Since most expenses for this event such as transportation and lodging are a one-time cost, there will be minimal funding needed to maintain this activity. As current leaders graduate, new club members will be trained to plan and lead this event, and students will learn how to lobby more effectively. We will keep record of the planning process in our club archive and create a guide for future years if HEF plans a similar event. Although CSF will help fund this year’s trip, future years will be funded by partnerships with environmental organizations, sponsorships, and local fundraisers. Relationships built with campus staff and departments will also contribute to future funding.
Problem statement
HEF’s Olympia Lobby Day targets the threat of deteriorating climate health, specifically from a state legislative policy lens. In Washington state, climate change has led to warmer temperatures and abnormal rainfall patterns. These conditions promote the spread of diseases like valley fever. In 2011, an outbreak of valley fever was reported in a region of Washington originally outside of the sickness’s normal range. It’s expected that the number of valley fever cases will grow by 50% within the next century. At the local level, heavy precipitation caused flooding on UW’s campus in the winter of 2026. Many students faced the risk of respiratory issues and increased distress. These collective findings highlight the need for improved and adaptive climate protection. Climate change is an issue that affects everyone, yet many people lack knowledge about climate advocacy methods. Existing climate health legislation is often created without enough constituent input, making it difficult for communities to contribute to decisions that impact their well-being. There is a need for accessible education that allows students to engage with policy makers, influence environmental legislation, and practice advocating for real world solutions.
Problem context
A similar initiative, ASUW’s Huskies on the Hill, has been conducted to provide structured opportunities for students to meet with state legislators and advocate for policies that impact student life. Our project builds on this foundation but through the specific focus on climate health. Many campus sustainability efforts concentrate on environmental practices within UW however, our initiative centers on the public health impacts of climate change and advances evidence-based policy solutions at the state level. Through participation in Olympia Lobby Day, we will channel student research and lived experience into legislative outreach. Our project strengthens collective action and extends UW’s impact beyond campus to communities across Washington State.
Measure the impacts
| Impact / goal | Metric(s) of success | UW stakeholders impacted |
|---|---|---|
| 20 students engaged | 20 students engaged | Undergraduate |
Communication tactics and tools
We have done outreach for recruiting students to join on this lobbying trip through tabling at the UW Winter Student Activities Fair and Winter Health Consortium, as well as through social media platforms to generate interest. After recruitment, we will coordinate with trip members through email and discord. Training for the members on how to approach a lobbying conversation will occur in the form of an in-person off-campus workshop the day before the planned excursion. The workshops will include an introduction to the legislative structure, the role of advocacy in public health and a lobbying guest speaker, a guide for how to create a story of self, how to create a legislator profile, and a run through of the bills we plan to lobby for.
Outreach communication plan
Other than providing students with an educational opportunity to develop skills for advocacy planning and persuasive lobbying, greater WA communities, such as the elderly and unhoused, will benefit from encouraging climate health protection bills to pass through WA legislature. The bills we are pushing for include but are not limited to requiring hospitals to offer immunizations for influenza for those over 60, as well requiring counties to develop heat response plans. Additionally, we plan to create a toolkit of our lobby planning and posting it to the Health Equity Forward website for future student groups to use when planning similar events.
Student involvement
All students, club members, and faculty are encouraged to join the Olympia trip. Planning committee members will build skills in budgeting, outreach, teamwork, and coordination through this event. Volunteers who want to join the trip will gain first-hand experience communicating with members of Congress and advocating for environmental health equity. On preparation day, participants will engage in workshops that explain the process of lobbying, describe the legislative system, and outline strategies to gain congressional support. Participants may also interact with guest experts such as lobbyists.