Tenth Anniversary Celebration
2011 Legislative Conference Recap

  

The Alliance's Special Ten-Year Anniversary Report  See the highlights from ten years of activism, education, and mobilization!

Find photo and video links as well as materials from the convention below. For more information, contact ARACommunications@retiredamericans.org. All photos and videos are located at www.flickr.com/retiredamericans and www.youtube.come/retiredamericans.  

Featured Videos at the Conference: 
FDR: "Let Me Warn You"
Now is not the time to sit idly by
Alliance members lobby to protect Social Security (CNN - The Situation Room)

Opening Session Tuesday: (Click links for video selections. More loading soon.)
Rev. Clete Kiley's Prayer (Video) (Text)
President Emeritus of the AFL-CIO John J. Sweeney
Alliance President Barbara Easterling

   Remembering Shane Fox
Alliance Executive Director Edward F. Coyle
Alliance Secretary-Treasurer Ruben Burks

Wednesday:
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka (extended)
Robert Adler, Commissioner of the Consumer Product Safety Commission
NEA President Dennis Van Roekel
SEIU President Mary Kay Henry

Thursday:
Grammy Award-winning singer and social activist Judy Collins
U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont
DNC Chair and U.S. Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida
    Louie Duran gets tough on Obama re: Social Security; Wasserman Schultz responds
    Ron Richardson asks Wasserman Schultz about Obama's interactions with the Republicans
    Bill Cea praises Debbie Wasserman Schultz
Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius
U.S. Congressman Raúl Grijalva of Arizona
NAACP's Washington Bureau Director and Senior Vice President for Advocacy and Policy Hilary Shelton

Friday:
U.S. Congressman Xavier Becerra of California, a member of the “Super Committee” tasked with reducing the federal debt (short) (long)
U.S. Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi of California
AFT President Randi Weingarten

Award Recipients
Rep. Nancy Pelosi - Leadership Award
AFSCME President Gerald McEntee - Leadership Award
Al Hamai, President of the Hawaii Alliance - President's Award
Tony Fransetta, President of the Florida Alliance - President’s Award
Bertha Carlton, Deputy Director of Membership for the Alliance - President’s Award

 

Lobby Day: 500 seniors met with their Members of Congress and Senators to voice concerns about Social Security, Medicare, and other issues of relevance. The appointments came on the exact same day as the first meeting of the Congressional “Super Committee” that is deciding how to tackle the nation’s deficit.

Workshops included:
How to Get Into the Paper
Using Facebook to Communicate (For Beginners)
Advocacy on Facebook, Twitter & Blogs (For Intermediates)
Healthcare Update (2)
Field 101– Sharpening Your Advocacy Tools
Field 102– Build an Advocacy Plan
Using Activities and Special Events to Fundraise
Building Coalition Partners
Applying for Program Grants: Just the Basics
Ariba Financial Planning Workshop - Related Materials:
1) Have_a_Plan_in_Place_BEFORE_the_Next_Crisis
2) Systematic Withdrawal

Other Workshop-Related materials:
Fact Sheet Summarizing the Work of the Super Committee