RE: Identifying the Interested Public

[Johnathan Hilton <johnathan@selfreliancefoundation.org>]

I work for Self Reliance Foundation - Acceso Hispano, a non-profit that conducts Spanish-language educational media campaigns and also operates a toll-free resource helpline connecting Spanish-speakers with bilingual community resources.  My direct experience with the EPA is at the national level, although I've had some interaction with regional staff.  I manage grants that address various environmental health aspects of asthma and pesticides.

Therefore, my insight about connecting with underserved populations will come from a focus on new immigrant populations, although we deal with subjects of interest to a broader spectrum of the Hispanic population.

One important thing that anyone involved in outreach can never forget (government or private, local or national) is that even though a group may be indentified and targeted as underserved, there is still an incredible amount of diversity within any given group.  If you are serious about making an impact you've got to educate yourself about them.  Sounds elementary, but this is often overlooked, and once it's overlooked in the planning phase, most anything that follws has some degree of error.

Not only are these differences racial, ethnic, or economic. Within the Hispanic community and several others, an outreach or intervention project must take into account immigration or legal status.  Quite often, you'll have to come to grips with the barriers that some of the other issues pose, especially the cultural and historical differences that stem from a group's experience with the government, whether in this country or their country of origin.  Since I hail from Region IV, I can speak for "my group" on this account, and I can bear witness to the experience of some of the immigrants that I encounter on trips home.

All of that being said, the next thing that I would like to add is that just doing media is nowhere near enough (this comes from someone who does it.)  It's an important component that should be effectively integrated, but as a stand alone, it's just flash in the pan.  Building an effective network is the key, at the local and national level.  Networks at both levels help to cover the weaknesses at the other level, and they are mutually reinforcing in the areas where they share strong points.  

I think that this is happening to some extent within EPA.  I'm not sure if it has received the executive endorsement that it would need or where network building ranks as a priority within each region.  This online activity alone suggests that EPA is trying to adopt technology to meet this end, and I am heartened by EPA's efforts to reach out to the Hispanic community.  Among all federal agencies that I deal with here in DC, they are trying the hardest, and, relatively speaking, on a shoestring budget.

However, more needs to be done, and it's a complicated task.  And it's also evident that what works as an effective means of building a network in one community or region or among a designated group, may not work in another.  It will take time.  Of course resources matter, and more funds always tend to help.

But in the absence of funding increases, one thing I see that needs to be improved upon at the regional level, as well as some national level offices, is an understnding of how to interact with the media and get your message accross, b/c it's not always about ad buying and placement.  Sometime it's about spending the time to create a informal network for disseminating your information, keeping in mind that playing with the media is a two-way street and there are some trade-offs you better be ready or able to make.  Nothing is more aggravating than having to work through a not-too reponsive press office to get a chance to talk to a subject matter expert but then being expected to be responsive to press releases and media alerts, which may not be all that well done in the first place.  EPA is not the main offender here, but they also have the impediment that sometimes the subject matter is not all that jazzy.  So it's imperative to learn what the media (another group that is very diverse) actually considers to be an engaging story.

Sorry this message has gone on this long, if you've made it this far.  I hope I've adding a little bit about the importance of focusing on network or coalition building.  I imagine that you and many people participating are already aware of it, but I still think it should be emphasized early on.  Unfortunately, there is no easy template or shortcut, it takes time and doesn't always get off the ground on the first try.