Through innovative trainings, record participation and personalized technical assistance, Voices for Healthy Kids and the National Collaborative for Infants and Toddlers are helping advocates turn digital engagement into meaningful impact. What does it take to build power in today's advocacy landscape? For Voices for Healthy Kids and the National Collaborative for Infants and Toddlers (NCIT), the answer increasingly includes meeting advocates where conversations are happening, communities are connecting and movements are gaining momentum: social media.
For years, the Power Prism has served as a foundational framework for advocacy, helping organizations understand and leverage six essential sources of power to advance policy change. But as the ways people communicate, organize and influence decision-makers continue to evolve, so must the tools advocates use to make their voices heard. While social media does not replace the six pillars of the Power Prism, it offers a powerful opportunity to strengthen and amplify them. Social media has become a powerful tool for advocacy, helping organizations connect with communities, share stories, reach policymakers and respond to important issues. At Voices for Healthy Kids and the NCIT, we are already putting in the work.
Turning Digital Connections into Advocacy Power
Under the leadership of Lori Poag, social media manager for Voices for Healthy Kids and NCIT, social media technical assistance has reached new heights, creating opportunities for advocates and organizations to strengthen their strategies, expand their reach and communicate more effectively with the communities they serve. Through a growing social media training series, Lori has helped transform what can sometimes feel like an overwhelming digital landscape into an accessible learning environment where advocates can ask questions, build confidence, gain skills they can immediately apply to their work, and the response has been remarkable.
Voices for Healthy Kids developed the series in response to feedback from grantees, members, and advocacy partners who were looking for more practical, real-world support navigating social media. Through a combination of trainings and office hours, the initiative helps fill that gap by providing actionable tools, expert guidance, and individualized support tailored to partners' needs.
With no fewer than 75 participants joining each training session, the series has demonstrated strong and sustained interest in social media among advocacy partners. Participants are showing up, engaging in conversations, and seeking new ways to make their social advocacy efforts more intentional and worthwhile. Strong attendance throughout the series reflects a clear interest in building social media skills and finding more effective ways to use digital platforms to advance advocacy goals. Access to this type of support can help organizations strengthen their communications capacity and put those skills into practice in meaningful ways.
Building Skills That Matter
The social media series goes beyond teaching participants how to create posts or gain followers. Each session gives advocates tools to strengthen their digital strategies and better connect with their audiences. Topics have included Making Sense of Social Media Metrics 101, where participants learned how to understand engagement, reach and other key metrics; Social Media Crisis Communications 101, which focused on responding to misinformation and communicating during challenging moments; and Geotargeting 101, which explored how to reach specific communities and policymakers through location-based content. The geotargeting session was so popular that it returned for an encore! Together, these trainings help advocates become more confident and intentional about how they use social media to support their work.
“Social media can feel overwhelming, especially for organizations juggling many priorities. That's why we focus on creating practical trainings and one-on-one support that meet people where they are. Our hope is that partners leave feeling more confident, more capable, and better equipped to use social media to support their advocacy goals.”
- Lori Poag, Social Media Manager, Voices for Healthy Kids and NCIT
Beyond the Trainings: Personalized Support Through Social Media Office Hours
Recognizing that every organization faces different communications challenges, Lori has also introduced Social Media Office Hours, creating another opportunity for Voices for Healthy Kids grantees and NCIT members to receive individualized guidance and technical assistance. Whether an organization needs help understanding its social media performance, strengthening its content strategy, navigating platform features or just wanting to explore ways to engage specific audiences, office hours provide a space to ask questions and receive support tailored to its needs.
This kind of personalized support is especially helpful for organizations that are trying to advance big advocacy goals with small communications teams. By connecting partners with expertise and real-world guidance, Voices for Healthy Kids and NCIT are helping build the skills and confidence needed to strengthen their communications efforts long term.
Interested in receiving individualized social media support? Complete the Social Media Office Hours Intake Form to connect with Lori and explore opportunities for technical assistance.
One More Opportunity to Level Up in 2026!
The learning isn't over yet! Voices for Healthy Kids and NCIT will close out the 2026 social media training series with Making Sense of Social Media Metrics 101 on November 5, giving partners one final opportunity this year to sharpen their digital advocacy skills. This interactive session will explore how location-based content can help organizations connect with local communities, increase regional engagement and tailor advocacy messages to the audiences who matter most.
Participants will learn how to:
Understand geotargeting and how it works across social media platforms.
Create locally relevant content that encourages engagement and action.
Identify best practices and common mistakes to avoid.
Practice adapting social media posts for real-world advocacy campaigns.
Whether you're promoting a community event, amplifying a local policy issue or trying to reach decision-makers in a specific geographic area, this session offers practical strategies to make your social media efforts more targeted and effective.
Register for Making Sense of Social Media Metrics 101 on November 5
As Voices for Healthy Kids and NCIT continue to support advocates across the country, one thing is clear: The future of advocacy is not just about having a seat at the table. It's also about knowing how to build connections, shape conversations and mobilize communities wherever they are. As advocacy continues to evolve, social media is becoming another way to strengthen the Power Prism's six pillars, helping partners turn online engagement into meaningful action and build not just a stronger social media presence, but stronger advocates overall.