Government Committee Engagement

Draft and brainstorms

Public Meeting Nevada Search Tool: Committees

Section 1

Thanks for leaning in to learn how your new ideas can improve how things are done.

The number one thing we want you to take away from this class is that everybody joins the conversation too late!!! City or state, the plans have been debated for years before the vote is scheduled. If you want your idea to fully mature and stand a chance, it takes months or even years of reaching out to the organizations, committees, and committee leaders.

You can use the strategies from this class in two different ways that are both important. The first is to be an educator. You can bring your first hand experience and knowledge to public attention so that decisions get made with all the facts. The second is more direct and called lobbying. This is when you tell people who to vote for or ask an elected official to do what you want. As in any class, talk to your organization about how they distinguish between educating and lobbying. They will also help you decide when you are representing your organization and when you are representing yourself.

ANYONE can be an Educator because it is not lobbying and it is an extremely effective way to help people in authority avoid bad decisions. For education, you don’t tell them what to do, but you might share that the Kids Count Data Booklet https://www.caanv.org/2025-kids-count-data-book shows how 8 Nevada counties have less prenatal care for teens than the national average, and you have seen students at your high school in their second trimester who didn’t have enough access to pregnancy care in the first trimester.

This class is not a comprehensive overview of how to get a law or a bill passed. At the end of the class, you will know how to get your ideas in front of decision makers and help them get on track to incorporate your experiences into public policy.

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You can move to the next section once you complete the enrollment survey. You may take the course for free after the survey and a Continuing Education certificate may be purchased for $5 if your state or employer requires one.

Registration (CiviCRM Event Registration)

[[Event reg with survey and payment option]]

Section 2 - Relationships

  1. Education and Lobbying

    1. Education

      1. Sharing what you know

      2. Researching for questions that come up in committees

      3. Sharing your experiences

      4. Asking your community to learn about a particular issue

    2. Lobbying

      1. Directly asking an official to vote for or against something

      2. Asking your community to vote for someone in an election

      3. Talk with your employer about their lobbying policies

  2. Building relationships with people working on the same issues that you are

    1. The following class sections apply to both lobbying and education

    2. Mikedrops rarely matter in these meetings; this is a long term investment

    3. There are a lot of rules to learn but the main thing in these committees is to be a listener, remembered, and reliable. You will pick up on the meeting rules and norms just by consistently being there

 

Section 3 - Preparing for meetings

  1. Searching for committees

    1. Talking to the community to find people ahead of you in understanding the systems

    2. Getting to know the typical and regional decision makers and finding out which committees they attend 

    3. Take time to find the right meetings for long term connection

    4. Looking at the scope of the committee. What does it do and what can't it do?

    5. Finding new committees that others aren't looking at

    6. Reading past minutes and agendas

    7. BDRs - Bill Draft Request = ‘Proposal Power’

 

  1. Agendas

    1. How to read an agenda 

    2. Find out who writes the agenda

    3. How to bring up topics not on the agenda

    4. How to escalate topics that are repeatedly off the agenda and be confident that it's the right committee for the idea

    5. When to give public testimony (sometimes it's better to go right at the beginning and sometimes you want to wait for the topic to come up

 

  1. Types of committees

    1. Why does the committee exist? Does a grant or law require it? 

    2. Is it full of elected officials, appointed experts?

    3. Define Government, for profit, coalitions, and nonprofit committees

 

  1. Providing testimony

    1. When to keep it short and when to use all your time

    2. Individual, small group, and all hands on deck public invites

    3. Lived experience

    4. Experts

    5. Sorry telling

    6. Consistency

    7. Relationship building

 

  1. Preparing a two minute testimony

    1. Resisting the temptation to give your opinion on other items

    2. Practice your bullets or script and think twice before last minute changes

    3. Getting second opinions to check clarity and play devil's advocate with safe community members

    4. Repeat your main points

    5. Include why you are a good voice to share insight the committee might not know

    6. Say and spell your name until they know you well (sometimes this is required) 

    7. In Nevada, stay with “Name for the record”

    8. Greet the  person running the meeting

    9. 2 Minute Presentation Activity

 

Section 4 Getting Support and Following Up

  1. Gatekeeping

  • Sometimes you'll be a person of influence in the room and sometimes you'll be looked at as the crazy person

  • Just being at the table is not enough

  • The meetings you are invited to may not be the meetings where real decisions are made

  • You’ll get to where you know more about the process and history of your topic than many of the staff. Especially in high turnover groups. This is an opportunity to help them catch up and be a trusted person. 

 

  1. What are rules and where do the rules live?

    1. Statutes (NRS in Nevada)

    2. Administrative codes (NAC in Nevada)

    3. Municipal Codes

    4. County codes & ordinances

    5. Roberts rules of order

    6. Norms and traditions

 

Section 5 Conclusion

  1. Consistency and relationships

  2. Writing your testimony

  3. You-can-do-it speech.

  4.  

  5. Education and lobbying not your jam? What about documenting and sharing instead? 

  • City Bureau’s Documenters Network

  • Power mapping 

  • Alerting local reporters

 

Additional Concepts to Integrate as assignments or activities

  • Understanding Staff Reports

  • Scanning Fiscal Documents

  • Decoding Government Websites

  • Personal Safety & Professional Boundaries

  • Dealing with Setbacks or Burnout

  • Don’t be afraid to say I need to look into that more and get back to you.

Last modified: Thursday, 12 February 2026, 5:53 PM