How Can I Get Involved?

The best way to get involved is to participate in our Advocacy on February 26th, where you can get a chance to meet with your legislators, build relationships,​​ and influence the state budget. Sign up here.

An effective way to communicate your priorities and goals with lawmakers is through effective storytelling. Highlighting the impact of your work and knowing how to build relationships through the way you communicate is essential. You can refer to this article for storytelling tips. You can also reach out to a legislator or legislative aid here. Make sure to look out for our policy newsletter to see what policy issues are directly affecting community development.

Interested in Learning More? 

Sign Up for the Scheduled Town Halls and Webinars:

  • Webinar on First Goal of Policy Agenda: TBD, Week of January 27th

  • Webinar on Second Goal of Policy Agenda: TBD, Week of February 8th

Access Our One-Pagers for Each Policy Agenda Goal (to be released):

  1. Goal One One-Pager

  2. Goal Two One-Pager

  3. Goal Three One-Pager

  4. Goal Four One-Pager

  5. Goal Five One-Pager

Want a Short Explanation of Our Main Policy Goals? View Our Policy Agenda Spotlight Episodes Below:

First episode to be released January 27th.

Related Legislation We Are Watching:

  • S.B. 246: Modify housing law and rename Department of Development 

  • H.B. 340: Guaranteed funding of $65 million to the Ohio Housing Trust Fund in fiscal year 2025. 

Why Should I Be Involved? 

Actively advocating for the policy agenda directly supports both OCDCA’s and our members' missions to create thriving communities. When members engage in advocacy, they can amplify their collective voice to influence policies that promote equitable development, affordable housing, and economic opportunities. Legislators want to hear your stories. Through sharing how policies impact legislators’ districts, your work can have an outsized impact on state policy. By getting involved, members can educate themselves on policies that directly affect their work and contribute towards a common good that benefits the community development field. Together, we can drive systemic change that strengthens communities across the state.

Policy Agenda Background:

Our policy agenda includes issues and goals that we will be prioritizing and advocating for in 2025-2026. In 2024, OCDCA administered a policy survey to its members where respondents were asked what policy issues impacted their work the most and possible solutions. The OCDCA policy committee developed this proactive policy agenda based on member feedback and data from the policy survey to ensure the policy agenda directly reflected the needs of OCDCA’s membership.