As a busy professional, you may not have much time to devote to policy work. Fortunately, being a Key Contact needn’t be a burden. Essentially, we’re asking you to:
- Agree to be the ACSM Key Contact in your legislative district.
- Send an occasional message to your elected officials, as you probably already do when prompted by ACSM Action Alerts.
- Introduce yourself to your member of Congress, including your congressman/woman and your senators and their designated staff members. This can be done through a phone call, email message and/or a visit to their home district offices. The ultimate goal is to have them consider you a resource on matters relating to your professional interests. Members and staff welcome (and rely on) your ideas, suggestions and perspectives. Link to Advocacy Toolkit
- Serve as a conduit for issues in your district, alerting ACSM policy staff to issues in your area. For example, if your state legislature is contemplating a bill to expand hiking trails, we can alert member advocates in your state to contact their elected leaders in support of the initiative. At other times we will tailor our strategy on a national issue to match the situation in each state.
- You can do a great service to the cause by telling colleagues about the opportunity to advocate on behalf of physical activity and exercise. Your efforts to recruit fellow Advocates and Key Contacts can help us reach the goal of ensuring that we are represented in every Congressional district. ACSM has recently created the role of Regional Chapter Advocacy Representative to coordinate policy efforts in each chapter.
If you would like to become a key contact for ACSM in your community, please fill out the registration below. As a Key Contact, you can be a liaison between policy makers and ACSM. This is a two-way relationship whereby you bring forth information and the elected official or staff can consult you when they need the insights of a professional in sports medicine and exercise science.
