Blue Shield of California Foundation Grant to Support New Statewide Media Advocacy Efforts 

March 19, 2021 — SACRAMENTO: The Partnership’s Communications Team is proud to receive part of a $475,000 grant from the Blue Shield of California Foundation, which will allow us to expand our work with journalists across the state and offer media advocacy trainings to advocates, preventionists, and survivors.

With connections to over 1,000 people in our field, our coalition is uniquely positioned to enhance inclusivity when it comes to pitching stories ideas, conducting interviews, and most importantly, bringing forward on-the-ground experiences of advocacy, survivorship, and prevention. RALLY Communications, which has worked with Black Lives Matter, Time’s Up, Movement for Our Lives, and Survivor & Activist Chanel Miller, will help us facilitate trainings that will spark critical conversations of the ways domestic violence has been covered in media. Participants will also build confidence and agency in expanding narratives to include the full context of core inequities and solutions.

The Communications Team also plans to create a newsletter for journalists with updates from the DV field, while also planning a number of virtual events to connect them with advocates, preventionists, and survivors. We believe this will strengthen relationships with authentic messengers in the movement, and lead to a number of story ideas that can impact community-level social change efforts.

Partnership Communications Coordinator, Megan Tanahashi say this of the award, “We are thrilled to shift the lens on the ways in which our field interacts and tells stories with the broader public via media. This grant will support the much needed work of deepening the bench of voices who are prepared to speak on behalf on the movement to end domestic violence and to build bridges with trusted journalists doing trauma-informed and robust work. We are eager to see impact that this work has on the discussions and narratives that our society has around domestic violence.”

Debbie I. Chang, MPH, President & CEO of the Foundation, expressed excitement about this grant’s potential: “We are extremely proud to support the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence, which is addressing the underlying root causes of poor health and domestic violence, and shifting our society toward greater justice and health for all.”

The Communications Team will keep our Members and allies updated on media opportunities as they emerge. Questions? Please contact Jessica Merrill, Communications Manager, at jessica@cpedv.org.

About the Partnership

The California Partnership to End Domestic Violence (the Partnership) is California’s recognized domestic violence coalition, representing over 1,000 survivors, advocates, organizations and allied individuals across the state. Working at the state and local levels for nearly 40 years, the Partnership has a long track record of successfully advocating for over 200 pieces of legislation on behalf of domestic violence victims and their children. The Partnership believes that by sharing expertise, advocates and legislators can help end domestic violence. Through our public policy, communications and capacity-building programs, we create system-wide change that supports survivors and invests in prevention. Every day we inspire, inform and connect all those concerned with this issue, because together we’re stronger. With offices in Sacramento, the Partnership’s member programs span the entire state. For more information, visit www.cpedv.org.

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