CPCA Official Outlines Lead-Partner-Follow Framework for Health Advocacy
In a California Health Care Foundation piece, Melissa Marshall, chief medical officer of the California Primary Care Association, describes a framework presented at a California Improvement Network partner meeting for how community health organizations should approach state policy advocacy. Rather than trying to engage on every bill (more than 2,350 were introduced in California's legislature in 2025), organizations are encouraged to assess their distinct sources of influence, policy expertise, community trust, convening power, or technical knowledge, and decide whether to lead, partner, or follow on a given issue. Examples include a CIN partner organization that triages bills into support/oppose/watch categories, a state agency limited by statute to technical assistance, and Latino Health Access, which leverages trusted community relationships to drive advocacy conversations. The piece argues that focused, collective advocacy is more effective than every organization trying to do everything.