🏛️Insight to Action: Turning Member Voices into Tangible Wins

^{MSAE is proud to be well into our second year publishing our podcast, Insight. Insight explores how associations tackle today’s challenges—and the leaders behind the work. This new companion blog series, Insight to Action, distills key themes and takeaways from all of the episodes, sharing real-world examples you can apply in your own organization. Click here to explore all Insight episodes.}    

Advocacy & Public Policy:
Turning Member Voices into Tangible Wins

Across MSAE’s Insight Podcast, this message rings clear: many Michigan associations don’t just watch policy—they shape it. Association leaders translate complex issues into practical wins, offering a playbook for advocacy that is collaborative, data-driven, and relentlessly member-focused.

Advocacy is a Core Promise

Patty Corkery (President & Chief Executive Officer, Michigan Credit Union League) was unequivocal on the significance of advocacy: “If I had to say what our most important role is as an association, it is advocacy”. She also reminds us that effective advocacy starts with relationships, noting Michigan’s delegation is approachable and easy to talk to about the issues. This culture is reinforced through MCUL’s “Hike the Hill” efforts that put members face-to-face with lawmakers. 

Training and Mobilizing Member Voices

Spencer Nevins (President, Michigan Beer & Wine Wholesalers Association) centers his organization on influence, stating: “Mainly we’re an advocacy organization, engaging lawmakers and regulators every day." To scale that voice, MB&WWA offers hands-on training—via committees, site-visit playbooks, and a leadership academy—so members know how to discuss their issues with legislators and lead effectively. That work shows up in concrete proposals—from modernizing the bottle bill to clarifying deposit exceptions, exploring a keg tax credit to recapture draft business, and advocating for early-payment discounts for retailers—all tactical changes crafted with member input to keep a regulated marketplace working. 

Coalition Solutions & Workforce Pathways

Jada Paisley (Executive Director, Michigan Golf Course Association) offers a blueprint for coalition advocacy that solves real problems. MGCA served as the intermediary between the U.S. Department of Labor and golf-course employers to launch a registered apprenticeship program —co-developed with the Michigan Turfgrass Foundation and Michigan Golf Course Superintendents Association—to create on-the-job learning and credentialed career paths. Earlier, coordinated advocacy helped golf become one of the first industries to reopen during the pandemic, underscoring the impact of aligned messaging and data on policy.  

Evidence-Based Advocacy

Debbie Mikula (Executive Director [Retired], Michigan Library Association) framed advocacy as both policy and narrative: it’s “not just legislative advocacy,” but also “molding and shaping…communications” while (in their case) remaining “nonpartisan”. MLA backed that stance with action—standing up the “Right to Read” campaign infrastructure (website, hotline, letters, and board presentations across the state), commissioning a statewide voter poll to anchor messaging, drafting legislation, and organizing an advocacy day bringing roughly 150 librarians to Lansing to protect the freedom to read. 

Policy Literacy for Leaders

Wendy Zdeb (Executive Director, Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals) demystified lawmaking for busy executives: “There’s no shame…if you don’t understand legislation…ask: what is the intent?” Zdeb encourages leaders to engage early, ask precise questions, and stay aligned with member needs. Zdeb has found success in hands-on engagement: she reads bills herself, helps refine lines that affect classrooms and school buildings, and emphasizes understanding legislative “intent” so the final language supports students and principals.

Why It Works

John Lindley (Chief Executive Officer, Michigan Manufactured Housing Association; Michigan Association of Recreation Vehicles & Campgrounds) underscored the significance of advocacy from his vantage, representing two highly regulated sectors: "Legislative advocacy is…paramount to protecting and advancing the interests of members. Lindley goes on to remind us that effective advocacy is constant, not episodic. Associations that stay member-anchored and present can “ride the waves” of industry ups and downs while advancing priorities even across highly regulated sectors. 

The Bottom Line

These leaders demonstrate that advocacy works best when it’s a member-anchored promise, powered by trained voices, built through coalitions, and guided by compelling storytelling. As this series unfolds, we’ll keep surfacing the tactics and ideas you can borrow to turn insight into impact in your own association.

^{MSAE appreciates the support of Association Briefings and Ariel Backus, CMP, CTA.
As a Trusted Provider, Association Briefings handles the production of Insight.  
Ariel Backus, CMP, CTA, serves as our gracious volunteer host.}