CWA Blog Archive-Building Power In The Darkest Hour – Advocacy Behind The Scenes Of COVID-19

Building Power In The Darkest Hour – Advocacy Behind The Scenes Of COVID-19

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Written by Alexandra Wojcicki in May 2020, this article reassures CWA members that they don't face the pandemic's obstacles alone, detailing the advocacy work the CWA had been doing behind the scenes to leverage the industry's collective power and amplify its voice on the issues mattering most. Since the outbreak began gaining national attention in March, the CWA had been running two advocacy campaigns spanning the United States and Canada, focused on providing guidance and relief for the industry in a post-COVID-19 world. In the USA, the CWA released its open letter to Congress, circulated a financial relief petition, released a survey to gauge the economic impacts of COVID-19 on members and the industry, and launched a letter-writing and calling campaign. It also mobilized a network of volunteers graciously leveraging their connections to initiate conversations with decision makers and decision influencers at the state level, pushing the industry's advocacy agenda forward. In Canada, the CWA aligned with the Save Small Business grassroots lobbying movement and the CEC (Climbing Escalade Canada) Task Force. The throughline is that the CWA was actively and multifariously advocating for the climbing industry throughout the pandemic's early months, working across both the US and Canada to secure guidance and relief, and members could take comfort in this collective, behind-the-scenes effort on their behalf. Because individual gyms faced unprecedented, isolating challenges, the CWA's role was to unite and amplify the industry's voice, running coordinated campaigns: in the US, a congressional letter, relief petition, economic-impact survey, letter-writing and calling drives, and a volunteer network engaging state-level decision makers; in Canada, alignment with grassroots lobbying and the CEC Task Force. This documentation of the CWA's advocacy served both to inform members of concrete actions taken for them and to reassure them that their trade association was leveraging collective power precisely when individual businesses felt most vulnerable. For members enduring the darkest hour, the article affirmed that the CWA was fighting for the industry's survival and future on multiple fronts across two countries, transforming individual powerlessness into coordinated advocacy, and invited them to recognize they were part of a larger, organized effort working to secure the guidance and relief they urgently needed.

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Written in May 2020, this piece details the CWA's behind-the-scenes pandemic advocacy across the US and Canada, a congressional letter, relief petition, economic-impact survey, letter-writing campaigns, a state-level volunteer network, and alignment with Canadian grassroots lobbying and the CEC Task Force, reassuring members they faced the crisis's obstacles as part of a coordinated collective effort.