2016 Washington Leadership Conference

February 28-March 1, 2016

Important Notices

Hotel room block rate cut-off date is January 27

Register before February 14 to avoid the late rate!

Registration Closed

About the Conference

NOTE: Registration to this conference is now closed. For more information please contact our office by calling 202-232-5492.

The National WIC Association (NWA) invites you to attend our 26th Annual Washington Leadership Conference scheduled from Sunday, February 28 thru. Tuesday, March 1, 2016.

Access to this Conference is limited to the capacity of the main venue's general session meeting room, which is currently set at 220. Registration will close when this number is reached.

The conference will provide a forum to discuss Federal initiatives affecting the health and nutritional well-being of WIC mothers and young children as well as service delivery and the effective management of the Program.

The format of this year’s conference will be slightly different from previous years, with two full days of WIC leadership training at the Westin Georgetown and one day of policy discussions, research panels, and Congressional visits on Capitol Hill. Trainings will focus on WIC policy (both Congressional and USDA), communications and messaging, local advocacy, partnership building, crisis management, and other topics. We are hoping that each and every attendee, whether this is your first Leadership Conference or your twentieth, will come away feeling like you have the tools, knowledge, and confidence to be a strong WIC advocate in your community.

We are excited to announce that we have updated our Leadership Conference agenda! In the most recent agenda, you will find some exciting additions:

Day One of the conference will end with an activity called “WIC Olympics.” This will be a game show in which questions will focus on WIC messaging and advocacy. There will be prizes for the winners!
Day Two will begin with keynote remarks from the President of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Dr. Sandra Hassink.
Day Three will feature remarks from two Senators--Senator Bob Casey from Pennsylvania and Senator Pat Roberts from Kansas. In addition, our IOM Panel Discussion on Day Three will feature the Study Director of the IOM Review of the WIC Food Package, Marie Latuilippe, along with Melissa Abelev and Anne Bartholomew from FNS.

In addition, a White House Briefing is scheduled for Tuesday, March 1 from 2:30 - 4:00 PM where attendees will have the opportunity to participate in an interactive discussion with White House officials.

PLEASE NOTE: Access to this briefing is limited to the capacity of the briefing room assigned to us. Priority admissions will be given the NWA board members, State Agency Directors and Local Agency Directors. If after these selections are made, and room is still available, we will them include State Nutrition Coordinators, etc. All attendees selected for this briefing will be required to provide information for Security Clearance in order to gain access onto the White House compound. Selected attendees will be provided with a link to White House Security to input required information.

We invite you to help NWA ensure policymakers at all levels of government appreciate the real value of WIC.

Agenda

Read through the final agenda.

Hotel & Transportation

Conference Hosting Hotel

The Westin Georgetown, Washington DC
2350 M Street, NW
Washington, DC 20037
Main # 202-429-0100
Reservations # 1-800-937-8461

Situated in the stylish West End district of the nation's capital, The Westin Georgetown, Washington DC, enjoys an unbeatable location. You are moments away from Embassy Row, the White House, Georgetown Park Mall, John F. Kennedy Center, George Washington University and a host of other fun places to see and visit. You are also just a few blocks away from Foggy Bottom Metro Station next door to George Washington University.

Hotel Reservations

You can make your hotel room reservations online or by calling 1-800-228-3000. Identify yourself as a NWA 26th Washington Leadership Conference attendee to receive the negotiated conference rate. The cut-off date for the room block rate is Wednesday, January, 27, 2016 at 5:00 pm EST.

The negotiated conference hotel room rate is the Federal Per Diem currently set at $229.00 single/double per night, plus a nightly room tax of 14.5%. Please note that this Per Diem rate may change after October 1, 2015.
This rate only applies to Saturday, February 27 thru. Tuesday, March 1. Attendees making room reservations outside these dates, may have to pay the hotel's prevailing room rates. Note that the average nightly room rate may be over $300.00.

Please note that NWA does not have any control over the hotel room types. To request a particular room type, you must discuss this with their reservations department when making your room reservations.

Transportation Information

The Westin Georgetown Hotel is located 5.45 miles from the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, an approximate 9 minute ride, by taxi or shuttle. Also, Metro is accessible from the airport. Take the BLUE LINE heading towards Largo Town Center. Your stop will be the sixth stop at the Foggy Bottom/GWU Metro Station.

View a map of the Metro.

For more information, please call our office at 202-232-5492.

Attendee Listing

Click here to view a current copy of the Attendee Listing

Please note that this atendee listing is sorted by State and first name.

Speaker Presentations

Sunday, February 28, 2016

The WIC Policy-Making Process and Current Issues, Rev. Douglas Greenaway, President & CEO, National WIC Association
Current Issues and Politics, Martelle Esposito, Government Affairs Manager, National WIC Association
Creative Communication Techniques, Hannah Shultz, Communications, Media, and Marketing Coordinator, National WIC Association
Developing WIC Messages, Martelle Esposito, Government Affairs Manager, National WIC Association and Georgia Machell, Research and Evaluation Manager, National WIC Association
Local WIC Advocates Panel Presentation, Shelly Lewis and Samar McGregor, Senior Nutritionists for PHFE WIC
Local WIC Advocates Panel Presentation, David Thomason, Director, Nutrition and WIC Services, KDHE Bureau of Family Health
WIC Information Competition - Questions and Answers

Monday, February 29, 2016

Keynote Remarks: Lessons About Leadership, Dr. Sandra Hassink, Immediate Past President, American Academy of Pediatrics
WIC Crisis Management, Mary Christ-Erwin, Partner, Porter Novelli
Engaging in Community Coalitions, Quinney Harris, Program Manager, National WIC Association
Partner Engagement Presentation, Gloria Pan, Senior Campaign Director, MomsRising.org
Partner Engagement Spotlight: Pediatricians Supporting WIC, Jamie Poslosky, Director, Advocacy Communications, American Academy of Pediatrics
Partner Engagement Presentation, Andrea Beegle, Strategic Partnerships Deputy Director, 1,000 Days

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Review of WIC Food Packages, Marie Latulippe, Study Director, IOM Review of the WIC Food Package
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Review of the WIC Food Packages, and the Federal Rulemaking Process for the WIC Food Packages, Melissa Abelev, Assistant Deputy Administrator, Office of Policy Support, USDA Food and Nutrition Service and Anne Bartholomew, Branch Chief, Nutrition Services, USDA Food and Nutrition Service Supplemental Food Programs Division
Presentation to the National WIC Association, Robert Greenstein, President, Center for Budget and Policy Priorities
NWA 2016 Research Needs to Support an Effective and Efficient WIC Program, Georgia Machell, Research and Evaluation Manager, National WIC Association
WIC Research Update, Melissa Abelev, Assistant Deputy Administrator, Office of Policy Support, USDA Food and Nutrition Service