You’re invited to participate in our upcoming 2008 Insider Budget Briefings. The sessions are held on Wednesdays evenings from 4:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., at 30 Winter Street, 9th floor conference room. The schedule is as follows: February 27th, March 26th, April 23rd, May 21st, June 18th, July 16th, August 20th, September 17th,
October 15th, November 19th, December 17th.

The Insider Budget Briefings are designed to provide staff advocates from small and not-so-small non-profit organizations an opportunity to hear tips and advice about influencing the budget making process from current and former key players and stakeholders in the Massachusetts public policy arena.

Previous presenters included:

• Lew Finfer, Director of the Massachusetts Communities Action Network, MCAN a federation of community improvement organizations working for social and economic justice by putting religious faith values and democratic values into action.
• Steve Rosenfeld, a partner at Rosenfeld & Rafik, PC, a public interest law firm that produces results for health care consumers and mission driven health care organizations.
• Joan Vennochi from the Boston Globe who gave us an analysis from inside the media. 
• Ann J. Reale, the first Commissioner of the Department of Early Education and Care and former Senior Policy Advisor to Governor Romney from 2003-2005.
• Steven Bradley, former Staff Director of Senate Ways and Means Committee and presently Vice President for Government and Community Relations for Bay State Health System. 
• William M Bulger, former Senate President and former President of UMass.
• Henri Rauschenbach, former State Senator from the Cape and Islands and former Senior Deputy Chief of Staff to Governor Swift.
• One of our most popular forums featured a special presentation from three successful State House insiders called Three Smart Women ….Out of Many, Ronna Wallace, Pat Lynch and Susan Tracy, each of whom started their advocacy careers as line staff and now own or are partners in their own thriving lobbying firms.

We will continue an impressive line-up of professional advocates and insiders who have worked at the State House.  In addition, we have a freshly printed second edition of the Real Clout Book and Real Clout Workbook available for $25 a pair.  Look for more information on each program as we near the dates, but for now, save these dates. The tuition for each session is still $20 and includes a light supper and take-home materials. From time to time briefings related to the budget, taxes and the state economy will be offered by the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center.

If you’re interested in getting on our mailing list or attending our Insider Budget Briefings, please contact Harmony Blakeway at 617-275-2883 or email her at harmony@realclout.org.