I met Cynthia Changyit Levin a decade ago as an advocate for global child health for the United Nations Foundation Shot@Life campaign. Our kids were young, and as moms, it was a thrill to meet other mothers who cared about global issues with equal enthusiasm. Cynthia already had advocacy experience through her previous work with RESULTS and had been writing about humanitarian topics on her blog for years. She has been an inspiration and a leader since we met.
What is so exciting to me about her new book:
From Changing Diapers to Changing the World: Why Moms Make Great Advocates And How To Get Started serves as the guidebook that I needed and yearned for when I first started as an advocate. I had no idea where to begin, what I was doing, or how to impact change effectively. There were no guidebooks out there. It took in person trial by fire for me to figure things out. A decade later, I am thrilled to have her book in hand as a valuable resource and guide. Her book provides a step-by-step guide, with real-life profiles as examples for women who wish to make the world a better place.
Since I first moved to Washington, DC thirty years ago, by far the most important thing I’ve learned is the power of passionate, committed advocates to affect change. Not paid lobbyists, not PR firms-but thoughtful, informed constituents who move their members of Congress into action. – Dr. Joanne Carter, Executive Director, RESULTS
At the UN Foundation Shot@Life Summit in Washington, DC
Why Moms make great advocates:
Early in the book Cynthia highlights the ways that Moms make excellent advocates. After all, Moms are powerful, persistent, responsible, have the interpersonal skills we teach our children and are good at explaining things. When we become mothers, we gain a heightened awareness of the world our children will inherit. Motherhood forces us to realize the injustice of the inequities many children face around the globe and highlights the global issues we see as pressing for our children’s futures.
The advocates profiled in From Changing Diapers to Changing the World began with small steps inspired by issues they faced. Columbia realized the environment was impacting her daughter’s health issues. Felisas’ first-hand knowledge of the barriers immigrant children faced in the education system in the USA inspired her to act. Elena realized she needed to advocate for the Affordable Care Act to protect her daughters’ health coverage. In the book, the author encourages each of us to find the issue that keeps us up at night and know that we can impact change.
Advocacy made easy:
The last section of the book serves as the How-to segment. There are tips on how to find who your representatives are and how to contact them. Ways to take action online, write a letter to the editor, or what to say when you call your member of Congress. Cynthia provides an outline of how an in person congressional visit should go and even offers suggestions of what to wear. I remember how nervous I was on my first visit to Capitol Hill with the Shot@Life campaign. This book would have been valuable to guide me through those early days emerging from the fog of motherhood to taking action. I am thrilled that From Changing Diapers to Changing the World is now an available resource to help those who are interested to advocate for change.
“My goal is to empower moms to move from thinking, ‘I can’t change the world. I’m just a mom” to “I can change the world because I’m a mom!’ “- Cynthia Changyit Levin
About the author:
Cynthia Changyit Levin
Levin is the author of “From Changing Diapers to Changing the World: Why Moms Make Great Advocates and How to Get Started.” A non-partisan activist working across a variety of issues, Levin coaches volunteers of all ages to build productive relationships with members of Congress. She advocated side-by-side with her two children from their toddler to teen years and crafted a new approach to advocacy based upon her strengths as a mother.
Levin served as a board member of RESULTS/RESULTS Educational Fund for four years and led volunteer groups for RESULTS in Chicago and St Louis for more than ten years. She is currently a volunteer with RESULTS, the ONE campaign, Bread for the World, CARE, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, MomsRising, and the UN Foundation’s Shot@Life Campaign.
Her published opinion pieces have appeared in The New York Times, The Financial Times, the Washington Post, and many other national and regional publications. She has delivered in-person presentations and workshops for many organizations including PTA, The World Bank, the UN Foundation’s Shot@Life Campaign, and RESULTS. She also appears on podcasts and webinars speaking about advocacy and motherhood, discussing global poverty issues, and training advocacy volunteers. She received the 2021 Cameron Duncan Media Award from RESULTS Educational Fund for her citizen journalism on poverty issues.
