An effective policy campaign requires strong grassroots pressure and grasstops support. We saw the power of these joint forces in New York City, where afterschool advocates beat back a $150m cut that would have decimated the nation’s largest city-wide afterschool program. How can a network lay the groundwork for a policy campaign? In this session, participants will explore how NYC afterschool and child-care advocates joined forces to create a common message and campaign and will learn about their most effective parent engagement and social media tactics. The Connecticut After School Network will share its steps for building for a state policy campaign, including preparing grasstops allies.