Uniting Voices: How Association Leaders are Shaping Industries Through Advocacy

Advocating for your association’s mission is often cited as one of the most important benefits to your members. Many associations find that their advocacy work not only leads to advances in their industries but is also an effective means of engaging your membership. 

I spoke with both Fred Ferguson, president and CEO of the American Bus Association and Mark Ames, Chief Advocacy Officer, AIHA about how they are driving their industries into the future.

Can you describe the primary goals of your association’s advocacy work?

Ferguson: The American Bus Association is a diverse association representing both motorcoach and charter bus operators as well as organizations that are connected by the motorcoach including hotels, attractions, theme parks and more. Those sectors rely on the tours and travel that the motorcoach operators provide and as a result they want to be part of our team. So, many of our advocacy goals are focused on uniting that diverse sector set.

What is good for the bus is what is good for destinations and what is good for destinations is go for the bus operator. We develop an advocacy agenda that unites our coalition. Additionally, our member motorcoach operators carry precious cargo – people – so their safety is our priority.

There are federal agencies that write regulations and enforce rules related to the safe travel of people on buses. A huge part of advocacy is making sure we are complying with regulations, educating membership about safety procedures. At the end of the day the most important thing we can do is to get our people to where they want to go and get them there safely.

Ames: The primary goals of AIHA’s advocacy work are to protect worker and community health and safety and advance the occupational and environmental health and safety (OEHS) profession. In partnership with many stakeholders, we help translate our members’ technical expertise into public policy recommendations and catalyze relationship-building with policymakers.

How does your association identify and prioritize issues to advocate for?

Ferguson: There is an agency – Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. That agency is our primary partner and regulator. We keep the agency up to speed with trends and happenings in the industry. They update us on the regulatory environment, changes they are considering, and rules they are contemplating for the industry. We are connecting the regulators with the operators. Some operators are large and have compliance teams while others do not. They are small mom and pop businesses and don’t have the bandwidth to keep up to date with the latest regulation or safety protocol coming out of DC.

Our job is to educate and inform but also to communicate back to the agency what regulations or rules are being considered and how it will impact operators; looking at how it can be improved for the operators. This is what we do to connect the operators with the regulator.

Ames: We speak with our members constantly and survey them every year to identify and confirm the OEHS issues they care about the most. This results in the creation of a set of public policy priorities that are reviewed by our leadership and refreshed each year to ensure we are faithfully serving our members. We also respond to requests from our members and allied groups and to the actions of legislators and agencies.

Our current focus areas include heat stress, the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), indoor environmental quality, and encouraging youth and adults to pursue careers in OEHS.

What are some of the biggest challenges your association faces in its advocacy efforts?

Ferguson: So much of what we do depends on the consumer – consumers that go on a cruise and take a motorcoach to one of their excursion points. We move people back and forth commuting between different locations or going to amusement park as part of group tour. The larger economic issues like inflation, interest rates and employment most definitely impact our industry.  We are in the travel, mobility, tourism industries so when the consumer and the economy are healthy it is usually good for our industry.

Ames: Limited resources and a high volume of policymaking activity at the federal level and throughout the nation are among our greatest challenges. However, these drive us to be more thoughtful, strategic, and focused in all our activities.

Can you share a recent example where your advocacy efforts made a significant impact?

Ferguson: We can’t forget about the pandemic as a group tour industry. We want people to be together and the pandemic shut that down which was very challenging for our industry. We are considered as an industry to be critical essential infrastructure. That means that even in times of closures our industry needs to be able to operate. We partner with the national guard across the country to move troops if there is a national deployment and if they need to go from the national guard base to an airfield.

Often it is the motorcoach industry called upon to get people where they need to go. One of our biggest members is based in Hawaii and when the wildfire happened last summer it was their motorcoaches that moved people out of the path of the fire into safe environments. Then it was the motorcoach industry that brought in water, food and supplies.  We are critical infrastructure. That designation was important during COVID and was the direct result of a lot of advocacy and communication sharing with the government to show them what we do in good times and in bad times.

What happens during the next wave of shutdowns? It’s incumbent upon us to be prepared. So much of advocacy work is about preparedness and we want that philosophy to guide what we do.

Ames: So far this year, AIHA has been referenced 230 times in federal and state legislation, regulations, and comments, demonstrating the significant impact of our volunteers. Our CEO was recently quoted in a press release by a Member of Congress, accompanying the introduction of the Indoor Air Quality and Healthy Schools Act. Additionally, in May, AIHA led a letter to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Office of Personnel Management opposing a proposed pay downgrade for industrial hygienists at the VA. Our letter was supported by several other leading OEHS stakeholder organizations.

We measure the success of our advocacy by counting the instances of volunteer engagement. This year we already have approximately 800 instances of government relations volunteerism. In 2023, we had approximately 1,400 instances of volunteerism. We also share member impact stories and analyze the degree to which our recommendations are included in the regulations we commented on.

How do you engage your members and the broader community in your advocacy initiatives?

Ferguson: There is a well-known saying in Washington DC. “If you are not sitting at the table, you are on the menu.” Showing up to committee meetings, meeting with legislative partners, going to different departments and introducing ourselves and what we do. If you do not do this, you are forgotten. We do and will continue to do all of these things.

Ames: We engage in direct lobbying, grassroots advocacy, submitting comments to agencies, and encouraging our members to build relationships with policymakers, testify at public hearings, and serve on government advisory boards.

We do a lot of what’s often called “micro-volunteering”. When we’re working with a policymaker on legislation or responding to a proposed regulation, etc., we’ll reach out to our members and create a temporary project team that has a clearly defined goal and then disband it once the goal is achieved. For example, when the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) publishes its proposed heat stress rule, we’ll contact hundreds of our members, asking them to fill out a short sign-up survey to join a temporary team to help draft AIHA’s comments to OSHA. We’ll then share an online Word document with the team to draft the comments, incorporate their feedback into a final document, submit our recommendations to OSHA, post them on our website, thank the volunteers, and then disband the team. This type of volunteerism has a clear beginning, end, and tangible work product, and it’s one of the reasons why we’ve been able to maintain a consistently high rate of volunteerism in government relations over the years.

In addition to temporary teams, we frequently send action alerts on federal legislation that enable our members and the public to contact their Members of Congress. At the state-level, we created the State Government Relations Teams program. State Team members receive regular reports on key legislative and regulatory developments in their states and can request AIHA government relations staff advocacy assistance.

What role do partnerships play in achieving your advocacy goals?

Ferguson: Our industry partnerships look like our industry base. There are transportation heavy partners that we lean on like the Highway Users Association. Then there are travel groups including the Student Youth Travel Association. We partner with them on a regular basis. Our breadth and diversity are one of our strengths that we continue to lean into.

Ames: As the saying goes, there’s strength in numbers, so partnerships are crucial to our advocacy success. Policymakers are particularly responsive when a diverse set of advocates speak with one voice, so we work hard to build consensus among stakeholders, working with and often leading many formal and informal coalitions to advance our common goals of protecting workers and their communities.

The implementation of TSCA (Toxic Substances Control Act) is a prime example of a successful, ongoing partnership. Many stakeholders, representing a diverse range of perspectives are generally unhappy with how the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been implementing TSCA. While the various stakeholders may have different viewpoints, we are united in our desire to protect workers and their communities and for EPA to apply the best science and techniques in TSCA-related rulemakings. Together, we have been and continue to thoughtfully explore EPA’s challenges and how we can help overcome these challenges to achieve our common goals. Concrete examples of activities that have arisen from this partnership include webinars, briefings, and meetings with stakeholders. This work continues through AIHA’s TSCA Task Force.

What are some key legislative wins that your association has achieved?

Ferguson: A lot of the way we think is how do we unite our membership. The way that our nation’s freeways and roads are managed is connected to the government including funding for road projects. Because we are a motorcoach association, we really care about that. Surface transportation bill goes before congress every five years or so. And in that bill is what projects are authorized. We want to make sure that we have a strong point of view about how our roadways and infrastructure are built out. 

A healthy, strong environment can be good for tourism because so much of it is tied to the outdoors. The outdoor industry is a huge economic driver and so much of our industry is connected to the outdoors.  If there are 50 people on a motorcoach that is about 25 cars that aren’t on the road. 

Ames: One of our major focus areas each year is supporting federal funding for OEHS-related agencies and programs. We work with many coalitions, stakeholders, and grassroots advocates to advance these goals. Together, we have successfully defended against proposed cuts and even helped increase federal funding to protect workers and their communities. While the exact numbers and percentages differ each year, federal funding is a main function of Congress and remains a focus of AIHA.

At the state level, AIHA was a key proponent of a law that requires Maryland to publish a heat stress regulation. As a Maryland resident and head of AIHA’s government relations department, I had the honor of testifying alongside AIHA members before the Maryland legislature in support of this bill, which became law. The draft regulation required by the law was recently published by Maryland. AIHA will submit comments on the proposed rule.

What advice would you give to other associations looking to amplify their advocacy efforts?

Ferguson: If you want to be remembered, you had better be crisp in your communication to Capitol Hill. It’s important to communicate to our membership about what we are doing on the advocacy front – what are our advocacy goals. The real sweet spot is when we bring our members to DC to lead the meetings themselves.  People in DC will take a meeting with me but it is different when you take someone from Kansas to meet with a legislator from Kansas. There is no better storyteller than the business from that area.

One thing I am excited about is our PAC (Political Action Committee). It is a fundraising tool that allows us to pool together dollars from our members that we can deploy to legislators in the form of political contributions. The PAC is an incredible tool to communicate our story to candidates running for office.

Ames: My advice to other associations is to be strategic, focused, and consistent. Just as importantly, build momentum and foster a sense of tangible progress toward clearly defined advocacy goals. Success in government relations can take months and often years. To maintain the level of energy and focus needed to achieve these often-long-term goals, break the larger goal into smaller parts, create milestones and a small number of key performance indicators, and celebrate success often. Find ways to highlight others, thank your volunteers, and demonstrate value, connecting advocacy actions to things they care about, including the association’s mission, vision, and high-level goals.

Associations face tough choices. In many ways, advocacy opportunities are abundant, but so too are the limitations. I encourage associations to closely examine the assumptions in their advocacy strategies, explore and plan for various scenarios, and look for force-multiplying opportunities. They should also consider how time and other resources can be used more efficiently, nurture strategic relationships, and explore ethically integrating new technologies into operations, such as artificial intelligence to further drive performance.

Lastly, it’s worth emphasizing that fun should be factored into an association’s advocacy. The business of advocacy, which involves changing the behavior of entire populations of people, is often appropriately serious. However, there is a way to enjoy the journey. When associations search for and find the balance of seriousness and fun that’s right for them, they’ve created an advocacy operation that will flourish.