Program areas at National Wic Association
Recruitment and retention campaign: recruitment and retention campaign is designed to educate, enroll and retain eligible families in the Wic program and increase the positive perception of Wic. Specifically, the campaign provides a unified Wic brand to participating states, paid marketing opportunities, and technical assistance to implement campaign marketing tools. We have a two-pronged approach to accomplish the campaign's objectives: national-level marketing and working closely with Wic staff. On a National level, the campaign focuses on digital and social ads, media outreach, and a centralized website. Nwa support Wic agencies and their outreach efforts by providing them with numerous resources.
Public policy & other: nwa receives grants from charitable foundations that support progress towards nwa's mission. Grant-funded work at nwa builds capacity for nwa members to reduce barriers to Wic participation, drives Wic research and innovation, and elevates Wic to a range of stakeholders through communications activities. Specifically, the grant-funded portfolio enables nwa to provide subgrants to pilot innovative practices in Wic local agencies; build grassroots advocacy capacity through education, advocacy fellowship programming, resource development, reports, and webinars; story collection campaigns and more recently, elevating Wic participant voices through initiatives such as the participant advisory council. Additionally, grant funding has enabled nwa to lead groundbreaking research on equity, diversity, and inclusion in Wic and build a health equity champion program. Ultimately, grant-funded work at nwa supports the Association to provide additional support and resources to members and build internal capacity to enhance core services.
Conferences: nwa conferences offer an excellent opportunity for nwa partners and Wic stakeholders to acquire new skills and to network with an estimated 1,000 peers, and colleagues along with exhibitors who will provide wic-related products and services for participants. Nwa conferences also offer an opportunity for attendees to hear from usda officials and to dialogue on relevant updates and challenges that the program faces. Content for is solicited through a competitive abstract process and curated by a conference committee.
Member services: the core function of member services revenue is to support the operating expenses of nwa. This includes staffing expenses across the organization. The nwa staff are organized into five teams: member services, communications, special projects, public policy, and operations. The nwa staff are core to delivering crucial Wic advocacy, member engagement activities and education, technical assistance, and driving Wic research and innovation. Collectively they support the nwa membership to protect and promote Wic and effectively and efficiently provide Wic services to over 6-million mothers, babies, and young children.