We made the difficult decision to transition the 2022 Advocacy Forum & Hill Day to a fully virtual event and cancel all in-person programming in Washington, DC. This decision was made by considering the local COVID guidelines and our priorities for the health and safety of attendees and staff. We also faced the likelihood of most, if not all, Hill day meetings being virtual due to current and anticipated future COVID restrictions on Capitol Hill and in government buildings. We appreciate everyone who was just as excited as we were to meet in-person again, and hope that you will instead join us for the virtual program.

If you previously registered for the in-person program, you need to re-register for the virtual program.

Event Schedule & Time Expectations:

The 2022 Forum consists of virtual trainings, policy presentations and interactive workshops that prepare you for our Capitol Hill Day as well as learning and networking opportunities.

By registering for the event, you are expected to participate in these sessions live. However, if an unavoidable conflict occurs, you may watch the recording(s) which will be available on the event site. The recordings will be available a few minutes after each session concludes.

Summary of the Schedule:

Please be sure to adjust these times to your own time zone. Central Time = 1 hour earlier than Eastern Time; Mountain Time = 2 hours earlier than Eastern Time; Pacific Time = 3 hours earlier than Eastern Time.  

• In advance of the Forum, you will receive a few brief, pre-recorded trainings that you may watch on your own time. First-time Forum attendees are required to watch a couple of foundational Hill Day trainings in advance.
• Sunday, February 27, 5:30-7:00p.m. Eastern Time: We will host a couple of live trainings starting at 5:30p.m. ET. Everyone must attend the training from 6:00-7:00p.m. ET as we go over Hill Day schedules and logistics during this time.
• Monday, February 28, 3:00-8:30p.m. Eastern Time: This programming day is required by all in order to participate in Hill Day. We will cover multiple policy presentations and grassroots trainings. There are “bio” breaks as well as an hour long break at approximately 5:30pm ET built into the agenda. 
• Tuesday, March 1, 8:30a.m.-5:30p.m. in your time zone: A Hill Day send-off message from our congressional champions and a review of Hill Day logistics will be available starting at 8:00am ET. During our virtual Hill Day, you will meet with members of Congress and/or their staff. Meetings typically take place between 9:30am – 5:30pm in your time zone. Your meeting schedule will not be available until the week of the Forum, so registered attendees are expected to be available at any point during this time frame on Wednesday for a meeting. 

Our partner, Soapbox, is scheduling ALL Hill Day meetings on your behalf. Because we are coordinating schedules for so many attendees, it is very important that you do not schedule your own meetings.

• Wednesday, March 2, 3:00-5:00p.m. Eastern Time: We will meet for a recap of Hill Day and to share your takeaways from the day. Our staff will then break out into different exhibitor booths which you can visit based on your policy and/or volunteer interests.

Registration: Every participating adult (18+) must register.

You can register for the Advocacy Forum at https://www.accelevents.com/e/2022advocacyforum. For those who participated in last year’s virtual event, registration should look familiar since we are using the same online event platform (Accelevents) for all conference programming leading up to Hill Day. (Hill Day meetings will take place via Zoom meetings with the congressional offices.)

If a family member (child or adult) is planning to join you just for your Hill day meetings on Tuesday, March 1 but is not registered for the full program, you MUST let us know in your registration answers or through email so we have an accurate count of who will be joining your Hill Day meetings. This allows for the optimal appointment setting and schedule coordination process to be used.

Costs & Scholarships: 

Registration for the virtual event is $15/adult. Each registered attendee will receive a packet of Forum supplies and materials in the mail the week before the event.

If you would like to request financial assistance in covering the registration fee, please email Allee Smith alexandra.smith@autismspeaks.org. In your email, indicate why you are seeking financial scholarship and who you are seeking it for (yourself and/or family member).