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Robin Caiola
interviewed by Emma Taylor on 2 October, 1995
"In 20 minutes or less, you can take an effective action."
Robin Caiola is co-director of 20/20 Vision, an activist organization which employs letter writing to impact change in U.S. communities.
Tripod: How did you first become involved with 20/20?
RC: I became involved about five years ago. I worked with the legislative director and the Washington director for my first three years with 20/20. What I did primarily was read all the legislation that was going on pertaining to the environment and to peace, which are two of our primary areas of focus, and really tried to boil down a complex legislative system into a nutshell for people to understand and take action on. Then about a year and a half ago, 20/20 was looking for a new director, and a colleague of mine, Naila Bolus and I decided to apply together. At that point the organization needed some new life to bring in a diversity of people, so we really wanted to take it on, and we applied and got the job together.
Tripod: In its eight-year history, letter writing has formed the core of 20/20's activity. Has this changed at all since the two of you took over as directors?
RC: No, the core of the activity is still letter writing. What has really changed, though, is the way we see the targets of our actions. No longer is it solely members of Congress and politicians, both on the local and national levels, but we do a lot more looking at policy makers, in a broader definition, so that media, corporations and other decision makers are included. We're doing an action this month, for example, which is asking President Clinton to hold to his promise to veto several of the bills that are harmful to the environment. We chose to write to Leon Panetta, the chief of staff to the president, urging him to hold to his promise. So, our targets have varied, but still letter writing -- the old-fashioned, grassroots, hand-written personal letter -- is still really what is so effective and that is why we decided to continue to focus on it.
Tripod: Both you and Naila Bolus come from backgrounds with a strong commitment to community service. What would you say to the argument that working in a soup kitchen is always more important than writing a letter?
RC: Well, I think that they are both critically important. Young people in particular today don't feel like they can make a difference in the policy side of community service. They are both inter-related and very important. If we can change some of the policies that affect low-income people, homelessness, and child advocacy in all the states then we can make it a better place, and hopefully less people will have to work in soup kitchens.
Tripod: How do you at 20/20 try to relate these two aspects?
RC: Well, one of our latest actions was writing to your local supermarket and asking them to carry more organic produce. Here, "policy maker" is defined broadly, on a local level, which also makes your community better. It is a really exciting action that we just started, all around the country, to get more pesticide-free food into supermarkets, because most places you don't have a choice. One of the advantages is that people can see tangible results, so it is an act people can take and get immediate feedback.
Tripod: Could you describe 20/20's membership?
RC: We have 30,000 people who take action each month, all in the United States. We have one chapter in British Colombia, Vancouver . . . but we really try to keep 20/20 US-focused ... The whole point is that we try to make it bring the issues home for people, so people get actions that are actually targeted and tailored to their area. So, not everyone around the country is taking the same action each month ... it depends on who their members of Congress are. We look at what committees they stand on, what are the important local environmental issues, and we have people around the country who help us target and tailor the actions. It's a very grassroots oriented organization.
Tripod: What age group do most of your members fall into?
RC: We actually have just undertaken a survey to determine that, but they are really varied. We have been really trying to reach out to more young people, because we are young ourselves, but we also have people in their nineties. So it's really across the board, from little kids to senior citizens and everybody in between. It's very diverse, but in particular what is important is that young people especially often feel so disconnected from the political system, and they feel frustrated and don't trust politicians. We're here to say that you can make a difference, you can make your voice heard. If enough people make their voice heard in concert, people will listen. We've seen it happen over and over again within 20/20 and it's important for people to speak out. And it feels good too, you know?
Tripod: 20/20 now has a home page on the Web. How has such technology affected the way an activist group such as 20/20 works?
RC: It's incredible. The opportunities are endless. Not only can we reach more people with our message, but more people become activists, because at their fingertips they have so much information available to them. Now with more and more non-profit organizations getting on the Web, there are tons of different actions people can take. You can be hooked right into the address of your member of Congress.
Tripod: Do you think that activism on the Web could encourage more talk and less action, now that it is so easy to have a voice and an audience?
RC: Well this is why we at 20/20 encourage people to write letters. I don't know if you have read recently, there has been an explosion of computer-generated mail. There are letters are sent on your behalf, or pre-printed postcards that you sign, or even the whole email thing, I think the jury is still out on its effectiveness ... From what we've been told -- and Gallup have polled members of Congress and their staff about what are the most effective ways to influence decision-makers -- out of all the possible choices, they repeatedly respond that individual letters from constituents, that are personal, well-informed and focus on one issue, really do get noticed.
Tripod: What are some examples of how a person can be politically active on the Web?
RC: First of all, there is the information gathering that can be done. There are numerous organizations out there that have Web sites action alerts, and I think the best thing they can do is to hook into those. One thing you have to be careful of is that a lot of organizations haven't been good in keeping their action alerts up to date, so make sure that the action is still good, and take the action -- preferably writing your own letter and mailing it, and then also trying email.
Tripod: 20/20 members pledge to give $20 a year and 20 minutes a month to 20/20. What is one action members are working on this month?
RC: In September, and this is something different, it's not really to members of Congress, we asked people to write to four French companies asking them to put pressure on the French government to stop their nuclear testing. They have proposed doing tests throughout 1995 and 1996, basically in Australia's and New Zealand's back yard. The international community has really come out against the remainder of the nuclear tests, so we are trying to put pressure on these companies -- rather than writing directly to Chirac -- to make a public statement that they are against the rest of the tests.
Tripod: Do you think the Web gives activists an edge in mobilizing international opinion in cases such as this? For example, representatives at Shell admitted they were beaten by Greenpeace in the Brent Sparr case because they could not match the speed and scope of Greenpeace's electronic presence.
RC: I think that is definitely an added benefit of the Web in issues like this one, nuclear testing, which is definitely an international issue. It's interesting, we have been monitoring who has been visiting our Web site, and we get lots of visitors from out of the country. So yes, I definitely think it opens up our issues to other countries, and can build a lot of international support that we wouldn't necessarily get just mailing our action alerts to people in the United States. So that part is wonderful.
Tripod: What are your plans for the future?
RC: Well, we are trying to grow the organization to at least 100,000 members or more, with people taking action every month. One of the unique things about 20/20 is that 65% of our membership takes action every single month. If you know anything about response rates of non-profits, that's incredibly high.
20/20 Vision can be reached at:1828 Jefferson Place, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Tel: (202) 833 2020Or through email at [email protected]
Visit them on the Web at http://www.2020vision.org/
Plus, you can read more about other non-profit organizations through Tripod in our Non-Profit Profiles.
