106. The Power of Parent Coalitions

In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, two other public health epidemics have surged: gun violence and youth vaping. Parents have an important role to play in addressing these challenges - and it should come as no surprise that two of the most prominent advocacy groups fighting for public safety measures in the United States are organized by mothers. Mothers have long been leaders in mobilizing around social issues like drunk driving, women's suffrage, and child labor laws - and today's activists and organizers are leveraging social media and other digital tools to connect with and build a diverse coalition of volunteers across the country. On this episode, Katherine Oliver sits down with Shannon Watts, the founder of Moms Demand Action, a grassroots movement fighting to protect Americans from gun violence with more than 6 million supporters, as well as Meredith Berkman and Dorian Fuhrman, the co-founders of Parents Against Vaping E-Cigarettes, or PAVE. PAVE seeks to educate parents about the dangers of e-cigarettes and advocate for legislative change to protect minors from Big Tobacco. Kindly note the views of the podcast guests are entirely their own, and Bloomberg Philanthropies hasn't independently verified any of the statements made by this week's podcast guests.