On Friday September 22nd, COS Hawai'i State Director Mark White and Grassroots Coordinator Brett Kulbis took Team Hawaii's sense of ohana [family] to the COS Western Region Leaders Summit in Sacramento, CA.
Gathering with 21 other COS leaders and activists from the National and Western Region, which includes California, Hawai’i, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington, to discuss all things Convention of States.
Led by Regional Director Andrew Lusch the meeting was well attended by National Leaders, State Directors, State Grassroots Coordinators, State Communications Coordinators, Legislative Liaisons, State Information Analysts, District Captains, and other COS activists.
Over the course of this eventful day, the state teams focused on promoting grassroots engagement and legislative strategies, networking, while boosting our regional relationships. It was a great opportunity to come together and really take a tough look at each individual state and collaborate on what we can be doing to improve our efforts.
Some of the key topics of discussion were centered around how we duplicate ourselves, learning how to be better leaders and mentors in our states, and why it’s important to build relationships not only with our legislators but also with their staffs.
We also honored state team members for many outstanding accomplishments, awarding several Patriot Pins and a Challenge Coin.
Panel discussion on "Grassroots Leadership and Organization".
Panel discussion on "Building Relationships with Legislators".
"It was really a great conference with a lot of interaction between everyone attending from different states across the western region!" Mark White State Director
While Thursday September 21st was a travel day, some of the attendees arrived early enough to enjoy some fellowship playing cornhole and dinner.
Ultimately, as the event concluded with state teams already planning their strategies for the upcoming legislative year, the Western Region is looking forward to 2024 and thrilled to watch all that the grassroots army will accomplish.
