AAOPAC breaks all-time fundraising record and AAO member grassroots engagements more than double

The 2022-23 Fiscal Year 4th quarter began in March with the AAO 2023 Professional Advocacy Conference, co-chaired by Dr. Dale Anne Featheringham and Dr. Michael Durbin. The conference hosted a maximum capacity blend of AAO advocacy veterans and more than 60 orthodontic residents in Washington, D.C. The AAO delegation carried out over 60 meetings in U.S. House and Senate offices to share our evidence- based policy priorities. In addition, the AAO Political Action Committee hosted a reception honoring 19 Members of Congress.

View the 2022-23 Q4 Dashboard
The dashboard (at-a-glance overview) provides additional AAO Advocacy and AAOPAC highlights.

View the AAO Advocacy Fiscal Year Dashboard
Get an at-a-glance overview of all that AAO Advocacy and AAOPAC accomplished during FY 23 (June 1, 2022-May 31, 2023). The dashboard tells the story of AAO Advocacy and AAOPAC working together across the country to influence AAO policy priorities at the federal and state levels.

Thank You, Members!
In the final quarter of FY23, the AAOPAC broke the all-time fundraising record for a fiscal year (previous record: $373,775) and crushed the $400,000 aspirational goal by raising $427,851 between June 1, 2022, and May 31, 2023. Additionally, Dr. Deborah Lien was elected as the first woman to serve as AAOPAC Chair since its inception in 1994. Please consider making a contribution for FY24 now at AAOPAC.org.

Thank you to all AAO members who advocated for their patients and the orthodontic profession this past fiscal year – over 2,000 times. The AAO made tremendous advances into unchartered territory through policy offense and defense during Spring 2023 in Florida, Alabama, Illinois, Nevada, and Texas, and workforce initiatives are ongoing and supported by grassroots engagements in Michigan, New York, and Ontario.

New AAO Policy Materials Brief Lawmakers
To boost our efforts, over 250 unique, customized advocacy resources were created during the past year to better tell our story to decision-makers on AAO policy priorities (one-pagers, social media messaging, press releases, earned media, videos, specialty collateral, etc.).

Grassroots Initiative Will Help Drive Success in 2023-24
Grassroots efforts are receiving an even greater boost via the launch of the National Advocacy Network (NAN) with two key roles established to maximize grassroots engagement across the United States and Canada: Component Advocacy Liason (CAL) and the AAOPAC Captain (U.S. only). We are thrilled to announce 18 confirmed Component Advocacy Liaisons, two members of state CAL teams, and five AAOPAC Captains who will work in this new volunteer leadership capacity to help lead the advocacy work of the AAO today and into the future.  

The AAO Advocacy Team looks forward to seeing over 500 orthodontic residents at the annual GORP meeting in St. Louis this month. Last fiscal year, 10% of eligible orthodontic residents contributed to the AAOPAC, and two programs, the University of Maryland and the University of Texas at Houston, had 100% of residents contribute to the AAOPAC.