Build Partnerships

Once you have an understanding of how EHDI and Hands & Voices work and who the key people are, look for partners with whom you can collaborate. Collaborative opportunities include the following:

• Meet with your state’s EHDI coordinator and Hands & Voices chapter contact to explore ways to assist in each other’s efforts
• Talk to your EHDI coordinator about the possibility of someone from your project or a family member familiar with your project serving on boards or committees involved in issues related to identification and referral of infants with hearing loss 
• Ask your EHDI coordinator about opportunities to collaborate with your state’s American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) EHDI Chapter Champions
• Partner with EHDI to support initiatives associated with deaf-blindness such as newborn screening for CMV
• If funds allow, attend the annual EHDI Meeting and Hands & Voices Leadership Conference 
• Invite EHDI and Hands & Voices administrators or personnel to serve on your advisory board
• Share open positions for Guide by Your Side parent guides with parents of children who are deaf-blind
• Include EHDI and Hands & Voices administrators and personnel on your project’s newsletter or email distribution list
• Become a member of Hands & Voices and sign up for their national Communicator newspaper and a local newsletter, if available
• Follow Hands & Voices (national and local) social media and ask that they consider sharing your social media posts
• Identify networking opportunities with other entities in your state (e.g., schools for the Deaf/hard of hearing) that collaborate with EHDI and Hands & Voices