Talking Up Music Education is a podcast from The NAMM Foundation about music education. Recorded live from The 2017 NAMM Show, episode 20 includes an interview with the lobbyist, Leo Coco.
“Over a decade of conversations and involving NAMM members in conversations, NAMM [is] an organization that is focused on access and equality in terms of students and their ability to have music education and arts education in their schools,” said Coco. “NAMM has the vision, the tenacity, the understanding, that things don’t happen overnight.”
Interviewed by The NAMM Foundation’s Mary Luehrsen, Coco discusses his role working with policy makers in Washington D.C. and the accomplishments he has helped achieve as an advocate for music education.
Sound Bites from the Podcast
“The research [NAMM] has conducted over the past ten years [is] backed up. When we walk into a policymaker’s office, we have credibility. We have strength of purpose and clarity. When you have that kind of integrity and you instill that kind of confidence, people are much more willing to go out and try to help you and work with you toward your goals.” - Leo Coco
“Within the Department of Education, professionals stay. They stay from administration to administration. And NAMM is very well respected, very well branded within the Department as being a substantive organization that delivers in terms of the policies that they want to work with the Department on.” - Leo Coco
“[NAMM has] credibility because of the research that’s been done and shared with the Department of Education. Any research that has come out in the past eight, nine years has been previewed at the Department of Education before it goes anywhere. So it’s showing them that level of respect. That’s going to remain there.” - Leo Coco
Talking Up Music Education is a podcast produced by The NAMM Foundation about music education. Host Mary Luehrsen chats with teachers, parents, students and community leaders who share stories about what they are doing to create music learning opportunities. Please download, share and subscribe to keep up with the stories that make a difference in music education advocacy.