is Executive Director & Co-Founder of Just Associates. In addition to work in community-based adult education and participatory research in Central America and the US she has been a Citizen Action organizer, a lobbyist on foreign policy issues, and a legislative aid to a US Congressman. She has worked with Women, Law and Development International, the Asia Foundation and contributed to the creation of Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF), a regional network committed to women's rights. During the last decade she has advised and assisted dozens of NGOs worldwide to develop and conduct advocacy strategies and training programs. She has a Masters in Public Policy from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.

is Senior Advisor & Co-Founder of Just Associates. For more than thirty years she has worked in advocacy, international development, gender, and human rights collaborating with grassroots organizations, NGOs, and international agencies from around the world. Over the past fifteen years, she has been Policy Advocacy Director at Oxfam America, Director of Policy and Exchange Programs at the Institute for Development Research, and advisor to, and associate of, a wide variety of organizations including the Global Women in Politics Program, Women, Law and Development International, and the Highlander Center. She has also served as a board member of Cenzontle (a Nicaraguan NGO focused on women’s economic and political empowerment) and Grassroots International. Her doctorate is in adult education and she has published numerous articles and books on issues of advocacy, development, education, and politics.

Acknowledgements; Foreword; Introduction; PART ONE: UNDERSTANDING POLITICS: Chapter 1: Politics and Advocacy; Chapter 2: Democracy and Citizenship; Chapter 3: Power and Empowerment; Chapter 4: Constructing Empowering Strategies; PART TWO: PLANNING ADVOCACY: Chapter 5: The Basics of Planning for Citizen-Centered Advocacy; Chapter 6: Planning Moment #1 - Looking Inward; Chapter 7: Planning Moment #2 - Understanding the Big Picture; Chapter 8: Planning Moment #3 - Identifying and Defining Problems; Chapter 9: Planning Moment #4 - Analyzing Problems & Selecting Priority Issues; Chapter 10: Planning Moment #5 - Mapping Advocacy Strategies; Chapter 11: Finding Policy Hooks and Political Angles; Chapter 12: Forces, Friends, and Foes; PART THREE: DOING ADVOCACY: Chapter 13: Messages and Media - Educating and Persuading; Chapter 14: Outreach and Mobilization; Chapter 15: Maneuvering on the Inside: Lobbying and Negotiating; Chapter 16: Advocacy Leadership; Chapter 17: Alliances and Coalitions; ANNEXES: Annex 1: Additional Tips for Planners and Trainers; Annex 2: Understanding Power; Annex 3: Bibliography