Welcome to Advocacy School

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The mission of Advocacy School is to develop and deliver means by which individuals and the organizations through which they advance their beliefs, goals, visions and interests can learn to effectively engage the public at large and governments in particular on issues of public policy and social change.

Advocacy School has assembled an impressive faculty and team of mentors, all experienced in one dimension or another of advocacy practice, decision making or communications.

We take a very broad view of advocacy. The Free Dictionary defines it as “The act of pleading or arguing in favor of something, such as a cause, idea, or policy.” In our approach , we include not only “public-policy advocacy,” i.e. organized, legitimate attempts to influence decisions of government and other public authorities at local, national and international levels,  but several other dimensions as well. These include efforts to influence decisions and behavior of the media, institutions, corporations and other commercial interests, collective and individual behavior and public opinion.

Advocacy School endeavours to provide learning opportunities for the novice as well as the veteran, for board members and senior management as well as front-line workers and Volunteers.

Based in Ottawa, Advocacy School provides much of its content in the Canadian context. But because the principles, strategies, tools and practices of effective advocacy are largely universal, we believe most of what we deal in is relevant to organizations and advocacy efforts world wide whether they’re focused on City Hall, the national legislature or foreign entities.

Advocacy School is a work-in-progress, a living experiment in practical civics education. We invite you to join us in that exploration – tell us what you think of the course content, the faculty, the mentors and our overall approach to training and professional development. (Review the workshops and webinars and indicate those in which you are most interested. Your expressed interest does not require making a commitment to attend or participate in a particular session.) Are there other elements of advocacy, lobbying, policy development or strategic communications that you want us to include in our content roster? Would you like Advocacy School to come to your community or assist your employer or interest group in upgrading its ability to be an influential force?

Quite apart from the general registration content described in this web site, Advocacy School is also involved in designing and delivering customized curriculum to meet the specific needs of associations, community non-profit organizations, companies -  even governments that are interested in improving the ability of interest groups to engage constructively in public affairs.

We welcome your comments.

Sean Moore
Principal, Advocacy School