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Saturday, April 15, 2006


This week's featured woman entrepreneur or executive is Claire Guthrie Castanaga, National VP of NAWBO Public Policy, founder and Principal of CG2 Consulting (Richmond, VA ), a company that specializes in public policy advocacy.

about CG2 Consulting
CG2 Consulting brings big ideas and strategic thinking to business and public policy advocacy for women and minority-owned businesses, trade associations and grass roots organizations, and to the political campaigns of women candidates. The company's client services include business advocacy, government relations, and political consulting. Ms. Gastanaga currently serves as National Vice President for Public Policy of the National Association of Women Business Owners. She was selected by the Small Business Administration as the Virginia Women in Business Advocate of the Year in 2003 and received the NAWBO Chapter Public Policy Advocate of the Year award in 2004.

about NAWBO
National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) is the voice of America's 10.6 million women-owned businesses. Since 1975, NAWBO has helped women evolve their businesses by sharing resources and providing a single voice to shape economic and public policy. NAWBO propels women entrepreneurs into economic, social, and political spheres of power worldwide.

Claire's Top 10 Tips for Becoming an Effective Grass Roots Advocate


Here are ten tips for any active and engaged woman who wants to be an effective grass roots advocate, whether you choose to focus on issues pending in Congress, your state legislature or your local school board or governing body:

1. Learn the culture - staff vs. member.
In Congress, you have to build a good relationship with staff before you'll get to see the member. In the state legislature (particularly those that are classified as part-time or citizen legislatures) and in local governing bodies, this is less likely to be true. Regardless, find time to meet with legislators and officials in their home offices and in the "off season."

2. Learn the procedural rules (formal and informal).
If you want to make something happen, you need to know what process you must follow to get something done. Is there a particular subcommittee or committee that will hear an issue first? How is legislation or an ordinance introduced? You need to know how the game is played before you take the field.

3. Find your allies and identify your opposition.
Build coalitions with other organizations and people who share your goals and objectives. Find out who's likely to be against you on an issue, and determine whether there is any common ground.

4. Look for win/win or acceptable compromise.
If there's a balance that can be struck, strike it. If you can move your ball forward a yard, take it. You'll be closer to the goal even if you can't score in one play.

5. Prepare, prepare, prepare.
You are presenting a "case" to a difficult jury. If you don't know your stuff, no one will pay any attention to what you say. Want to know more about how people align on issues? Check out www.pollingreport.com. Want to become a better speaker? Read Leading Out Loud by Terry Pearce. Want a handbook that'[s easy to follow? Get Women for a Change: A Grassroots Guide to Activism and Politics, Thalia Zepatos & Elizabeth Kaufman. Use the Internet to become more informed.

6. Educate yourself about the double binds faced by women leaders and advocates.
Learn how to capitalize on your assets and minimize your weaknesses. Remember that guys can lie and get away with it, women can't. A woman who loses trust can never regain it. Kathleen Hall Jamieson describes the double binds faced by women in her book, Beyond the Double Bind: Women and Leadership:
- Women can exercise their brains or their wombs, but not both.
- Women who speak out are immodest and will be shamed, while women who are silent will be ignored or dismissed.
- Women are subordinate whether they claim to be different or the same.
- Women who are considered feminine will be judged incompetent, and women who are competent, unfeminine.
- As men age, they gain wisdom and power; as women age, they wrinkle and become superfluous.

7. Pay attention to how you are marketing yourself and keep things professional.
Like it or not, how you dress, wear your hair, talk, all affect how you are perceived. Develop relationships by providing information and opportunities and making yourself indispensable.

8. Be fearless.
Don't hesitate to be assertive. As Robert Grudin says, "the years forget our errors and forgive our sins, but they punish our inaction with living death."

9. Recognize your limits.
Don't make promises that you can't keep. Don't over commit. As in business, under promise and over deliver.

10. Don't take yourself too seriously.
Use humor to defuse "difficult" situations.


Contact Information

Contact Information:
Claire Guthrie Gastanaga
National VP Public Policy - NAWBO
Founder & Principal
CG2 Consulting
website: www.cg2consulting.com/
blog: http://changeservant.blogspot.com
804.521.4067

A big thanks to Claire for her wise words.


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