Anne Dooley is an accomplished land use attorney and lobbyist based in one of America's largest cities. Anne is the president of Land Use Policy Advocates, a firm that specializes in getting local government approval for controversial land use projects. Among her recent clients is a firm seeking to build a massive development of single-family homes, office buildings, and commercial space on a largely undeveloped tract of more than 5,000 acres; another firm is seeking government approval to build several low-income housing units in a high-income neighborhood. Anne's work often includes grassroots lobbying efforts designed to demobilize public opposition to potentially controversial development projects. She also has regular face-to-face meetings with city legislators.

Erica Nowitzki is deputy legislative director for a well-regarded Washington, DC-based senior citizens' advocacy group that focuses on Social Security and Medicare. Though the group is no AARP (the 35,000,000-member organization formerly known as the American Association of Retired Persons), it is impressive in its own right. It boasts hundreds of thousands of members and has a multimillion-dollar budget. Erica works almost exclusively on Capitol Hill (i.e., Congress). She came to the profession from a staff position on “the Hill” and spends a lot of time doing the things that the archetypal lobbyist does – testifying at congressional committee hearings and meeting with legislators and their aides.

Across the country in a sprawling sunbelt city, John Hodges works for a high-profile “full service” public affairs firm.