Profile

Pat Libby was born and raised in Boston and has worked and volunteered in many sectors of the community building field over the course of her career. Her interests in mission-driven work and being an active community member were sparked by observing her parents’ dedication to community service and the important work her aunts did as social workers. Pat explains, “I was surrounded by people who were passionate about making the world better -- it didn't really matter what you were doing or how you were doing it -- your moral obligation was to repair the world inch by inch.”

Pat’s interest in the wellbeing of her community led her to volunteering and eventually working with several nonprofit organizations across Boston; she even campaigned for Mel King during his mayoral race in 1983. A few years later in 1986, she became the President & CEO of MACDC, and over the course of her eight-year tenure, she led several city, state, and national legislative campaigns and turned the once bankrupt association into a thriving statewide CDC membership organization.

After her time at MACDC, Pat moved to San Diego with her husband where she became a self-proclaimed “accidental academic” after establishing the University of San Diego’s Nonprofit Institute which consists of master's degree and PhD programs, a research center, and community education programs focused on effective nonprofit management. One of the core principles of the Nonprofit Institute’s curriculum is integrating theory with practice. Pat recalls,

“I went to a technical school—I received my graduate degree in urban planning from MIT—and I loved that about it. So, when I created the Nonprofit Institute, I wanted to do something similar – I wanted the students to know how to implement what they were learning in the classroom. As part of that, I decided to teach a course called ‘Advocacy Skills Strategies’ – where the main assignment was for the students to conceive of and pass an original law.”

Since there was no textbook that adequately described how to create a successful lobbying campaign, Pat wrote The Lobbying Strategy Handbook which was first published in 2012 (the second edition, published by Oxford University Press, was released in 2021). A year later Oxford published its shorter, more general counterpart, The Empowered Citizens Guide: 10 Steps to Passing a Law that Matters to You. Both works serve as playbooks for those who aspire to involve themselves in the legislative process and pass meaningful laws.

When Pat is not working, she enjoys spending time outdoors. Some of her favorite activities include walking her dog while listening to disco music, hiking, and doing yoga with her friends in Balboa Park.

Pat is returning to Boston to facilitate our Advocacy in Action workshop on October 16, 2025! She will use concepts from both of her books to teach this full-day session in which all participants will receive a copy of The Empowered Citizens Guide! Register today!