Jennifer Baumgardner and Amy Richards discuss their new book, Grassroots, which answers the perennial question, "What can I do to help?". Baumgardner and Richards argue that this question rings ever louder in the post-9/11 political landscape. Whether you are a student or a stay-at-home-mom, an artist or a corporate professional, *Grassroots* illustrates how anyone, no matter how much or how little they believe they have to offer, can become involved. It also shows how even small efforts have the potential to produce a sea change in our lives.
Jennifer Baumgardner is the author of Look Both Ways: Bisexual Politics and the co-author of Manifesta: Young Women, Feminism and the Future and Grassroots: A Field Guide for Feminist Activism. She is also the producer of the film, I Had an Abortion, and the creator of a corresponding t-shirt, photo, and public education campaign. She has written for Harper's, The Nation, Glamour, Jane, and NPR's All Things Considered, among other venues, and her work has been featured in The New York Times and on The Oprah Winfrey Show.
Amy has just published *Opting In: Having A Child Without Losing Yourself*. Before that she co-authored (with Jennifer Baumgardner)* Grassroots: A Field Guide for Feminist Activism* and *Manifesta: Young Women Feminism and the Future*. Over the years she has worked as a consultant to Gloria Steinem, Anna Deavere Smith and the Columbia School of Public Health among other places. She is on the board of advisors to *Ms. Magazine* and the counsel of advocates to Planned Parenthood New York City. Amy is also a board member to The Lower East Side Girls Club, Fair Fund, and the Sadie Nash Leadership Institute. And most of her "training" in being an effective activist came from her involvement with the Third Wave Foundation. Since Third Wave's inception in 1992, she helped it grow from an organization struggling to find a place within the feminist movement to being one of only a few organizations for young feminists.