"In July 2013, 13 think tanks in Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda embarked on a mission to strengthen their Policy Engagement and Communications (PEC) capacity. Over the course of 15 months, the think tanks worked with a mentor to diagnose their capacity needs and develop a PEC workplan to strengthen their knowledge and capacity. Work included designing and refining communciation strategies, engaging peers and external stakeholders, and leveraging tools to sharpen their strategic messaging and outreach. Our hard work resulted in the creation of new tools, skillsets, and shared lessons and strategies. This toolkit is a collection of the knowledge generated over the course of our work. It is intended to help our 13 think tanks - and many others - continue excelling and improving in their PEC abilities. It contains guiding principles, tips and suggested approaches to help better plan, package, disseminate and evaluate PEC strategies." (Introduction)