The Junior League of Tacoma

Advocacy is most powerful when it is intentional and practiced in everyday leadership. Advocacy Outside the Courtroom invites Junior League members to explore how advocacy extends far beyond formal roles, legal contexts, or representing others—it is also about advocating for yourself, your ideas, your narratives, and your goals. Effective advocacy blends communication, strategy, and confidence to influence outcomes, build trust, and create meaningful community impact.

In this interactive virtual training, participants will examine how advocacy is practiced through service, collaboration, ethical decision-making, and the intentional use of personal and professional skills. Drawing on real-world leadership and nonprofit examples, participants will engage in reflection, discussion, and chat-based exercises designed to highlight clarity, confidence, and intentionality in communication.

The session emphasizes communication as a tool of advocacy, exploring ways to structure messages, present ideas clearly, and engage audiences thoughtfully. Principles from George Gopen’s Reader Expectation Approach and Talk Like TED are used to demonstrate how storytelling, clarity, and message structure can help ideas resonate. Participants will consider approaches for framing arguments, asking questions, and presenting ideas in ways that promote dialogue and collaboration.

The training also draws on concepts from Never Eat Alone and Multipliers, highlighting ways to recognize the capabilities of others, leverage networks, and create conditions that allow collective contributions to flourish. Members will be encouraged to reflect on how relationships, collaboration, and intentional communication intersect with advocacy goals.

Additionally, the session integrates ideas from Hidden Potential and Think Again, encouraging participants to explore iterative thinking, self-reflection, and examining assumptions when advocating for themselves, ideas, and goals.

Ultimately, Advocacy Outside the Courtroom focuses on the broad practice of advocacy—not just representing others, but also communicating purposefully, advancing ideas, and engaging collaboratively. By examining examples, reflecting on personal experiences, and participating in guided exercises, Junior League members gain insight into how advocacy operates across contexts and how intentional communication can support meaningful action in their Leagues and communities.
 
Host League: Junior League of Daytona Beach

Speaker: Maria Indelicato
Maria Indelicato – Mrs. Indelicato is a seasoned attorney and dedicated community leader whose career exemplifies the power of women’s leadership to create meaningful, lasting change. She currently serves as Director of Litigation at Franklin Legal Group, where she leads litigation strategy, mentors junior attorneys, and represents institutional clients in complex civil matters.

Her professional journey includes impactful service as an Assistant State Attorney—where she first-chaired numerous jury trials—and leadership roles launching and growing a successful family law division in private practice. Across sectors, she has combined analytical insight with disciplined advocacy to shape outcomes for clients and communities.

Beyond her legal work, Mrs. Indelicato is deeply committed to volunteer action and community collaboration. She has been recognized with multiple honors for her legal excellence and leadership, and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Volusia County Bar Association. As a Sustainer of the Junior League of Daytona Beach, she most recently served as Immediate Past President.

Mrs. Indelicato embodies the Junior League’s mission to advance women’s leadership for meaningful community impact through service, collaboration, and training. Her work demonstrates that advocacy extends far beyond the courtroom—into volunteerism, mentorship, civic engagement, and empowering others to lead with purpose.

Participation counts as a training. Attendance is tracked on an honor system — members who register and attend are responsible for checking themselves in or ensuring their attendance is recorded in Member Essentials (ME).