I first met Mike Lux when he was director of the Iowa Citizen Action Network in the mid-1980s. With his wife Barbara Laur – herself a progressive leader – I knew Mike was someone to watch. Citizen Action was designed to connect local organizing efforts across the country – to build power from the grassroots up. I was part of Citizen Action Illinois and our goals were – and still are – to give people a sense of their own power and to make immediate/concrete improvements in people’s lives.