Heidi Smith is a doctoral student in public management at Florida International University. Previously, she worked for six years at the Inter-American Foundation, a US government agency that provides grants to community based organizations. She oversaw research studies on local development, corporate initiatives, and social capital. Ms. Smith also consulted the Unit for the Promotion of Democracy at the Organization of American State on topics of decentralization, local government and citizen participation. She has a Masters degree in Public Policy from American University, in Washington D.C. and a Bachelors degree in Political Science, Spanish and Latin American Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.