Jenny Chinchilla’s career can be defined in one word: dynamic. She is a consultant, a psychologist, a high-performance athlete, and, perhaps most importantly, an activist. Chinchilla is driven by a strong commitment to defend the rights of people with disabilities in El Salvador—a community of which she is a part.

For more than 20 years, Chinchilla has understood that the key to making a positive change in society lies in understanding the concept of and skills necessary for successful strategic leadership. “Many times,” Chinchilla shares, “what we have in our hands is the will to do things, the desire to do things, and unfortunately we do not always have technical or professional training.”

Chinchilla found the training she was looking for through in the Rights and Dignity Project. Counterpart has been implementing the USAID Rights and Dignity project in El Salvador since 2017, focused on strengthening the ability of civil society—particularly those organizations representing vulnerable populations—to protect human rights and uphold democratic practices.

Counterpart recently conducted a training program for civil society leaders focused on effective communication, personal branding, and strategic spokesmanship. The aim was to strengthen the capacity of Salvadoran human rights organizations and the media on the communication skills necessary to establish models for sharing personal and organizational narratives.

Chinchilla was one of 26 leaders who participated in the training. Representing Fundación Sendas, an organization that defends human rights for persons with disabilities, Chinchilla learned about the psychology of communication and the use of tone in amplifying advocacy issues and in the analysis of behaviors in social media users.

Chinchilla accepting an award for her outstanding work in support of people with disabilities in El Salvador.

Following the training, Chinchilla quickly applied what she learned to the Foundation’s social media presence. “We have improved how we sell an idea, how to publish, and we have clarity on how to identify certain audiences for everything,” she highlights. Chinchilla feels the tools she has adopted have transformed the narratives of people with disabilities into impactful messages and calls to action.

In one example, the organization recently hosted a successful training related to inclusion within culture and the arts, attracting more than 25 new people—double the expected number of participants. Building on her new skills, Chinchilla feels empowered to transform narratives about people with disabilities from ones of sympathy to ones of capability that provide solutions to challenges they face. “As an organization of people with disabilities,” Chinchilla adds, “do we want to sell a pitiful image? Or do we really want to reflect an image of people with rights, who, despite living in a country with barriers of all kinds, are capable and willing to provide solutions to a state, to a country?”

Experiences like those of Jenny Chinchilla not only demonstrate the crucial role of communications in the advocacy work carried out by civil society organizations, but they also reaffirm the commitment of the Rights and Dignity Project as a vital resource for these organization to boost the effectiveness of work in human rights.