Engaging Stakeholders in International Service. A Practitioner's Guide for Leadership, Management and Diplomacy - Janet Y Thomas Ph.D.

Engaging Stakeholders in International Service offers a timely and practice-driven framework for navigating the complex realities of cross-border work in higher education, international development, and global engagement.

Drawing on extensive experience across academia, international education, and government service, Dr. Janet Y. Thomas reframes international service as a form of diplomacy-where practitioners operate not only as program managers, but as relationship builders, negotiators, and strategic actors working across cultural, institutional, and political contexts.

At the center of this work is a clear premise: the success or failure of international initiatives depends on how effectively stakeholders are identified, understood, and engaged. Too often treated as a procedural step, stakeholder engagement is, in fact, the core mechanism through which trust is built, partnerships are sustained, and meaningful outcomes are achieved.

This book provides a structured yet flexible framework for:

Grounded in real-world scenarios and informed by both scholarship and practice, this guide equips readers with tools that can be applied immediately in the field.

Ideal for:

Engaging Stakeholders in International Service positions stakeholder engagement not as a task, but as a discipline essential to effective leadership in a globally interconnected world.