Community promoters are community members who are selected and trained to perform specific tasks in a project or program. Promoters have worked in education projects throughout Latin American since the 1960s, and their use in programs has shown to boost program success. Whether promoters work in externally directed programs or in more autonomous settings, they are most effective if they are selected from the community itself and share the sociocultural surroundings of program participants. The selection of would-be promoters should be dictated by their personal qualities and the tasks they will perform. Selection criteria should reflect a mix of community- and organization-developed desires/needs. The strategies selected to train promoters must relate the knowledge/technical skills required of promoters and the cultural values/guidelines that influence their attitudes/code of conduct. The most commonly used training strategy is that of transference, which means training promoters and having them in turn train grassroots groups. Another training model is based on participatory methods. Other key issues that must be resolved on a program-by-program basis are payment/funding of promoters and the relationship between promoters and professionals. (MN)