Drug development teams once focused on study design and company priorities, must now expand their efforts to include the professional, patient, and policy advocacy landscape. These groups are essential to setting research and policy priorities and are influential voices in securing funding at the federal, state, and private investment levels, as well as input to optimize the probability of success of clinical development programs. Professional associations and patient advocacy groups also enable collaboration across industry to address challenges that require resources beyond any one entity. This is particularly relevant to complex conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease.