A computer-implemented method to respond to an attempt from a requesting user to access a resource, the method comprising: receiving a request to access an access-controlled resource associated with an organization having multiple users; identifying the access controlled resource that is a subject of the received request; determining that the requesting user has not been explicitly granted a requested level of access to the identified resource; identifying a number of approvers that have the authority to grant the requesting user access to the identified resource, the number of approvers being greater than one, wherein predefined preferences define how far out of the requesting user's own management chain to look for available approvers, and determining each identified approver's context to the received request, wherein context refers to how likely a particular approver is to understand the request, and increases with closeness between the approver and the requesting user in an organizational hierarchy; determining a current status of each identified approver, wherein the current status indicates an approver's availability for receiving a communication to quickly handle a decision to grant or deny access to the identified resource; selecting one or more of the identified number of approvers to receive a notification requesting access to the resource, wherein selecting one or more of the identified approvers comprises applying the context information to provide a determination of whether the approver will understand the request and have sufficient information to know whether the request should be allowed; sending a notification to the selected approvers inquiring whether the received request to access the identified resource is to be allowed; and receiving a response from one approver and if the response indicates that the request should be allowed, allowing the requested access to the identified resource, wherein the preceding steps are performed by at least one processor. receiving a request to access an access-controlled resource associated with an organization having multiple users; identifying the access controlled resource that is a subject of the received request; determining that the requesting user has not been explicitly granted a requested level of access to the identified resource; identifying a number of approvers that have the authority to grant the requesting user access to the identified resource, the number of approvers being greater than one, wherein predefined preferences define how far out of the requesting user's own management chain to look for available approvers, and determining each identified approver's context to the received request, wherein context refers to how likely a particular approver is to understand the request, and increases with closeness between the approver and the requesting user in an organizational hierarchy; determining a current status of each identified approver, wherein the current status indicates an approver's availability for receiving a communication to quickly handle a decision to grant or deny access to the identified resource; selecting one or more of the identified number of approvers to receive a notification requesting access to the resource, wherein selecting one or more of the identified approvers comprises applying the context information to provide a determination of whether the approver will understand the request and have sufficient information to know whether the request should be allowed; sending a notification to the selected approvers inquiring whether the received request to access the identified resource is to be allowed; and receiving a response from one approver and if the response indicates that the request should be allowed, allowing the requested access to the identified resource, wherein the preceding steps are performed by at least one processor. <EOS>