Most Communication programs start with tactics. I start with a conversation.
Before a strategy is sketched or a message is drafted, I sit down with the CEO and each program leader and ask the questions many communicators never get to: What does this organization need to accomplish in the next one to three years? What has to change — in policy, in funding, in public understanding — for that to happen? Who holds the power to make that change, and what do they currently believe?
Everything else follows from those answers.
I've worked this way for more than two decades, across public health crises and climate campaigns, disaster responses and economic development initiatives, in boardrooms and in communities with little connection to the wider world beyond a cell phone. The sectors change. The discipline doesn't.
I'd love to bring this approach to the right organization. If that might be yours — let’s talk.
1
LIsten first
One of the first things I do when joining an organization is listen: to leadership, to program staff, to the communities being served. Understanding what a policymaker needs to hear, what a funder needs to trust, what a community actually believes — that foundation determines the quality of everything built on top of it.
2
Plan backwards
Every strategy, message, and campaign connects directly to something the organization has committed to achieving — and can be measured against it. I've told more than one CEO: if we can't measure what I'm doing for you, let's not do it. For organizations looking to hire, this means I come ready to make the case for communications as a leadership function.
3
Resist conventional solutions
When I take on a new challenge, I ask what this particular organization, with these particular resources and goals, actually needs. The answer is often something no one expected — and frequently something that didn't exist before I built it. For example:
At an economic development foundation, my communications program translated a complex social enterprise model into storytelling that helped drive $92M in new philanthropic investment.
4
Ethical storytelling
The people whose stories advance a mission have entrusted something meaningful. That means informed consent, dignity-first framing, and giving storytellers genuine control. The most powerful stories come from agency, hope, and the specific humanity of people working toward something better.
5
Measure what matters most
Quantitative results — news coverage volume, social media reach, subscriber growth — are necessary but insufficient. The results that reveal whether communications is actually working are often qualitative: a policymaker's changed position, a funder's deepened confidence, a partner's decision to align their work with yours. Organizations that demonstrate both make the strongest case for communications as a mission-critical investment — not a line item to cut when budgets tighten.