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.
This is the approach I bring whether I'm leading communications full-time, advising as a fractional CCO, or helping a foundation build communications capacity across its grantees.
I'd love to bring this approach to the right organization. If that might be yours — let’s talk.
1
LIsten first
I learn what actually moves your stakeholders. 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 dollar connects to your goals. I've told more than one CEO: if we can't measure what I'm doing for you, let's not do it. Every strategy, message, and campaign connects directly to something the organization has committed to achieving — and can be measured against it.
3
Fresh Thinking
The unexpected answer is often the right one. When I take on a new challenge, I ask what this particular organization, with these particular resources and goals, actually needs — and the answer is often something that didn't exist before I built it. At a climate policy think tank, that meant designing a special event at a UN Climate conference that won endorsements for the organization's latest proposal.
4
Measure what matters
Results your board and funders will trust. News media coverage volume, social reach, increased funding, subscriber growth are all important to prove ROI, but not sufficient. What reveals whether communications is actually working is often qualitative: a policymaker's changed position, a funder's deepened confidence, a partner's decision to align their work with yours. I measure both, proving social impact communications is a mission-critical investment.