The Goddess Speaks

  The Minerva Strategies team received so many interesting COVID-19 dispatches from our partners around the world that we had to break this into two parts. If you missed part one—with dispatches from Johannesburg, London, Buenos Aires, and New Delhi, check it out here.   This week we’re bringing you insights from our partners in different countries and diverse parts of the U.S.: Jakarta, Indonesia: New York City; Abuja, Nigeria,…

  By Malia Mackey—    Spring is often a time for new beginnings—and usually a time for spring cleaning. While we are battling the persistent pollen flurry and balancing that last can of soup in the pantry, there’s likely something else collecting clutter—your Twitter feed.     In the age of coronavirus, when everyone wants to add their two cents and shout…

    Minerva Strategies works with a group of very talented partners in countries around the world who share our values and excitement about communicating to support positive change. We’ve been thinking of them during this time of COVID-19 when we’re all living different versions of the same stressful reality.   We recently dropped our…

The Minerva Team—   It’s been fun and enlightening to read people’s tips and tricks for working from home during this COVID-19 crisis.   That is not what this blog is about. The Minerva Strategies team does not hold miracle tips, tricks, or life hacks—we’re stumbling through and finding ways to manage this transition as awkwardly as the rest of the world. Instead, we’re getting into the spirit of…

By Sara Veltkamp—   A lot of you have been reaching out and asking how the team at Minerva Strategies is doing. We’re not going to mince words: it’s been a challenging time. We like to hug and do best when spending time with the incredible people in our networks. Working from home, not seeing our families, friends, clients, and colleagues in–person has taken a toll on our well-being.    Fortunately, we have incredible clients who are getting…

By Catherine Salgado—    COVID-19 impacts all of us, but not equally. People who live at the margins—folks living in poverty, communities of color, undocumented immigrants—are much more likely to feel the economic and health impacts of the virus. This pandemic is highlighting how communication can deepen inequities. For example, calling COVID-19 the “Chinese virus” or “Kung flu” is not only wrong and racist—it puts people in danger of being attacked and stigmatized.     Thankfully, in the past…

By Joy Portella—   Let’s face it: We weren’t prepared for this. The rapid onset of a worldwide health crisis has all of us flummoxed. How do nonprofits talk about their work when news headlines are dominated by coronavirus, people are weighing whether it’s safe to go into the office, and families are preoccupied with protecting elderly loved ones?  As a…

By Joy Portella—   Former presidential candidate Andrew Yang, whose communication talents and strong social media following were the subject of a recent Goddess Speaks blog, just announced that he’ll become a CNN political commentator. His voice is an important one and we’re happy to hear more of it.   There’s a lot about Yang’s campaign that was appealing but there’s one…

At Minerva, we understand that to put out fresh and balanced ideas, we need to diversify the information and perspectives we take in. And we take our information diets seriously.   A few years ago, Sara committed to reading more novels and nonfiction books written by women of color—ensuring that these authors make up at least 50 percent of her reading list—while Joy makes sure that her Twitter feed incorporates diversity of political perspectives to avoid the echo chamber effect. Catherine often consumes…

Our friend Kini Schoop has packed a lot of communications careers into the past two decades—moving from a large global agency to A-list nonprofits to private sector start-ups. She’s gained significant knowledge along the way and was kind enough to share some of it with the Minerva team.     Now the director of PR at the animal health company Covetrus, Kini told us about what it’s like to move across sectors, how…