The Goddess Speaks

By Catherine Salgado, Minerva Strategies   My first experience working on a rebrand was a great one. Early last summer, Minerva Strategies forged a partnership with the Seattle Milk Fund to create a new brand for their organization. Seattle Milk Fund has existed for more than 100 years and changing their brand was a hard…

The Minerva Team— If you’re one of the incredibly intelligent people who closely follows Minerva Strategies, you may already know that we have big news: We are open for business in both Washingtons—Seattle and DC! As of late June, long-time Minerva Goddess Sara Veltkamp set up shop on the East Coast.   Here’s why we’re…

Edith Asibey is the principal of Asibey Consulting, a group that helps mission-driven organizations get audiences involved in their causes. Edith and her colleagues specialize in behavior design, digital engagement, advocacy, communication strategy, and continuous evaluation. She is a longtime friend of Minerva and one of the smartest in the field. Edith shared advice for communicators who…

By Molly Nagappala, Minerva’s summer intern — Summers always go by fast, but this one seems to have been especially fleeting. My few months with Minerva Strategies have taught me much more than I could have expected. Because our clients work in many different parts of the “social good” space, I’ve learned about new ways…

By Sara Veltkamp, Minerva Goddess in the East—   At Minerva, we often conduct workshops for small or grassroots organizations that could benefit from communication support but do not have the budget to hire staff or external help. I recently prepared and conducted a workshop for Pakistani activists visiting the U.S. through the organization Networks…

By Joy Portella, Minerva Strategies — I gasped when I saw the first images of Paris’ Notre Dame Cathedral in flames. The April fire was a tragedy, especially for Parisians and the many people around the world who’d visited that amazing church. Images of the cathedral’s destruction dominated global news.   Then came the money.…

At Minerva, summer relaxation often includes a good book or six. And since summer finally decided to show up in Seattle, we agreed it was time to release our summer reading list. Here are a few of Minerva’s suggestions, wrapped together with the things we learned while reading them.     Feminists aren’t born, they’re…

By Sara Veltkamp, Minerva Strategies — I recently conducted an experiment: I went without reading the news for a month. For a person who works in public relations, this is a big deal. I was helped by being in Vietnam and digitally disconnected. I’d left my laptop at home, and any news I passively saw…

By Catherine Salgado, Minerva Strategies How often are you forced to question your identity? I recently took a trip to Orcas Island for the first time with my family. As we were waiting for a ferry, I exchanged small talk with a stranger in the bathroom. As she was leaving, she looked at me and…

By Sara Veltkamp, East Coast Goddess—   I recently spent a month traveling in Vietnam. Anyone traveling in Southeast Asia will notice that the waste management system isn’t great. As a region, Southeast Asia is the biggest contributor to ocean plastics and when you’re on-the-ground, it’s obvious why. On my tour through the Mekong Delta,…