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…
Industry Insights
Minerva Strategies 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…
Joy Portella 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…
By Malia Mackey— Minerva Strategies recently spoke to two committed Yang supporters, Hannah Won and Trevor Russell. Hannah went to Grinnell, Iowa to canvass for Yang ahead of the caucus, and Trevor is deeply embedded in the Yang network, active on social media, and happy to share his enthusiasm with everyone he encounters. In a series of posts throughout the…
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 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…
Sara Veltkamp 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…
Brad Kahn is the founder of Groundwork Strategies, a communications firm that advances solutions for challenges facing our climate, cities, and forests. We’re big fans of Brad because he’s a great communicator who is in deep on an incredibly important issue, and he’s whip-smart and refreshingly low key about it. Until recently, he shared an…