As an intern at Minerva Strategies, writing is a significant part of my work. Between crafting emails, drafting documents, and posting to social media, navigating the written word is something I know I’ll do every day— and I love it! Writing is not exclusively a tool for professional settings, however. There are many other ways…
Minerva Musings
Sabrina Gonzales By Kayla McMenamin— What does it mean to be a leader? And not just a leader by title only, but a truly effective leader. This is something I’ve thought a lot about throughout the past decade, both in my own personal experiences with leadership or being led, and in watching the events of our national leadership…
Kayla McMenamin By Sara Veltkamp, Minerva Vice President — As communicators who work with funders, nonprofit organizations, and coalitions consisting of both, the team at Minerva is in a good position to spot words and phrases that are losing meaning and specificity or can advance harmful narratives that make our work more challenging. I was excited to include “Now more than ever” and “pivot” to this list of words and phrases I’m so tired…
Sara Veltkamp By: Elise McGlothian— What does it mean when the President says, “Go Home. We love you. You’re very special” to the rioters trying to tear down the U.S. government? This was the question I posed on my personal Facebook page, alongside anxiety, as a mob stormed the U.S. Capitol Building. Earlier that day,…
Elise McGlothian By Sara Veltkamp— Another January has arrived, and it’s a special one. The consensus seems to be that putting the dumpster fire of 2020 behind us is a wonderful thing, though the jarring riots and takeover of the Capitol building last week suggests that we can’t expect turning a page on the calendar will solve our problems. The shapeless, melted mass filled with smoldering…
By Rachel Yang— We are so thankful for Rachel’s persistence and sharp reporter instincts that she brought to the Minerva team this fall. We aren’t sure how she managed to be a new mom, University of Oregon grad student, and Minerva intern, but we are glad she did. If you want to learn more…
By Sara Veltkamp— We cannot fight a war against COVID-19. It’s a virus and the unfortunate people—or maybe we should call them Trojan Horses?—who have the virus are not our enemies. Similarly, we cannot go to battle with drugs, crime, cancer, or Christmas. None of these social challenges (excluding Christmas) have a cohesive strategy for domination, leadership, or even sentience. In other words, we have no enemies to attack. So why, when we’re attempting to change behaviors,…
By Michael Behr— Wow, what a summer! I could not be more grateful for the time I spent learning from the incredibly smart, talented, and experienced goddesses at Minerva Strategies. I learned so much about the communications industry and even more importantly, I learned a lot about myself. As we all know,…
By Catherine Salgado— It seems like only yesterday—and simultaneously a thousand years ago—that our youngest kid’s daycare called to tell us that the center will close because teachers were having cold-like symptoms. This was in the early days of the pandemic, when our oldest, a kindergartener, was still attending school, and tests were not available right away. Two days after that call, Seattle Public Schools announced indefinite school closures, giving us…
By Michael Behr – As a part of The Communications Network’s ComNetLOCAL Event series, I recently had the opportunity to participate in an intimate virtual conversation with Dr. Clarence B. Jones, civil rights legend, speechwriter, counsel, and close personal friend of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Check out the event with a full recording of the conversation here: ComNetworkSEATTLE: Racial Justice and Renewal with Dr. Clarence B. Jones. …