Your work is important.
Written by katie test davis
As child and family advocates, I understand what we’re up against in 2025 (and beyond) and… I’m feeling energized.
The challenges ahead of us are communications challenges, and at Forthright, we’re poised to meet the moment.
Here’s what I see as the work ahead:
we need to connect policy to people’s daily lives.
I’m not going to exhaust you with all of the post-election analysis – we weren’t ready! The price of eggs! The timing! The fear!
We can wring our hands all we want, we can stare into the rearview mirror for ages, but I’m over it. There’s a singular takeaway that I’m fired up about.
As communicators, we need to do a better job of connecting the dots from policy to people’s everyday lives.
We MUST make the political personal.
This means over the next four years, we’re going to need all our best practices and tools. We’ll need simple writing. We’ll need logic chains. We’ll need effective frames.
But more than anything, we need to better explain how what happens in politics – in the White House, in Congress and at the Supreme Court – shows up in our everyday lives.
we need to disarm our audiences.
One of my favorite therapists, Julie Colwell, shared this gem in her post-election newsletter, and it’s stayed with me.
Julie wrote:
“No one changes their perspectives when they feel threatened.
Force creates force. I push, you automatically push back.
We expend loads of energy being stuck.”
I’ve always been a fan of connecting psychology to communication work. This is an important lesson for us leaders to absorb, on a deep level.
We can’t make big changes happen when our audiences are stuck in a reactive brain. When they are feeling pushed, affronted and defensive.
This is where storytelling comes in. It’s where community listening comes in. It’s where ensuring your messaging is values aligned and doesn’t repeat the barrier becomes vital.
we need to stay focused.
It’s easy to spin out anticipating all the things that could happen, the threats that have been made and what might come of them.
I’ll tell you what I’ve been telling my Forthright teammates: We are smart, we are capable, we are great at our jobs, and we will take it as it comes.
That’s not to say we’re not going to prepare proactively.
In fact, we had work prepared for every possible outcome of this election – including an email we called ‘limbo’ if we were going to be left waiting for results for days – months in advance.
But it’s not a good use of our energy to doomsday prep for every possible thing that could go wrong.
Instead, believe in your own power and the support you have from your village. (That includes us, we’re your village!) Doing this work in community is more important than ever before – solidarity breeds strength.
Your work is important.
Smart outreach work is generous, kind and inspiring.
Communication is an act of love.
It’s an act of resistance, and a tool in the revolution. It’s a belief in a better future, a demand for more.
Public relations and communications is how we help.
It’s how we hope. It’s how we build.
PS - Ready to rise up to meet the moment, but need to fine-tune your skills? We’re here to help. We’ll be releasing our 2025 trainings soon. Stay tuned!
