Advocates’ Academy Leads Communications Training for R.I. Non-Profit Organizations

Pell Center Program helps Rhode Island non-profits with their marketing and communication strategies

Newport, R.I. — Some of Rhode Island’s leading nonprofit organizations came together at the Pell Center this past Fall, to practice their skills and develop more effective strategies. The Pell Center’s “Advocates’ Academy,” led by Senior Fellow for Public Policy Joe Grady, helps advocates in both the nonprofit and public sectors find ways of connecting better with audiences, and ways of cooperating and reinforcing each other’s work.

In addition to working on their own communications projects in a comfortable, collaborative setting, participants from Family Services, Child and Family, the Economic Progress Institute, the Rhode Island Community Food Bank and other organizations heard discussions of a range of topics building on Grady’s long consulting experience in the world of public interest communications: how to use storytelling effectively; finding narratives that tie multiple issues together; embedding issues in positive vision of the community; etc.

“This training came at a perfect time,” says Director of HealthRight Betsy Stubblefield Loucks. “My organization is gearing up to advocate for and explain a very complicated health policy tool: Rhode Island’s health benefits exchange (HealthSourceRI). Joe’s expertise and confidence were very grounding. I put the tools he offered to work right away!”

Kate Brewster, Executive Director of the Economic Progress Institute and one of Rhode Island Monthly’s “30 Most Powerful Women,” has “learned how to think differently about everything [her] organization writes.” “The lens we use to communicate about our work has changed permanently and positively,” says Brewster.

The Pell Center is currently accepting applications for the 2015 Advocates’ Academy through Feb. 1. For more information, please contact the Pell Center at 401-341-2927 or email [email protected].