TEDx Insights, Corporate Silence on Climate, and My Next Professional Chapter
If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance it’s because you know me from my documentary film work with the American Resilience Project, the organization I founded to drive policy action by uniting unlikely allies around shared solutions.
What you might not know is that I recently gave a talk at TEDxBoston about an idea that’s shaped my work for years. In my talk, I shared how people with different points of view can support the same climate and energy solutions when they understand how those solutions connect to what they already care about. We don’t need to change people’s values to make progress–we just need to show how the solutions we want to implement serve the values they already hold dear.
Silence is Costing Us Time We Don’t Have
This idea has taken on new significance lately, as organizations choose to go silent out of fear of backlash, stifling the progress they have made on climate, diversity, and other contentious issues.
While some are opting to scrub their brand of sustainability-minded language or evidence of green initiatives that might trigger political attacks or accusations of being “woke,” others are simply pivoting away from climate-related efforts entirely, abandoning initiatives they once championed in order to seek the favor of our current administration.
But when organizations hide their good work, everyone loses. The public misses opportunities to support worthy causes. Organizations lose the chance to build coalitions with natural allies and stakeholders while also ceding the spotlight to adversaries and competitors. And, most critically, we collectively lose precious time in the race to address the climate challenges that grow more urgent every day.
Going Where I’m Needed
This leads me to the reason I’m writing this:
My commitment to ARP and the goals it advances remain as strong as ever, with several projects–including a new podcast series–in the works. However, I am realizing that I must also go where needed in order to advance one of the narratives most important to me: that clean energy is still the best way to improve our national security, economic security, and public health.
In the spirit of that ambition, I am now launching a strategic communications consulting practice to support organizations in communicating about complex issues like sustainability. My goal is to use my experience as a filmmaker and storyteller to help organizations find their voice in this deeply divided time.
That’s also why I’m starting a monthly newsletter in which I’ll share insights on strategic communications, spotlight stories that illustrate both success and failures in navigating complex issues and conversations, and curate news that deserves your attention.
In the meantime, if you want to learn more about how I’m helping organizations communicate effectively in divided times, feel free to explore this site. And if you want to see the TED talk that helped set me on this new path, you can view it here:
I’ve spent my career strategizing about addressing challenging issues in a way that brings people together. I see this consulting practice as an extension of that work–a chance to help more organizations find common ground in uncommon places.
One last thing: since the work ahead of me is focused on effective and authentic communications practices, I’m also committing to practicing what I preach. Everything blog, newsletter, or other message you receive from me will be written by a human being, not AI. With our social media and news feeds increasingly cluttered by AI-drafted content designed to game algorithms, this feels imperative–and is, I hope, yet another reason for you to keep reading!