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A Civil War is coming to America.
A civil war is coming to America. I don’t mean the one the media keeps forecasting. I mean the movie “ Civil War” by writer-director Alex Garland. It premiered at SXSW in Austin and is opening in theaters April 11, 2024. As pop culture moments like this do, it will spark...
Five Steps for Building Trust in an Election Year
It’s become cliché to say “this is the most important election of our lifetimes,” but in 2024 the cliché has more truth to it than usual. In this pivotal election year, there will be an unprecedented amount of disinformation and misinformation fueled by highly-accessible content...
How scrappy and strategic communications leads to big wins for police reform
As pro-carceral politicians and police unions are successfully pushing “tough on crime” narratives, states from Washington to Mississippi have rolled back hard-won police reforms secured after decades of organizing and the national racial justice uprising of 2020. But, in New...
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Kristen Grimm’s 2024 Top 11 Communication Competencies for Leaders
I am often asked what a leader today needs to know to run an organization that takes full advantage of the power of communication — a communicating organization. Everyone at the organization knows how to communicate effectively about the organization and its priorities, builds...
Capacity-building as a journey — change from the inside out.
Have you ever embarked on a significant journey? How did you feel at the end? What were the takeaways? I recently walked 507 miles on the Camino Del Norte in northern Spain. When I arrived at the final destination of Santiago de Compostela, I felt euphoria at completing the...
To build trust in our civic institutions, we need violence-free civic spaces
I recently attended a meeting hosted by Keep Our Republic, a group of leaders from across the political spectrum. The group's mission is to keep our democracy safe and free for years to come. Sign me up. On the heels of Spitfire’s launch of the “ Replenishing Trust” guide, I was...
Announcing 2024 Spitfire Pro-Bono Fund
In year 4, Spitfire expands the Pro Bono Fund, centers LGBTQIA+ justice in new cohort experience Spitfire is dedicated to supporting movements that advance racial, economic and social justice across the country. As our Pro Bono Fund enters its fourth year, Spitfire’s commitment...
“Replenishing Trust” is here!
We’ve teased and offered sneak peeks. Today we offer a guide for civil society leaders to contribute to rebuilding strong trust across society. You can download the guide and toolkit here: www.spitfirestrategies.com/trust. Featured in Stanford Social Innovation Review today,...
Learn how to replenish trust: civil society guide to reversing the trust deficit coming soon
Come January 2024, we can expect another slew of reports from groups such as the Edelman Trust Barometer and Gallup detailing declining trust across American society. This growing trust deficit is a serious problem. It erodes a high-functioning pluralistic democracy, compromises...
In a post-pandemic world, cultivating connection is not remotely the same
I noticed it at the first all-staff meeting in March 2020. You could see each person’s face on the screen. At the start of that year, Spitfire employees were based in four separate offices. We had few remote employees. Working from home was more the exception than the norm. So...
Information does not equal action, but capacity building equals change
Over my years of working for a foundation and as a foundation's grantee, I have discovered that capacity building is often lumped into support for nonprofits as a little extra outside of a foundation's grant. But now having led training, learning and capacity-building programs at...
5 Steps to communicating well on controversial topics
The eyes of the world have turned to the October violence in the Middle East, as we wish for safety for all those affected. I’ve read and considered the language people are using around this issue and how their language becomes part of public discourse as a result of their...