Ann Christiano, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications director of the Center for Public Interest Communications (CPIC) and Frank Karel Chair in Public Interest Communications, is the author of “A Gift I Wasn’t Sure I Wanted Changed Everything For Us” published in Florida Weekly on May 29.

Christiano writes about her experiences conducting training workshops to help nonprofits learn to tell their stories and communicate the value of their work to the community.  In the article, she focuses on her interactions with Sarah Owen and Carolyn Rogers from the Southwest Florida Community Foundation and their need to build relationships among leaders in the nonprofit sector across Southwest Florida.

“I was worried about being able to provide the nonprofit leaders with enough value to justify having them step away from such important work for three days,” said Christiano. “But the nonprofits put what they learned to work immediately. And we watched them thrive and embrace their role as communicators.”

Christiano and her Center colleagues continue to work on their workshops to help them evolve to offer the freshest ideas. The workshops teach a four-question guide to strategy that helps organizations tell stores, master social media, hold effective meetings with influentials, and write and deliver a TED-style talk.

“We’ve developed a learning agenda for organizations that helps them apply social, behavioral and cognitive research to the work they do every day,” she said. She added that by building and honing their product the team continues to grow. They now provide workshops to partners around the world.

Posted: May 31, 2019
Category: Center for Public Interest Communications, College News
Tagged as: Ann Searight Christiano