Writing

I write lots of different sorts of things, in addition to the copious amounts of writing I do on this site: messaging content, explainers, op-eds, issue/research briefs, website copy, and case studies. The case studies have taken up the lion’s share of my time, in part because they are the most labor-intensive, and because the point of a case study is usually to share a story about Something Important that happened, which requires: a) setting the context and background; b) referencing theory or dominant ways of thinking about a topic; and c) interviewing multiple people to get their diverse perspectives, and then integrating these diverse perspectives into a final story. Some of my writing is bylined, some isn’t, but all examples listed here are ones where I originated the first draft, where I responded to edits and suggestions, and where I was responsible for delivering a final, complete draft.

In general, I think that all writing, short and long, should tell a story, should be compelling, etc. I am no fan of jargon-heavy, dry-as-dust writing, although I understand that some audiences still demand this as proof of seriousness? credentials? Who knows. I nearly lost my mind trying to write legal memos and briefs while in law school, because of the requirement that EVERYTHING be cited or attributable to a source (what, we’re not allowed to have any original thoughts?). With hindsight, I credit my legal education and experience interning for judges with bringing a discipline and rigor to my thinking and writing that both had previously lacked.

In addition to the samples I’ve linked to below, I also wrote a children’s book that got published. In 1993. Yes, a helluva long time ago, but I’m still proud of it, and in my opinion, a story is forever.

—A brief paper on strategic communications in the social sector

—One of my many rants on the use of the words “tool” and “toolbox” in the social sector

–A great deal of the content and copy on this website, especially the research briefs from a national poll of young people conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic

—A short piece (what folks call “collateral,” or in the old days, a brief report or brochure) about a community foundation that gathered donors together to learn about centering equity in philanthropy

–A case study for a project on building narrative capacity among a cohort of organizations focused on career pathways for young people; this one was on the concept of narrative as a form of building power.

—Another case study for the Pathways Narrative Project, this time on the idea that narrative strategy can yield insights that are related not only to narrative, but also to many dimensions of strategic communications. (By the way, I didn’t write the third case study for this project by ORS Impact, which sets out a framework for how narrative change strategies might be framed and measured, but I always recommend it, because it’s excellent.)

—A case study on a pooled fund created for out-of-school time funders during the pandemic

—A case study on a foundation that embarked on collective learning focused on equity with its grantee partners

—A case study on a daily call that began as a crisis response for all those involved in early child care and development in the state of Massachusetts and eventually grew into a platform for community, movement-building, and advocacy

–Three case studies, plus all of the website copy, for a project called the Equity Learning Lab – a cohort of organizations supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to advance their work and progress on racial equity. I wrote the overview piece and the case studies on executive leadership and centering equity in human resources.