You can sometimes tell the strength of an organization by the quality of its communications. Highly effective groups have strong leaders who value communications, speak out, and empower staff to do work that advances the field and add to the national conversation. In these organizations, all staff have a role to play in how the organization is positioned and communicates. Everyone can be an ambassador and knows their role in the communications function. They keep the communications operation informed of what’s coming up next or what their hearing in the field, on social media or on the phone, and develop and help share content internally and across multiple platforms about what they are doing and what the organization is learning.

Our work has helped organizations improve their internal and external communications, to take on big issues, shift directions, and announce new programs that help address crucial problems in the field.

When the Western Interstate Commission on Higher Education (WICHE) named a new president, we were brought in to develop a new communications plan and messaging platform to help the organization strengthen its outreach to the field and take on new strategic priorities.

We talked to leaders in the field and national partners, and worked closely with organization’s leadership and staff to develop core messages, strategies, and activities, and developed a new theme—"WICHE: Working for the West,” to demonstrate the impact of the organization and how it helped states address some of society’s most pressing needs.

The focus of the work was designed to further increase the use of services by states, raise its profile among key audiences, the organization as a thought leader within the region and beyond, bolster the organization’s internal communications capacity and ensure that all WICHE communications had a consistent voice.

Latinos are this nation’s fastest growing demographic groups in our nation’s colleges and universities, and we have long worked with Excelencia in Education, the leading organization advocating for the acceleration of Latino student success.  CW produced a comprehensive strategic communications plan for the organization that has guided its growth and development.  We are most proud of our work with Excelencia to assist in the development and promotion of the Seal of Excelencia, a national certification for institutions of higher education that strive to go beyond enrollment to intentionally serve Latino students.

Over the past five years, we have worked closely with the president and CEO of Achieving the Dream and its key program areas to support the organization’s robust thought leadership efforts.  CW has worked with president and CEO Dr. Karen Stout to shape and disseminate her thinking about new directions for community colleges, including how the field can dramatically reshape teaching and learning, become anchor institutions for their communities, and measure their performance in ways that extend beyond graduation rates to address their impact on graduates and local communities. We have helped ATD release studies and reports on innovative actions in the field and promote major organizational events (including recent reports on the Open Educational Resources Degree Initiative and the 2019 merger of Gateway to College with ATD).  We have developed toolkits and case studies key leadership areas, including the Working Students Success Network toolkit, case studies on the use of Holistic Student Services and briefs on ATD’s work with Tribal colleges and universities. Most recently, we worked with ATD to develop a daily newsletter for its annual meeting, DREAM 2021, which was virtually attended by more than 3,000 community college leaders, faculty, staff and supporters.