The Power of Purpose Driven PR

By Gordon Freedman

The Importance of Being Earnest: PR as an Agent of Transformation

?Public purpose management has for a long time meant secure jobs for those working with insecure populations. But without the proper links to those in need and without the proper measurements of return on investment, it is hard to report on actual change or betterment.

?Newton Street, a new entrant in the public relations and strategic communications world, is determined, post Covid, to set a more purposeful bar for outreach services to produce better outcomes for public-focused nonprofits and corporations.

?“The pandemic exposed so many cracks in society, and I could see that the need for truly disruptive communications to advance solutions for complex problems was greater than ever,” says Amy Enright, the president and founder of Newton Street.

Enright, who spent fourteen years in prominent communications roles at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, most recently as head of media relations, sees a new approach brought on by life and work changes during the pandemic. “Practically speaking, working from home throughout the pandemic really opened my eyes to new possibilities for teamwork, collaboration, and causes. I guess I am an example of re-directing my efforts as a result of the Great Resignation.”

Finding True Agency

When thinking about PR aimed at the public or purpose sectors of the economy, we don’t normally think about it as a force for change. Rather, we think of the best public relations work in these sectors as providing guidance, positioning, and stakeholder management. Blow back and blow up are to be avoided at all costs. And all of this comes with a substantial price tag.

To move social, cultural, climate, health care, education, and economic policy agendas forward, to lay the groundwork for transformation, requires risk to be managed against the ability to verify and measure delivery to populations in need. Often PR from foundations, universities, government agencies, and institutions is aimed at current donors, potential donors, and peers in those very tight circles. It’s rare to find these organizations focused on creating effective platforms to service unmet needs and course correct misdirected assistance in demonstrable ways.

In the field of education and training and employment transformation, where I work, this is often the case. There is no shortage of great LinkedIn posts, and the right people Tweeting from the right conferences, but, at the end of the day, how do we know the needle has moved for those who are to receive the services? And even more importantly, how do we know whether one-shot programs set to sunset will be enough to sustain those who will not receive assistance forever?

Building a Neighborhood

At the same time, public relations and communications agencies are businesses and need to survive, make revenue, and grow. Historically, there is a tradeoff between safety and care, read caution, versus applying pressure and vision for change. Part of this behavior, in opposition to the world of start-ups, is because failure or mediocrity are rarely communicated as part of a learning process for the difficult-to-accomplish equalizations in society – equity, access, parity, and respect.

However, Enright has an intriguing concept of a neighborhood of like-minded, high-performing people working together on significant issues. “We are building a neighborhood of senior communications professionals and entrepreneurs with global expertise who can use their industry-tested talents to inspire people to solve the world’s biggest problems,” she says.

Covid, The Great Reorganizer

History is not dictating the future any longer. The great Covid-Stop Out has changed people, organizations, the economy, and tolerance for top-down management across all sectors. We are living in a new world where equity, access, inclusion, and diversity are part of the day-to-day dialog—spoken and unspoken – and meant for action, not window dressing. And there is good reason for this. We need all hands and minds working together, much more horizontally, to make the post-Covid world operate.

Public relations and strategic communications, risk management and mitigation, narrative creation and propagation, and influencer alignment to do measurable good is hard to come by. But the time for changing that is now.

Enter Newton Street (Q & A with Founder Amy Enright)

Q. What brought you into philanthropy and communications at the beginning of your career?

A. Well, I joined when I was very young in my career, and I was able to be there in some capacity for every big moment from 2008 on. Reading Melinda’s Moment of Lift book for example – I remember all those foundation events she references and played a role in some form, like the Family Planning Summit in London in 2012, when I was interim press secretary for Europe. What amazing experiences I have had over the years! I was able to sit in on important meetings behind closed doors, shape communications strategies, and prepare the top folks for crucial media interviews. As a leader, I learned to have a very hands-on role and my team of ten was phenomenal.

Q. Tell me a little bit about the work you were responsible for at the Gates Foundation?

A. In my role as head of media relations, I was responsible for both proactive media relations (promoting major campaigns, issues, events, etc.) and reactive media relations (those inquiries that we don’t generate and aren’t always positive). I was also responsible for reputation and risk management, including crisis communications.

Q. What were some of the specific projects at the Foundation you contributed to?

A. The sorts of efforts I contributed to over the years ranged from big resource mobilizations in the areas of global health and development – think Gavi (the vaccine alliance) and the Global Fund (to fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria), to Goalkeepers, the foundation’s annual report on the state of the world’s progress toward the Global Goals. Regular events included the UN General Assembly in September, the World Economic Forum in Davos (normally in January), to name a couple. Covid impacted all areas of our work of course, including in public education, so staying on top of how the foundation was pivoting and sharing information about that transparently took up an increasing amount of time.

Q. What was your overall take away from your Gates Foundation work that you brought to your new venture, Newton Street?

A. My overall takeaway: the problems facing the world are complex, but if you confront them with optimism, and gather and listen to the right experts (most importantly the people you are actually seeking to serve!), you can make real progress.

Q.?What motivated you, as a result to of the pandemic, to trade in a secure position in philanthropy for a start-up aimed at helping a broad range of clients?

A. Like so many, I was forced to blend my home life with young children and days of long meetings that would start at 7am. I eventually came to thrive in the merger of the two and couldn’t imagine ever spending time in a traditional office setting again. I became more and more efficient out of necessity as my workload during the pandemic increased, and I had less time and patience for things that distracted from that efficiency.

Q. You have convinced colleagues to join you – who are they, where were they, and why did they make the move?

A. I’ve carefully selected people who I know have exceptional work ethic, are highly motivated and reliable, and know how to navigate ambiguous environments. I’m not employing them directly. They either have their own boutique firms or are independent consultants. We are a collective, a network or, as I like to say, a neighborhood. I will be bringing on staff too however, hopefully very soon!

For more information, contact and Amy and Newton Street at [email protected] or visit www.newtonstreetpr.com. ?