Communications Strategies for Greater Transparency

Learn practical tips and strategies in improving communcations and transparency from our panel of presenters, who provide an overview of how foundations can be more transparent, and examples from their experiences of successful and not-so-successful tactics.

Audio Recording (42.41 Mb)

Agenda

Overview and Context
Example from the Field: National Foundation Perspective
Example from the Field: Local Foundation Perspective
Summary of Discussion and Main Points
Questions from Audience

Speaker Bios

Eric Brown is the communications director for the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Before coming to the Hewlett Foundation, Eric was the communications director at the Center for a New American Dream, a nonprofit organization in the Washington, D.C., area. Prior to that, he was press secretary and speechwriter for Congresswoman Nydia M. Velázquez, a seven-term member of Congress from New York. As a political media consultant, Eric produced hundreds of television and radio ads for U.S. Senate, Congressional, and statewide campaigns for Alexandria, Virginia-based Murphy Putnam Media. He is also a contributing author of Take Back Your Time (2003, Berrett-Koehler). Eric holds a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of California at Berkeley, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa.

William Hanson is director of communications & technology for the Detroit-based Skillman Foundation. He joined the Foundation in January 2005. Created in 1960, the Skillman Foundation is a private philanthropy committed to helping children in metropolitan Detroit by improving their homes, schools and neighborhoods. Mr. Hanson directs the Foundation's strategic communications efforts that help advance Skillman's $25-million annual grants programs. Prior to joining The Skillman Foundation, Mr. Hanson served as executive director of the Washtenaw Land Trust, in Ann Arbor. He has also worked as a senior media relations manager for Washington-based public relations firm Jaffe Associates; as a communications officer for the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation; and as a journalist at the Detroit Sunday Journal, the Detroit Free Press, and the Ann Arbor News. Mr. Hanson has a bachelor's degree in liberal arts and communication from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. He lives in Ann Arbor with his wife and son.

Bruce S. Trachtenberg was named executive director of the Communications Network in May 2006. He has over 30 years experience in journalism, corporate communications, and philanthropy. Since June 2005, Trachtenberg had been a communications consultant, based in Naperville, Illinois. For nearly 15 years before that he served as director of communications for the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation and the Wallace-Reader's Digest Funds (now the Wallace Foundation), both in New York City. In earlier years, he held communications positions at Reader's Digest, IBM, and at other companies in the forest products and banking industries. He began his career as a reporter with The Oregonian in Portland. He holds a bachelor's degree from Portland State University.