Summit Panel Announcement: Media and Messaging: Winning Strategies, Proven Tactics, and Empowering Voices for Freedom in Education
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What are the best messages for promoting educational freedom? What are the case studies of successful media campaigns? How do you tackle media bias? Who are the best voices to elevate? What’s the best way to engage with supporters – and opponents – on social media? Find out practical tips and engage in a discussion with media mavens on the front lines of education reform.
moderator
Tommy Schultz
National Communications Director, AFC
Tommy Schultz is the National Communications Director for the American Federation for Children, the largest school choice advocacy group in America. He has served as a spokesman for presidential, gubernatorial, and congressional campaigns. Prior to the national role at AFC, he was the Tennessee Communications Director for the American Federation for Children in Nashville. Before joining AFC, Tommy was the campaign Communications Director for Governor Terry Branstad and Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds in Iowa. In between campaign cycles in Iowa, Tennessee, and New Hampshire, Tommy had stints with JDA Frontline and CRC Public Relations, both leading public affairs firms in the D.C. area. Tommy is Catholic and graduated from Stanford University, a few hours from where his family farms kiwifruit and walnuts. He and his wife live in northern Virginia.
panelists
President and CEO, the Wayfinder Foundation
Chris Stewart
Chris Stewart is President and CEO of the Wayfinder Foundation, a nonprofit that invests in grassroots anti-poverty and education activism. Prior to that he built relationships in urban communities as Director of External Affairs at Education Post, a public education advocacy nonprofit. Before that, Chris was the founding Executive Director of the African American Leadership Forum (AALF), a cross-sector network of Black leaders working to develop and implement an urban policy agenda across five northwest states. In 2007 Chris was elected to the Minneapolis Public Schools Board of Education. In that role, he helped establish the Office of New Schools, a department of the Minneapolis Public Schools that implemented school reform strategies. Chris blogs and tweets under the name Citizen Stewart (@citizenstewart) and publishes at Citizen.Education. He lives in rural Minnesota.
Teacher, Holy Trinity High School
Kate Hardiman
Kate Hardiman teaches at Holy Trinity High School in Chicago and will graduate from her M.Ed. program — Notre Dame’s Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) — this June. A vocal school choice advocate, Kate writes regularly for The Washington Examiner on education issues while teaching and has also been published in The Hill, Education Post, The College Fix, and Minding the Campus. Kate plans to pursue a career in education law and policy and will be attending Georgetown Law School’s evening program this fall.
Strategic Communications Director, Step Up for Students
Scott Kent
Scott Kent is the strategic communications manager for Step Up for Students in Florida. A graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism, he spent 30 years in newspapers, the last 25 as an editorial writer and opinion page editor in Georgia and Florida. Prior to coming to Step Up last July he was the opinion page editor of The Daytona Beach News-Journal.
Manager of Communications and Marketing for the K-12 Initiative, The Seminar Network
Jessica Koehn
Jessica Koehn leads marketing and communication efforts supporting the K-12 Initiative at The Seminar Network. In this role, she provides messaging direction and alignment for K-12 projects, sponsorship and other initiatives. Her work includes national messaging research, amplification of content opportunities across owned and earned platforms, and storytelling elements that bring to life the Network’s vision for K-12. She also serves as the manager of communication at Koch Companies Public Sector. Jessica resides in the Wichita area with her husband and their three children.
Have you registered yet?
Registration closes April 22.
Room block at Loews Chicago Hotel closes April 16.
Register for the 10th Annual National Policy Summit
Click here to book your room at the Loews Chicago Hotel.
Block closes on April 16.
Questions? E-mail Jana Gregg at jgregg@federationforchildren.org