EventsCommunication and Publication DivisionFord Foundation

Discussion about Communication Style and Creating Accessible Content according to the Ford Foundation

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2 minutes

Article 33 Indonesia participates in joint discussion activities Vice President and Chief Communications Officer, Michele Moore from the Ford Foundation which was held in a hybrid manner on Tuesday (10/01/2023). This discussion is about the communication styles that can be used by institutions non-profit in discussing difficult topics when interacting with stakeholders, such as government, companies and communities. Choice of words along with angles The right one is important to build a good impression and trust with each other. At the end of the presentation session from Michele Moore, a case study was given to the participants present to simulate the first meeting with the central government to collaborate on anti-corruption cases through creating mechanisms transparency and accountability in the extractive industry sector. 

The Ford Foundation is an independent organization working to address inequality and build a future based on justice. For more than 85 years, this organization has supported visionaries in social change around the world. Therefore, Michele Moore tries to re-emphasize the importance of communication style in achieving good goals together in the future.

The Ford Foundation itself identifies three important things in communication; Reputation. Strategy, and Story. Through Reputation, the Ford Foundation plays a role in supporting the appointment and serving of grantee partners and influence funding. Through Strategy, begins by putting grantees first to ensure that messages and communications efforts align with their goals, needs, sensitivities, and capacities. Through Stories, The Ford Foundation Platform reaches 1 million people who tell their stories to advance programs and optimize grantee capacity. Apart from that, the Ford Foundation also carries out communication work such as press, opinion, social media, email sites, videos, reports as a form of public accountability.

Communication strategies are needed as the main approach to the audience, so that good relationships can be established. This is also essential in several aspects, such as encouraging content creation to campaign the impact, influence, thought, leadership, innovation of the organization, measuring communication progress, and managing reputation risk. In addition, we must understand our communication environment first, such as ownership control and agenda setting, limited resources and vulnerability, economic interests, and must be careful in investigating stories. 

Communication not only improves reputation, but also protects reputation. Protecting your reputation requires preparation, starting from understanding the required context, ensuring staff awareness, responding well to press inquiries, and being proactive in storytelling. Apart from that, we also have to anticipate attacks, monitor news and social media, assess and verify facts, develop strategies to determine response levels, prepare messages that have value, and align third-party validators. 

Michele Moore tries to explain that this communication has a strategy to face all the challenges and risks that will come, because the communication process is not always smooth and in accordance with what we expect. Apart from that, sometimes the representation of our environment which includes staff and others also affects the reputation of our own organization. Therefore, we must prepare all means to create good communication to achieve what we aim for. [RSN]