2021 Communications Institute
2021 Communications Institute: Go Beyond
From February 23-25, 2021, The Opportunity Agenda held its 2021 Remote Communications Institute, embracing the new, ever-changing circumstances we’ve found ourselves in to offer social justice leaders the latest, most innovative approaches in virtual communications, narrative and messaging development, digital media, and online organizing.
In this difficult time, when we continue to find ourselves pulled toward the call to action, yet face the constant challenges of navigating virtual spaces, we recognize the essential need to provide advocates, activists, and cultural strategists with an online learning and convening space where they can be trained in the latest communication and narrative practices. That is why this year, the Communications Institute stepped up to the challenge to Go Beyond by going remote.
The Remote Communications Institute is an invite-only fellowship that brought together a cohort of 20 social justice leaders to engage in a comprehensive online curriculum. Fellows learned the latest best practices in a variety of communications skills, including:
- Narrative and Messaging to Persuade and Activate Audiences
- Media Strategy to Engage Effectively with your Target Media Outlets
- Refining Your Power as a Spokesperson
- Broadcast Media Appearances Preparedness
We are proud to recognize the incredible talent, resilience and fortitude of this year’s Fellows, who have faced an unprecedented year of challenges, hardships, and trauma, but also moments of great success and joy in their work. They are the true leaders of the historical moment we find ourselves in, and we are beyond privileged to be supporting them in their endeavors.
Meet the 2021 Fellows
Kat Evasco
Program Director of Artist Leadership, Center for Cultural PowerKat Evasco is a queer, Pinay immigrant writer, theater artist, and content creator committed to honoring and celebrating the experiences of immigrants, women, and LGBTQ communities. In 2020, Kat was awarded the Kenneth Rainin New & Experimental Works (NEW) Program Grant towards the premiere of her new play “Be Like...
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Venkayla Haynes
Digital Communications Manager, Black Voters MatterVenkayla Haynes is the Digital Communications Manager for Black Voters Matter Fund, an organization dedicated to expanding Black voter engagement and increasing progressive power. She is responsible for developing, implementing and managing all online communications for the organization. An award-winning organizer and public speaker, Venkayla has been committed to the social justice movement...
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Eunisses Hernandez
Executive Director and Co-Founder, La DefensaEunisses Hernandez is the Executive Director of La Defensa. A native of Los Angeles, she is a policy advocate and campaign strategist with nearly a decade of experience in working with communities most devastated by criminalization, the war on drugs, and mass incarceration. Eunisses has been a leader in helping develop and implement...
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Robert Saleem Holbrook
Executive Director, Abolitionist Law CenterRobert Saleem Holbrook is the Executive Director of the Abolitionist Law Center, a law project dedicated to ending race and class-based discrimination in the criminal justice system and all forms of state violence. ALC has offices in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. Prior to being named Executive Director of ALC, he was its Director...
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Josephine Kalipeni
Executive Director, Family Values @ WorkBorn in Malawi, Josephine has seen inequities in one of the poorest countries in the world and in one of the richest. As a social worker, she saw firsthand the systemic challenges families experienced. As a result, she’s committed to transforming systems and policies, including dismantling racism and toxic narratives...
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Barbara Lopez
Director, Make the Road CTOriginally from California, Barbara Lopez is a first-generation American. Barbara learned about the importance of her community from her Guatemalan parents, who came to the United States in search for a better life. Deeply invested in social justice, Barbara organized with Service Employees International Union locals in CT, MA, RI,...
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Brenda Lozano
Executive Director, Dream Action OklahomaBrenda Lozano is the older daughter of Mexican immigrant parents, and uses she/her/they/them pronouns. She was born and raised in Oklahoma City and has a younger brother. Her greatest passion is community organizing, a skill that she first learned at home. Her mother, who was a single mother due to...
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Tania Mattos
Policy & Northeast Monitoring Manager, Freedom for ImmigrantsTania Mattos is an Aymara descendent, Bolivian born, Queens-based organizer, activist, and strategist. Currently, she is the Northeast Policy and Monitoring Manager for Freedom For Immigrants (FFI). She focuses on assisting community-based visitation and human rights monitoring programs in detention centers and supports policy and advocacy efforts at the federal and state level throughout the northeast region....
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Juanita Monsalve
Senior Marketing and Creative Director, United We DreamJuanita A. Monsalve is a cultural, creative, and digital strategist working for the freedom of all communities of color. As Senior Marketing and Creative Director of United We Dream (UWD) and United We Dream Action, she leads the network’s digital engagement of members, communication strategies, and narrative and culture change strategies to build the power...
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Ricardo J. Negron-Almodovar
Legal Services Coordinator, LatinoJustice PRLDEFBorn and raised in Puerto Rico, Ricardo obtained a Master’s Degree in Education, a Juris Doctor and is a licensed attorney in the Island. In 2015, Ricardo moved from Yauco, Puerto Rico to Orlando, FL. During his first year in Florida, he taught English to adults and became involved in civic engagement...
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