A Familiar Face, Now Full-Time
If Amy Sohn’s name sounds familiar, it may be because she’s already been part of the anat. orbit. After working with us as a consultant over the past eight months, she’s officially joined the team.
Her background spans journalism, publishing, and the Mayor’s Office—bringing a perspective that’s both strategic and deeply grounded in New York.
We asked her a few questions about nonprofit communications today:
What drew you to working with nonprofits?
I’m a native New Yorker who wants to make New York a better place for all New Yorkers. When I entered the MPA program at Baruch several years ago, my intention was to work in nonprofit communications. But I wound up becoming a press secretary for the Mayor’s Office instead. I’m happy to land back in the nonprofit space because nonprofits are the beating heart of NYC. And too often they are unsung heroes. Having worked in nonprofits on the development side, I also understand the communications challenges they face (more about that below).
What communications challenges are nonprofits facing right now?
Shrinking budgets, staffing shortages, and a mistaken view of comms as a “nice to have” rather than a vital organ. Crisis makes communications more important – not less – but too often they are the first vertical to go.
They’re also facing the challenge of a shifting media market, with nonprofit newsrooms laying people off and local TV outlets short-staffed. They’re also facing competition for city reporters’ attention with a brand-new buzzy administration. Finally, nonprofits struggle to do social media that’s authentic and on-message and actually fun and engaging to read. I’m excited that anat. Is growing its digital services.
What excites you most about working with anat. clients?
Just like I love helping policy advisors learn to write and speak with more impact, I love helping nonprofits learn to talk like regular people. Organizations in a deprivation mindset often employ deprivation language. That language is also clunky and opaque. Of course, it can work for internal communications or getting grant renewals.
But it doesn’t translate well into press hits. The more we can move them away from “programs,” “technical assistance,” “priority areas,” “capacity-building,” and “populations,” the better.
