Community Relations & Advocacy Communications

Catalog description

An organization must gain a license to operate, and that license can be official or symbolic. Companies that have manufacturing facilities - especially those that engender any kind of health or environmental considerations - know that government approvals are not sufficient for a company to begin and continue operations. There are always relationships that must be fostered in order for public relations practitioners to be able to adequately address the interests and issues of diverse community stakeholders while, at the same time, delivering against business or organizational objectives. Students will learn how to work with activist and advocacy groups to build communications plans that keep key constituencies informed, involved and supportive. In this age of instantaneous communications, one small community's issue can quickly become a firestorm of communications challenges, and there are ways to prevent that from happening. The course includes negotiation and conflict resolution, and corporate philanthropy.