Public Citizen
If you didn’t already know, there was a lot going on in 2020. As a senior in college, I watched a once-in-a-century pandemic collide with a once-in-a-generation social movement amidst an era-defining election. Taking action felt obligatory.
I found Public Citizen, a D.C.-based consumer advocacy group, during the summer protests after the murder of George Floyd. The nonprofit’s straightforward, staunch approach to activism was magnetic, and I was lucky enough to catch them searching for a Communications Intern.
At Public Citizen, I wrote in-depth commentary articles, created easy-to-understand social media packages, and worked within a large coalition of nonprofits to spread the word about mail-in voting during the 2020 election.
Comprehensive, issue-oriented commentary
The Stock Market Is Not The Economy
If you were to exclusively follow the stock market’s trends, you wouldn’t know the U.S. is in the midst of an economic crisis and a deadly pandemic. Read more.
Without Climate Action, A $1 Trillion Yearly Price Is In Our Future
Scientists have warned for decades that the human-caused climate crisis eventually would cause deadlier, more severe natural disasters. The coronavirus pandemic is not a reason to delay acting on the existential threat of climate change. Read more.
Policy-wonk topics for everyday people
We weren’t doing enough
When the Paycheck Protection Program expired, millions of Americans were thrown into financial uncertainty. I wanted to convey the contrast between America’s anti-poverty efforts and the rest of the developed world’s. After a half-day of pulling together stats and checking our facts, we had a digestible way to show it.
The graphic performed well above our Instagram benchmarks, becoming one of our most-liked posts in months.
The Twitter companion to this post was even bigger: More than 50,000 likes and 6,000,000 impressions. Read the tweet.
Always follow your data
I was so proud of this carousel. The colors were eye-catching, the information was timely, and text-heavy graphics were en vogue throughout the 2020 election.
The Instagram algorithm was less proud of my efforts. This post started below our benchmarks and stayed there. I thought I had done everything right — then I checked the time.
Lesson learned: Don’t expect much from a Friday afternoon.