Young people undoubtedly made a mark during the 2020 election cycle, and San Diego youth were no exception. For our client Youth Will’s 2020 Mayoral Summit, we aimed to put the voices of its young people at the forefront of media relations to demonstrate the importance and impact of the organization’s programs. To pull this off, we had to train young organizers and interns on key messages and media interviews. However, the high schoolers we worked with were busy and working on a tight budget – which meant we had to be strategic to make the most of our time and resources. Ultimately, we effectively trained six people, five of which were youth, to stay on message in more than 25 media interviews with local outlets.

Bridging the gap between youth advocates and high-profile political candidates

Navigating the schedules of busy candidates as well as high school students presented challenges with scheduling and ensuring all stakeholders were pleased and prepared with the event planning process. However, we used the opportunity to allow youth to work with candidate communications teams as a learning tool, as well as a quicker buy-in. We also adapted to the students’ interests (from designing fliers in Canva and Adobe Suite, being on TV, etc.) to increase their engagement and aptness to participate in these key learning opportunities.

Youth Will organized and led an impactful mayoral summit to tackle electoral issues important to San Diego youth. Luckily, the event went on without a hitch, just before the onset of the pandemic, and we successfully provided media training, communications coaching and media relations to empower and amplify the voices of local, young leaders.

We walked away with six 2020 Bernays awards: 

• 1 Bronze Bernays Award of Excellence in “Creative Tactics”
• 1 Bronze Bernays Award of Merit in “Media Relations – Press Conferences”
• 1 Silver Bernays Award of Merit in “Campaigns: Public Affairs”
• 3 Silver Bernays Award of Merit in “Campaigns: Reputation/Brand Management,” “Campaigns: Events and Observances – Less than Seven Days, Nonprofit/Government/Association,” and “Campaigns: Community Relations – Nonprofit/Association”

Effective PR that brings results is crucial, especially now. If reading this sparked any ideas, or if you’re interested in connecting with us, reach out here.