Spitfire Sparks

As we turn 20, we’re reflecting and we’re planning for the days and years ahead. And we remain committed to learning and sharing what we learn along the way. Please check out blog posts like this one in our Spitfire XX: Fearless. Fresh. Focused. anniversary series, which features...

As we turn 20, we’re reflecting and we’re planning for the days and years ahead. And we remain committed to learning and sharing what we learn along the way. Please check out blog posts like this one in our Spitfire XX: Fearless. Fresh. Focused. anniversary series, which features...

This blog was written by Mahnoor Imran, intern at Spitfire Strategies During my freshman year of college, I took an insightful course about the harms of the carceral state called “The Atonement Project.” One of my instructors for the course was formerly incarcerated, and I...

I usually save my blog space to ruminate on communication conundrums and explore best practices for audience motivation, messaging and narrative. But I’ve been inspired by Darren Walker’s op-ed in the New York Times, in which he offered, “Our founders bequeathed to us something...

This blog was written by Ella Stern, intern at Spitfire Strategies In 6th grade, I huddled around my family’s TV watching 1st graders running out of their elementary school on CNN. That night, I begged my parents to let me stay home from school. They told me that there was...

As Spitfire turns 20, we’re reflecting – and planning for the days and years ahead. Our first Fearless. Fresh. Focused. blog post is from our founder, Kristen Grimm. We’ll be inviting other Spitfire staff, alumni, clients and partners to share how you approach your work, the...

If you are reading this, the expected has happened. Federal protection for abortion rights in the United States is over. For now. In a 213-page decision, Justice Alito wrote an opinion that overturned long held precedents of both Roe and Casey that safeguarded our right to...

In early May, the U.S. Supreme Court’s draft decision to overturn case precedent Roe v. Wade was leaked – threatening a broader attack on all of our freedoms to make decisions about our bodies, one that reproductive justice leaders have cautioned for decades. The Supreme Court...

We are shocked. We will grieve, get angry, search for explanations, cry for action. And then, we may see no progress, no change, and the momentum to ‘do something’ about gun violence dissipates. Although marches and some policy action are in the works, will they lead to...

The first story that made a big impression on me was The Hobbit. My dad read it to me when I was a kid. Adventure. Bravery. Purpose. Giant spiders. The story really stuck with me, and it was the first time I recognized the power of a story. Nonprofits and foundations use stories...

Recently, I read an article in the Washington Post that stopped me in my tracks. As a strategic communicator, I’m always analyzing the content I come across, much as an actor watching a movie has an added appreciation for scene blocking and pacing. Eliperin and Georges’ article,...

Stories remain some of our most effective tools as communicators. There is tremendous power in both sharing your story and in listening to others’ stories. Community organizers have long known that to change minds and shift thinking, we need to connect with each other on an...