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For Women, By Women Speed Mentoring: A Girl’s Best Friend

WWPR’s Annual Speed Mentoring event was unique opportunity for attendees to hear from high-level women mentors in the D.C.-area, who all shared their best advice, success stories, and memorable missteps culminated throughout their careers.

To kick off the event, Debra Silimeo welcome the group on behalf of host Hager Sharp with an impassioned speech about helping women get a place at the table and her definition of success. Then attendees broke off to experience each of the 20-minute rotating breakout sessions covering topics of importance to WWPR members.

Here’s what the mentors had to say on goal setting, leadership and becoming your best:

Go for the Goal

The mentors during this session focused on setting and achieving goals were Sam Kruse (Levick), Debra Silimeo (Hager Sharp), and Danielle Veira (American Diabetes Association) who started the conversation their best bit of advice for smart goal strategies.

Silimeo, who described goal setting as a way of taking control of your life, said success is about finding your joy and strategically doing things that are meaningful to you. To do this, she suggested making a committed plan to figuring out where you want to be and how to get there.

Fellow Panel Member Veira – a self-proclaimed planning newbie – had a suggestion on where to start: Passion Planner (resounded by many participants in the room). She cited this specific type of planner as how she found her goal setting stride, which helps her visually map out her short-term and long-term goals in manageable weekly and monthly plans.

All three panelists also emphasized the importance of having a network and described how it can aid you in your goal setting:

  • Kruse cited her open relationship with her supervisor and mentor as a key reason for her success in helping her set achievable goals supported by constant communication. She has also found success in networking with her alumni group, emphasizing that keeping in touch with everyone you meet could result in a key work contact and maybe even a lifelong career mentor.
  • Veira also identified finding supportive co-workers as important to achieving your goals, while Silimeo pointed out that it is equally important to have a network outside the workplace to help keep you grounded and on-track with your goals.
  • Kruse also pointed out how multi-faceted goal setting can be for PR professionals, since many times we must set and meet goals for clients in addition to our individual professional goals.

The panel’s parting recommendation was to use goal setting in all aspects of life. They suggested not being afraid of setting personal goals – such as physical or mental health-related goals – in addition to professionals to ensure a good work/life balance.

Leadership Lessons to Live By

Stephanie Fu (U.S. Department of Agriculture, Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion), Maggie Moore (Georgetown University), and Pattie Yu (The Yu Crew, LLC) led the session by sharing their personal philosophies on leadership.

When it comes to leadership lessons, Yu stressed the importance of finding a mentor early and building your relationships, attributing her success in part to her mentor. Specifically, she recommends finding a champion who values and appreciates you as you move up the ladder.

Fu’s advice for young professionals boiled down to staying true to yourself and what drives you. She encourages women to figure out what they want and to stand their ground on their journey, while Moore emphasized the intangibles such as work ethic and maturity.

When asked how to be a good advisor, Yu suggested future mentors put themselves in other people’s shoes, treat people with respect and remember why mentorship is important. She recommends thinking back to when you were the mentee and finding a good balance between confidence and humility.

Moore expressed her concern that people (mentors and mentees alike) don’t talk about failure enough – and emphasized how important it was that her mentor was open and honest with her about her own. She appreciated that it gave her the chance to learn from her mentor’s mistakes and believes more people could learn from failure.

Fu also encouraged women to find their voice and make themselves heard. Especially in the private sector, when it’s expected that you’re decisive even when working on a team.

Best Practices for Becoming Your Best

During this breakout session, mentors Caryn Alagno (Finch Computing), Isabel Lara (NPR), and Barbara Martin (BrandLinkDC) shared some advice on becoming your best, even in high-stress situations that come with working in PR.

Alagno had a few tips for conveying confidence, which occasionally can be a struggle for professional women. She recommends having an arsenal of confident-sounding phrases to build credibility, such as ‘in my professional opinion…’ She says the same applies for when you disagree with someone, such as ‘I agree on X, but disagree on Y,’ then explain your reasoning.

Lara also had a key piece of advice for women: stop saying ‘I think…’ when sharing your opinion. She said it implies doubt, which does not inspire confidence or credibility. Martin added that we should add ‘just’ to that list, too.

As the topic of the night, the panelists shared their stories of how they found their mentors. Martin’s strategy was to be bold and don’t take no for an answer. Alagno took a direct approach, simply asking outright, and outlining why she’d be a good fit for the person she wanted to emulate. She also recommended framing the mentor ask as a compliment, rather than a favor.

Martin also suggested that peer mentors can also be helpful and reminded the group that asking for advice from anyone will more than likely elicit a positive response.

Article by Melinda Tolliver, a digital communications specialist who has worked in a variety of settings throughout her career. She loves the thrill of stringing together powerful, eloquent messages in under 140 characters, and creating thoughtful visuals to go with it. Her current position is with the Association of American Law Schools as a digitally-focused communications coordinator. Follow her tweets and ‘grams at @mmptolliver.

Top Tweets from the event:

 

Member Spotlights: WWPR Vice President Danielle Veira Chats About Passion for Nonprofit Advocacy

WWPR Vice President Danielle Veira, Senior Manager, Public Relations and Advocacy Communications at the American Diabetes Association, has found her passion combining her PR skills with nonprofit advocacy. WWPR talked with Danielle about her advocacy work and career, and her advice for WWPR members wanting to get involved in PR for a nonprofit or association.

Her Unique Journey to Advocacy Communications

Danielle’s journey to finding the right career path began with a passion for policy. The initial plan was to be a health or education policy expert with her background in political science and sociology, but while getting her start on Capitol Hill working for an Ohio Senator she found helping the press secretary draft content turned out to be her true passion.

After deciding to make the career change to communications, joining WWPR was one of her first moves, ultimately leading to her first job in PR through a WWPR connection. Her first full-time job in communications was with a strategic communications firm, which eventually led to her current role.

Once she found her stride in nonprofit communications, Danielle knew it was where she wanted to be. She says her favorite part about her advocacy role is finding a way to tell a story in a way that influences people to take action. She also loves the richness of stories that can be found working at a mission-driven organization, and that the end goal is to improve people’s lives.

Advocating for People with Diabetes

At the American Diabetes Association, Danielle works directly with the government affairs and advocacy department to support the organization’s policy and advocacy efforts. She helps share the stories of the millions of people affected by diabetes to stress the urgency of the diabetes epidemic, with the goal of creating awareness among our nation’s leaders and affecting policy.

In her day-to-day efforts, she’s usually involved in a combination of several activities. These range from publicly urging Congress to protect access to care for people living with diabetes; collecting stories from patients, caregivers, and health care providers affected by diabetes; building relationships with key reporters; prepping spokespeople for interviews; and supporting the organization’s advocacy initiatives.

In addition to her work, Danielle has a personal connection to diabetes. She was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes almost 20 years ago, and counts herself as truly blessed to be doing work that directly affects herself, her family and nearly 116 million other people each day.

Volunteering with WWPR

Shortly after Danielle joined WWPR, she got involved with the 2012 PR Woman of the Year committee. She has continued being involved in the organization and is currently serving for her fourth year on the WWPR Board.

Danielle’s passion for WWPR is rooted in her belief that WWPR not only provides female communicators with a network of support and professional development, but it is also a place where women can cultivate life-long friendships. By being so much more than a professional society, WWPR is committed to helping women in the communications field reach their career goals and find inspiration.

Advice for WWPR Members Wanting to Advocate for a Good Cause

Danielle believes that communicators have a unique skill set that makes us so valuable to nonprofit and advocacy organizations – especially those that can’t afford PR services. She encourages members to make a significant impact by volunteering time and skills to organizations like these, and help provide the critical strategic support that many nonprofits may not have access to.

In The Morning…

Danielle’s morning routine:

  • First thing – read a daily devotional (right now it’s a compilation of daily devotionals that President Obama’s faith advisor authored)
  • A quick 30-45 minute workout and shower, if she can avoid the dreaded snooze
  • Then a green smoothie to help her take on the day


Article by Melinda Tolliver, a digital communications specialist who has worked in a variety of settings throughout her career. She loves the thrill of stringing together powerful, eloquent messages in under 140 characters, and creating thoughtful visuals to go with it. Her current position is with the Association of American Law Schools as a digitally-focused communications coordinator. Follow her tweets and ‘grams at @mmptolliver.

President’s Note: Spring has Sprung!

It’s been a busy month with a number of WWPR events coming up soon! We hope you are enjoying the design refresh to our newsletter and the continuing showcase of DC communications professionals on WWPR’s Instagram handle. Fill out this quick form to sign up for a takeover day.

Coming up next is Speed Mentoring on April 4! Join us for a night of mentoring with leading communicators to talk about leadership lessons, goal setting, and best practices for managing competing priorities and conflicts. Attendees will meet with 12 mentors in small groups plus an opportunity for networking.

Time picking the minds of accomplished professionals is precious. Here are some tips for making the most of Speed Mentoring:

  • Bring plenty of cards. Also ask for a card from mentors, but it’s good to be able to give them one when you are introduced.
  • Prepare questions that you want to ask in advance. Think about your biggest career-related questions, jot them down, and prioritize them before you come. You may wish to target certain questions to specific mentors.
  • Make any asks of the mentors clear and reasonable. Asking for introductions or referrals is achievable, but keep your ears open for what they have time to offer and be sensitive to their time limitations.
  • Follow up with thanks. Following up with thanks is memorable! A quick email with your thanks goes a long way!

Stay tuned for a joint happy hour on April 25 with IABC, PRSA, National Association of Government Communicators, and the Association of Women in International Trade. WWPR also has a few events coming up in May for both professional development and networking.

Finally, WWPR pro bono client Bright Beginnings is having a 5K fundraiser on April 29. Learn more and consider registering yourself or a team to support their work for providing educational, therapeutic, health, and family services free of charge to homeless infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and their families in Washington, DC.

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If You Read One Blog About the Pro Bono Committee, Read This One

wwpr-bright-beginnings-probono-washington-dcThe WWPR Pro Bono Committee initially began its partnership with DC nonprofit Bright Beginnings (BBI) to help tell their story of bringing education excellence to homeless families in the DC area. Now more than two years later, we continue support the BBI PR efforts and continue be inspired by the amazing work that Bright Beginnings does for homeless families within the Beltway.

Since the start of our partnership, we’ve completed a host of projects for the BBI team and this year is no exception. Keep reading to learn about the ways we helped the Bright Beginnings team share their inspired story in 2016.

Media Pitching

Last year was a big one for Bright Beginnings. With a new center opening in Ward 8 and its 25th anniversary to celebrate, we had several opportunities to share the BBI story with the news community. Through the efforts of PB committee members, BBI earned coverage from a range of media outlets, including Streetsense, Comcast Newsmakers, the Great Day show on Channel 9, the Daily Drum show on WHUR and the Radio One Public Affairs program.

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Shot of the new Ward 8 Bright Beginnings Location in Southeast D.C.

Social Content

To highlight more than 25 years of excellence in the classroom, we helped the BBI team start the #BrightFuturesatBBI campaign to shine a light on the organization’s decades-long commitment to educational excellence. Check out some of the highlights:

Animation Video

MultiVu Creative, the visual design studio division of PRNewswire, invited some of our committee members to brainstorm concepts a promotional video showcasing the efforts of BBI. The BBI staff attended the creative concept session and selected the winning concept that became the one-minute animated video. Watch it below:


The WWPR Pro Bono Committee continues to provide guidance to Bright Beginnings for its storytelling needs – from communications audits to event press support. We are so honored to have worked with them for the past few years and we look forward to seeing more of their inspiring work in the year ahead.

President’s Note: Busy February, Exciting March!

WWPR has had a busy February! We got the month started right with a sold-out Advanced Snapchat and Instagram Workshop where expert presenters shared insights about how to use these tools to achieve communications goals. Check out this recap to snag some of the takeaways.

On February 22 we partnered with ColorComm and United Women in Business to present “Negotiations 365” where a panel of experts shared their experience and tips for negotiation. The good news is that women are negotiating more and doing it successfully. The bad news is that they still face backlash and a double-standard when it comes to negotiating. Some of my favorite tips from this sold-out, interactive event:

  • Do your research. Know what salary and benefits are market rate for the position.
  • Know your bottom line and be willing to walk away. Be prepared to know your limits for meeting your minimal needs to come to an agreement.
  • Enter negotiations as a journey. It is a conversation and be willing to dialogue.
  • Don’t undervalue yourself. Know your worth and convey your value by telling your unique story.

Perhaps most important: everything is negotiable! We negotiate throughout every day, without often realizing it. Expanding your concept of negotiation opens more doors.

As professionals, negotiation is a powerful tool to use for ourselves towards career development and growth. But it also can be used on behalf of our employers. Showing these skills demonstrates that you can bring negotiation savvy to your employer.

WWPR has a lot more in store! Stay tuned for Speed Mentoring on April 4 — one of our most popular events every year where attendees spend quality time in small groups with experienced professionals to boost their careers and get guidance on navigating tricky issues.

Check out WWPR’s Instagram as our board and other industry leaders have been taking over the handle to share their ‘day in the life.’ Fill out this quick form to sign up for a takeover day.

We look forward to seeing you online and in person soon!

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