Comms Noire Empowers Health Communicators to Drive Change in Marginalized Communities

 Comms Noire, a groundbreaking coalition founded by University of Georgia alumni LaTroya Hester, is poised to foster a dynamic community of dedicated professionals, focused on positively influencing the health and well-being of marginalized communities, Comms Noire aims to bridge the gap by harnessing the power of collective creativity and collaboration.

LaTroya Hester, a seasoned health communicator and graduate of the esteemed Grady School of Journalism & Mass Communication, has dedicated her career to leading health communications campaigns with a strong emphasis on health equity for nonprofit organizations. Leveraging her extensive experience in media, advertising, and product marketing, Hester believes in mobilizing communities toward behavioral change for improved health outcomes.

Comms Noire is a quintessential platform that provides a community and collaborative space for like-minded creatives. Hester envisions the coalition as a collective force, emphasizing that working together yields far greater impact than individual efforts.

Through Comms Noire, she aims to magnify the influence of health communicators, with a particular focus on creating opportunities that tap into the diverse talents of minority freelancers. The ultimate goal is to enhance the effectiveness of large-scale campaigns designed to improve health and well-being.

Hester’s leadership role in organizing the State of Black Health national conference for the past five years, facilitated the vision for this highly anticipated pre-conference event, Catching Tones, which will take place on September 6th in San Juan, Puerto Rico. This workshop-style education series will bring together renowned thought leaders in health communications to share insights, strategies, and resources that will enable attendees to make a tangible and quantifiable social impact within black, brown, and BIPOC communities.

Distinguished speakers have been carefully selected for their expertise and influence within the industry:

Belinda Gaston: Co-Founder of Comms Noire, Assoc. Dir. of Public Relations at Westat

Lisa Cunninghan, Creative Director at radiant3: Catching Tones with Unabashed Creativity

Dameon Pope, Managing Director, Deloitte Digital: Storytelling for Equity and Impact

Kianta Key, Sr. VP, Head of Identity Experience, GCI Health: Understanding the identity experience when messaging audiences

Vickie Gogo, Senior Partner, Multicultural Communications, ICF Next & Kimberly Brock, Executive VP, Health Equity, Gollin: Working While Black: Truths, Challenges and Wisdoms.

Starly Stiles, Communications Officer, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: Unlocking the secrets to creating fundable communications strategies.

Monique Thornton, CEO, Let’s Talk Public Health: Demonstrating innovative techniques to repurpose video content for social media.

Lisa Henry Milano, Learning & Development & DEI Strategy Lead at Westat: Beyond Education: The 3 E’s of Professional Development

At the core of effective health communication lies tone. A misjudged tone can shatter an entire campaign, while the right tone has the power to drive meaningful social change. The pre-conference event will highlight marketing communication thought leaders and will inspire and empower attendees to infuse innovation, nuance, and creativity into their 2023 health communication strategies.

In addition, public health communicators will gain valuable insights into the nuanced challenges faced by Black social impact professionals and discover strategies to maximize mentoring relationships.

Find more information about Comms Noire at www.commsnoire.com and to follow the event, follow on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/commsnoire.

About Comms Noire: Comms Noire is a strategic communications group that provides community, opportunities and training to Black social impact communications professionals. Through our growing talent base of creatives and strategists, we offer communications consulting services and technical assistance to mission-minded organizations.