Burt Edwards Email & Phone Number

There’s an old saying that if you see a turtle sitting on a fencepost, you know it had some help getting there. As a young Freshman at the University of Washington, I worked with a student TV program to tape and broadcast a special student town hall on efforts to institute an ethnic studies requirement at the UW. And I’ve been working ever since to help communicate and advocate policy solutions across the political and cultural divides that all too often separate our society.Over the years, I’ve worked on array of campaign and efforts to employ creative communications and public affairs tools to engage the public and decisionmakers on key policy debates—from mitigating international conflict, to addressing the growing threat of climate change, to protecting habitat for Western Pond turtles in the Columbia Gorge. After 20 years working inside the Washington, D.C. Beltway—with experience working with leading private (@Stateside), public (@USIP), and nonprofit (@NET, Pew & InterAction) sector organizations—I moved back to the Pacific Northwest in 2017 to join Friends of the Columbia Gorge—one of the largest place-based conservation groups in the PNW—as their inaugural communications director. As the head of Friends’ Public Engagement team, I led rapid-response efforts to the 2017 Eagle Creek fire and co-managed a 2020 community communications campaign to bolster public support for the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs’ efforts to restore community access and infrastructure for clean water. In spring 2021, I was appointed to the Oregon Metro Natural Areas and Capital Performance Oversight Committee and currently serve as committee co-chair.In fall 2022, I joined ReThink Media as their new director of programs, working as part of the management team to help empower program partners in moving key policy discussions through collaborative, cohesive, and creative communications. Learn more: https://rethinkmedia.org/Specialties: Strategic Communications, Media Relations & Training, Op-ed & Opinion Media Outreach, Web Strategy & Development, Digital Outreach & Engagement, Writing & Editing, Event Management, Project Development & Evaluation, Political Intelligence & Research, Policy Analysis & Issue Advocacy-- Connect with me on Twitter: @BurtEdws

Listed skills include Strategic Communications, Public Affairs, Public Policy, Policy Analysis, and 27 others.

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  Director Of Programs

  Rethink Media

  Portland, Or, Us