Tom Springer Email & Phone Number

If I had a one-word job description, it would have to be "explainer."​ The world is such a wonderful, terrible, beautiful and tragic place that it's hard to make sense of it all. Yet with clear thinking -- which must always precede clear writing -- our well-chosen words can help people find meaning and purpose. Or at the very least, convince them to keep reading. In my day job that's essential because foundations do remarkable work on behalf of humanity. But here's where the role of explainer comes in. Philanthropy (a word that can evoke images of smoking jackets and brandy snifters) can seem remote and abstract when it's really the opposite: human generosity that extends a hand to the hungry, sick, poor and oppressed. As a communicator, it's my job to share that vitality and help others build on these good works. In my personal writing about the natural world, explaining trumps everything. Through words, I want to help people reconnect with the everyday, natural blessings we typically ignore on our way to the cubicle entrapments of work and school. For the more intimately we know and appreciate something or some place, the less likely we are to despoil it. This mindfulness includes everything from forgotten star constellations to the neighborhood's oldest tree and that dead thing the dog rolled in last night. All such mysteries are worthy of our attention -- and thereby affection. CORPORATE WRITING: speeches, annual reports, books, white papers, magazine-length feature articles, Op-ed pieces, video scripts, web copy. And, readable guides on prosaic things such as how to write good grant summaries and analyses. CREATIVE WRITING: Environmental journalism, personal essays, radio commentary and creative nonfiction.