The Black Alder
Communications Summer Intensive
Communications work in advocacy and movement spaces is hard, specific, and often thankless. The practitioners doing it are talented, but the field still lacks the professional development infrastructure that the work demands. This means many of us are utilizing frameworks we built out of necessity, under pressure, and with no time to evaluate.
That's what this series is for.
Black Alder has worked at the highest levels of advocacy and movement communications for years, and this intensive is our way of sharing what we’ve learned with our colleagues, who are preparing to lead high-stakes work ahead of the most consequential election in recent history.
“I attended your L4BL narrative training this week and was so grateful for the space — it was my favorite narrative training I've been to. “
—Communications Manager and Former Training Attendee
THE TRAINING MODULES
THE TRAINING MODULES
Narrative Power
June 4, 2026 at 12 pm est
Narrative is the long game, and it doesn't shift in a news cycle. Narrative change happens over years, sometimes generations, and it shifts because people made deliberate choices about what stories to tell, how to share them and who needed to hear them. This session covers the difference between narrative, story, and frames and why that distinction matters practically, what narrative power is and how organizations build it, how to recognize openings for narrative interventions and how to execute them, and how to maintain narrative discipline across a team or coalition without flattening individual voice. This is a conceptual foundation every communications and narrative strategist needs to successfully leverage stories to create change.
Earned Media and the Pitch
June 11, 2026 at 12 pm est
Featuring Co-Facilitator, Janet A. Dickerson
Knowing how to successfully pitch journalists is a fundamental skill, but the current state of media requires that we all “get in the gym” to practice and strengthen earned media tactics. This session covers how to identify the right reporters and beats for your work, what makes a pitch land and how to build mutually-beneficial press relationships, how to use timing and news hooks strategically, and how to manage a story that starts going in the wrong direction. We will work through real pitch scenarios and talk honestly about what the current media landscape requires of advocates and organizers who want earned coverage.
Janet A. Dickerson is a seasoned communications expert, cultural strategist and event producer with nearly two decades of experience delivering public relations, integrated marketing and program development services for various campaigns and causes. Dickerson began her career in politics and transitioned into non-profit communications for a few years before ultimately going on to launch her own full-service agency, Human Impact Solutions (HIS) in 2010.
For nearly two decades HIS has provided PR and Communications counsel and executed high-impact initiatives and campaigns for leaders in philanthropy, advocacy, arts, education and entertainment, including the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, 7x NBA Champions the Golden State Warriors, acclaimed filmmakers Ava DuVernay and Ryan Coogler, legendary actor and humanitarian Harry Belafonte’s organization Sankofa, Black Mamas Matter Alliance, The Opportunity Network, Howard University, and many others. In 2024 she launched Power Your Presence, a media training and coaching program supporting entrepreneurs, consultants, organizational and business leaders to strengthen and enhance their media engagement and interviewing skills and confidence.
An alum of the American Express Social Justice Leadership Academy, Dickerson formerly served as VP of Media Engagement at the Black Public Relations Society – New York and is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) and ForbesBLK. She earned a Bachelor’s in Journalism from Temple University and resides in the New York Tri-State Area
Black Media, Strategy, and This Moment
June 18, 2026 at 12 pm est
In movement and advocacy spaces, Black media should not be a side bar. It is a core strategic asset, and in this political moment it is also something more than that.
This session makes the case for why Black press and Black media deserve a central place in your communications strategy, covers how pitching Black media is different from pitching mainstream outlets and what Black journalists and editors actually need from communications people, and examines what is at stake for narrative and for community when these relationships are neglected.
There is both a tactical and a political argument in this session, and we will make both.
Coalition Comms and Narrative Alignment
June 25, 2026 at 12 pm est
While communications work in coalitions is paramount to advancing winning campaigns, it often gets the least amount of attention and resources. Wires get crossed, infrastructure is shoddy, and the window to make interventions is always closing. Establishing strong and clear communications infrastructure in coalitions is more important to our movements than ever before. This session is about the real friction: how to coordinate across organizations that have different theories of change, different audiences, and different risk tolerances, how to build shared narrative frameworks that hold without requiring everyone to sound the same, what to do when a coalition partner goes off message, and how to manage communications in moments of internal coalition tension without fracturing up the partnership or the campaign.
Building Your CommsInfrastructure
July 9, 2026 at 12 pm est
Most organizations don't find out they lack a communications infrastructure until they need one. This session is about building it before that moment comes. We cover what communications infrastructure actually means for advocacy and movement organizations, including message architecture, spokesperson development and preparation, internal approval workflows, rapid response protocols, channel strategy, and audience mapping.
We will also talk about how to build a living communications plan that people actually use. This session is especially useful for communications directors, senior staff, and executive directors who are responsible for organizational communications capacity and know it needs work.
Crisis Comms
July 16, 2026 at 12 pm est
We are living in a moment of escalating crisis, meaning we need a deeper bench of trained communicators with crisis experience who can support organizations on the frontlines of key fights. This session covers how to tell the difference between a crisis and a bad news cycle, how to make smart decisions fast and under pressure without creating new problems, why internal communications has to prioritized before external communications and what happens when organizations get that wrong , what your first public statement needs to accomplish and what it should never do, how to manage media when your organization is the story, how to communicate with your base and stakeholders when trust is on the line, and how to assess and repair narrative damage after the immediate moment has passed.
Everyone will leave with a crisis preparedness framework they can build out before they ever need it.
Training Pricing
Every session is 2 hours and comes with:
Black Alder framework document specific to that session's subject
Reference guide summarizing the key concepts and tools covered
Curated resource list
Access to the session recording for 30 days.
All independent contractors and practitioners not affiliated with an organization or other entity will receive a 50% discount. This is for individual single sessions and individual full packages only.
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$350
One session of your choosing. You'll receive the slide deck, a proprietary Black Alder framework document, a reference guide, a curated resource list, and access to the session recording for 30 days.
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$1,400
All six sessions, start to finish. Includes all session materials, framework documents, reference guides, and 30-day recording access for every session.
You save $700 compared to buying each session individually. -
$850
One session for a team of 2 to 4 people. Includes all session materials for every registered team member. -
$3,500
All six sessions for a team of 2 to 4 people. Includes all session materials for every registered team member.You save $1,600 compared to registering your team session by session.
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$1,400
One session for a team of 5 to 9 people. Includes all session materials for every registered team member.
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$5,500
All six sessions for a team of 5 to 9 people. Includes all session materials for every registered team member.
You save $2,900 compared to registering your team session by session.
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$2,000
One session for a team of 10 or more people. Includes all session materials for every registered team member.
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$8,000
All six sessions for a team of 10 to 15 people. Includes all session materials for every registered team member.
You save $4,000 compared to registering your team session by session.
Register
After submitting this form, you will receive an invoice at the email address provided within two business days. We accept payment via ACH transfer and check. Full payment is required to confirm your registration and secure your seats.
Please note that Black Alder reviews all registrations before confirming attendance. We are intentional about who is in the room and how this community gathers, and we reserve the right to decline any registration that is not a fit for this space.
Upon confirmation of payment, you will receive an email with everything you need to join each session, including calendar invites, session dates, and instructions for accessing the virtual room.
If you have questions about registration or organizational pricing, contact us at info@blackalderllc.com.
All independent contractors and practitioners not affiliated with an organization will receive a 25% discount.