Note: This page is updated monthly with recently published posts.
โ๏ธ Welcome to The Switchboard! Iโm Julia Levy, the Editor-in-Chief. My mission is to explore the ways we communicate and connect at work and beyond with career insights, inspiring stories and best practices from industry leaders. Thank you for being part of this community.
๐ This About Page shares The Switchboardโs story and highlights from past posts. Continue the conversation on LinkedIn, Twitter or in the comments on this page. For new readers, to receive future issues delivered to your inbox, add your email below.
Since launching in January 2021, Iโve published 100+ interviews and 35+ best practices articles. To make it easier to find content, Iโve created this index as a guide. Itโs divided into sections โ Best Practices, By Industry and By Role. For the interviews, note that the roles and companies listed are reflective of the time of publication.
On This Page
Best Practices
๐คน๐ป Top 10 Skills to Succeed in Internal Communications
๐ A Home for Content: Intranet Guide
๐ Editorial Calendar Guide
๐ถ Howl-i-day Pet Show Planning Guide
๐ Holiday Celebration Guide
๐บ Developing Operating Values at Mozilla
๐ Cards for Colleagues
๐ Make Meetings Matter
๐๏ธ Learn to Write for an Executive: 8 Best Practices
๐ Why the Ways We Work Together Matter: 10 Steps to Align, Share and Succeed as a Team
๐ How to Start Writing Your 2023 Annual Report Today
Book Reports and Learnings
โจ The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company by Robert Iger
๐ Why Being Funny Should be a Requirement for Internal Communications
๐ Take a Storytelling Approach to Internal Communications
๐ The Power of Ritual: Finding Meaning and Connection with 6 Modern Traditions
๐ช What Philanthropy Taught Me About Executive and Internal Communications
๐11 Food-Focused Ideas for Fueling Internal Communications and Culture
๐ง 7 Inspiring Podcasts for Internal Communications
๐ Learning and Development Strategies
๐บ๐ฆ Ukraine: A Special Edition
โ๏ธ Meeting My Muse: A Switchboard Operatorโs Story
๐ฉ What Magicians can teach us about Internal Communications
โ๏ธ If Mary Poppins was your Chief Culture Officer
โต Set Sail on a Summer of Learning: Podcast, Books, and more
โ What Sesame Street Teaches us about Internal Communications and Careers
๐ Celebrate World Emoji Day: ๐ชMagic Wand or ๐ฎ Crystal Ball
๐ What The Museum of Failure Can Teach Internal Communicators
โค๏ธ The Kindness at Work Honor Roll: 21 inspiring stories of empathy
๐ธ What Creators Can Teach us About Communicating at Work
๐ฎ The Future of Communications: Predictions for 2023 and beyond
๐บ What We Can Learn from Wednesday, Acapulco and Ted Lasso
๐ญ 10 Employee Club Ideas to Start with Zero Budget
๐ณ Communications Nourishment from Chefs and Food Storytellers
๐ Creating a 90 day Internal Communications & Culture Plan
๐๏ธ Let's Go To Summer Camp: Campfire Stories
๐ธ Nature At Work: ๐ค๏ธ Count Clouds, ๐ Look at the Stars, ๐ฆ Go Bird Watching and More
๐ช Michelle Lee: Partner & Managing Director, Play Lab at IDEO
Rituals
By Industry
Coaching, Consulting and Future of Work
โญ Mansi Goel: Executive Coach at Mansi Goel Coaching & Facilitation
๐ฃ Christine Tao: Co-founder and CEO at Sounding Board
๐ Toby Frankenstein: Head of Storytelling at CRC
๐ซ Rachel Miller: Director, All Things IC
๐ฅ Jessica Thrasher: Vice President - Products and Services, SNP Communications
๐ Tracey Pavlishin: Senior Director, Head of Americas Marketing and Global Internal Communications + Alumni Engagement - Kearney
๐ฒ Netta Conyers-Haynes: VP, Communications at Sequoia Consulting Group
๐ฃ Liz Soltoff: Consultant
๐๏ธArlene Amitirigala: Global Corporate Communications Leader
๐ฆBecky Graebe: Senior Director, Communication Expert at Dynamic Signal
๐ Ken Shuman: Founder of InterConnected Strategies and Interim VP of Communications at Misfits Market
๐ฆช Rhys Black: Head of Workplace Design at Oyster
๐งBrie Wolfson: Recipe Development at The Kool-Aid Factory and Author of Founder Fodder
๐ป Helen Kupp: Senior Director and co-founder of Future Forum at Slack | co-author of "How The Future Works"
๐กLars Schmidt: Founder of Amplify, Author and Podcaster
๐ฌ Julie Inouye: Communications and Marketing Executive and Advisor
๐ฟ Sean Garrett: Founder and Convener at Mixing Board
๐ Nick deWilde: Co-Founder & Chief Customer Officer at Exec
Education
๐งฐ Adrian J. Hopkins: Director, Internal Communications at General Assembly
๐ Adrian Lai: Chief of Staff and Head of Operations at Wonderschool
๐ซ Patrick Holmes: Director of Internal Communications at University of California, Berkeley
โ๏ธ Christopher Pearsall: Vice President, Brand & Communications at DonorsChoose
๐ Sherrie Westin: President of Sesame Workshop
โก๏ธVictoria Young Idol: COO and Co-Founder at Outpace
๐ซ Wes Kao: Co-founder at Maven
๐ Kursat Ozenc: Lecturer at Stanfordโs d.school
๐ผ Clara Ma: Founder, Ask a Chief of Staff
Hospitality, Food and Sports
๐ซ Gina Laughlin: Managing Director โ Employee Communications at Delta
๐ Cynthia Horiguchi: Senior Director of Communications at Instacart
๐ฎ Jerilan Greene: Chief Communications and Public Affairs Officer, Yum! Brands, Inc. and Chairman and CEO, Yum! Foundation
๐ฒ Caitlin Landsman: Senior Manager, Internal Communications at Peloton Interactive
๐ฝ๏ธ Samantha Hillstrom: Head of Internal Communications and Employeeย Engagement, Blue Apron
โ Miki Levine: Retail Divisions Communications Manager at Peet's Coffee
๐ฅซ Laura Colantuono: Head of Internal Communications, International at The Kraft Heinz Company
๐ Ken Shuman: Founder of InterConnected Strategies and Interim VP of Communications at Misfits Market
๐ฏ๏ธRoseli Ilano: Head of Community at Eventbrite
๐ง Candace Nelson: Founder, Sprinkles and Pizzana | Author, Sweet Success: A Simple Recipe to Turn your Passion into Profit
๐ ๏ธ Michael Maney: Head of Internal Communications, The Home Depot
Agencies and Media
๐บ Brianna Barker: Senior Director, Employee Communications at PBS
๐ฐ Megan Dold: Head of Corporate and Internal Communications, Financial Times
๐ซ Jared Taylor: Vice President, Employee Experience at Edelman
๐งช Chase Warner: Director of Internal Communications at Real Chemistry
๐ Beth Furtwangler: Internal Communications Director at National Geographic Partners
๐ Soon Mee Kim: Global Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer at Omnicom Public Relations Group
โค๏ธ Claude Silver: Chief Heart Officer at VaynerMedia
๐ช Michelle Lee: Partner & Managing Director, Play Lab at IDEO
Tech
๐ Roberta (Bertie) Thomson: Chief Communications and Creative Officer, Notion
๐ Leslie Letts: Global Director, Internal Communications & Community Engagement for Worldwide Operations at Amazon
๐ฑ Tracy Van Grack: Chief Communications Officer at Revolution
๐ Lisa Chen: Head of Internal Communications, People Operations, Google
๐ผ Laura McCafferty: Vice President, Global Employee Communications at Indeed
๐บ๏ธ Holly Nicola: Head of Internal Communications and Employee Engagement at Mapbox
๐๏ธ Emily Singer Mandel: Senior Director, Global Communications and Public Affairs at Google
๐ Sean Langston, Jr.: Internal Communications, Reddit
๐ฆ Elizabeth Rasberry: Internal Communications Leader at ABB
๐ช Jesse Bianco-Lane: Head of Internal Communications at Webflow
๐ Cath Anderson: Head of Communications, Cityblock Health
๐จ Laney Erokan: Director, Internal Communications & Employer Branding at Patreon
๐ฃ Hannah O'Brien: Head Of Internal Communications at Culture Amp
๐ฅ Butler Rondeno: Director, Executive and Internal Communications at Salesforce
๐ Laura Hunter: Senior Director, Executive Communications at Pure Storage
๐ฅ Lindsey Sanford: Chief of Staff, People Team
๐ Lisa Mudge: Senior Director, Employee Communications at LinkedIn
๐ซ Camilla Boyer: Head of Internal Communications and Culture at Hopin
๐ Danyelle Pollock: Internal Communications, Amazon
๐ฆ Luiz Whitney: Head of Internal Communications & Employer Brand at Pagaya
๐ Megan Stack: Head of Global Content and Culture, Internal Communications at Dropbox
๐กDanielle Boris: Founder & CEO at Sandbox
๐ฅ Emily Busse: Director of Communications at Loom
๐ฆ Phillip Hales: Senior Director, Internal Communications at Stash
๐งฑ Nathan Fisher: Director of Internal Communications at Databricks
โ Jacob Bank: CEO and Founder, Relay
๐ฐ Q Hamirani: Global Head of Live and Work Anywhere, Airbnb Global Head of Live and Work Anywhere, Airbnb
๐ช Caleb Bushner: Vice President of Marketing at Unusual Ventures
โกBen Lang: Head of Community at Notion
Public Service, Philanthropy and Health
๐ฑMona Nabil: Regional Internal Communications Officer at World Food Programme RBC
๐ฆ Sara Glick: Senior Director, Internal Communications and Engagement - U.S. Chamber of Commerce
๐ณ Cheryl Magat: Director, Internal Communications - The Trust for Public Land
โด๏ธ Lise Harwin: Employee Communications Manager, Port of Portland & Portland International Airport
๐ฅ Elisabeth Wang: Executive Director of Brand Building and Communications for Piedmont Healthcare
๐๏ธ Janelle S. Kpeli: Director of Internal Communications at Cityblock Health
๐บ Michelle Lyons Dandridge: Senior Director, Enterprise Communications and Colleague Engagement at Pfizer
Financial Services, Real Estate and Retail
๐ Joe Cohen: Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, AXIS
๐ชAllison King: Senior Director of Internal Communications & Editor in Chief at California Closets
๐ Tiffin Jernstedt: Senior Vice President, Chief Communications Officer at Neiman Marcus Group
๐ข Nicole Neal: Director, Global Employee Communications at Cushman & Wakefield
๐๏ธ Mita Mallick: Head of Inclusion, Equity and Impact at Carta | Co-Founder, Brown Table Talk podcast
By Role
C-Suite
๐ Roberta (Bertie) Thomson: Chief Communications and Creative Officer, Notion
๐ฎ Jerilan Greene: Chief Communications and Public Affairs Officer, Yum! Brands, Inc. and Chairman and CEO, Yum! Foundation
๐ Tiffin Jernstedt: Senior Vice President, Chief Communications Officer at Neiman Marcus Group
๐ Joe Cohen: Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, AXIS
๐ฑ Tracy Van Grack: Chief Communications Officer at Revolution
๐ Sherrie Westin: President of Sesame Workshop
Chief of Staff
๐ Adrian Lai: Chief of Staff and Head of Operations at Wonderschool
๐ฅ Lindsey Sanford: Chief of Staff, People Team
DEI and People Leaders
๐ Soon Mee Kim: Global Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer at Omnicom Public Relations Group
๐๏ธ Mita Mallick: Head of Inclusion, Equity and Impact at Carta | Co-Founder, Brown Table Talk podcast
โค๏ธ Claude Silver: Chief Heart Officer at VaynerMedia
Founders
๐ง Candace Nelson: Founder, Sprinkles and Pizzana | Author, Sweet Success: A Simple Recipe to Turn your Passion into Profit
๐งBrie Wolfson: Recipe Development at The Kool-Aid Factory and Author of Founder Fodder
๐กDanielle Boris: Founder & CEO at Sandbox
โ Jacob Bank: CEO and Founder, Relay
โก๏ธVictoria Young Idol: COO and Co-Founder at Outpace
๐ซ Wes Kao: Co-founder at Maven
๐ผ Clara Ma: Founder, Ask a Chief of Staff
๐ Nick deWilde: Co-Founder & Chief Customer Officer at Exec
Communications, Brand and Marketing
๐ Cath Anderson: Head of Communications, Cityblock Health
๐ Cynthia Horiguchi: Senior Director of Communications at Instacart
๐ฒ Netta Conyers-Haynes: VP, Communications at Sequoia Consulting Group
๐ฅ Elisabeth Wang: Executive Director of Brand Building and Communications for Piedmont Healthcare
๐ Ken Shuman: Founder of InterConnected Strategies and Interim VP of Communications at Misfits Market
๐ฅ Emily Busse: Director of Communications at Loom
โ๏ธ Christopher Pearsall: Vice President, Brand & Communications at DonorsChoose
๐ฌ Julie Inouye: Communications and Marketing Executive and Advisor
๐ช Caleb Bushner: Vice President of Marketing at Unusual Ventures
Executive Communications
๐ Laura Hunter: Senior Director, Executive Communications at Pure Storage
๐ Morgan Baden: Head of Executive Communications at Acumen | Author ๐
๐บ Christine Alabastro: Executive Communications Professional
๐ฅ Jessica Thrasher: Vice President - Products and Services, SNP Communications
๐๏ธ Emily Singer Mandel: Senior Director, Global Communications and Public Affairs at Google
Executive Coaching
โญ Mansi Goel: Executive Coach at Mansi Goel Coaching & Facilitation
๐ฃ Christine Tao: Co-founder and CEO at Sounding Board
Remote and Future of Work
๐ฆช Rhys Black: Head of Workplace Design at Oyster
๐ป Helen Kupp: Senior Director and co-founder of Future Forum at Slack | co-author of "How The Future Works"
๐ฐ Q Hamirani: Global Head of Live and Work Anywhere, Airbnb
Community
๐ฏ๏ธRoseli Ilano: Head of Community at Eventbrite
โกBen Lang: Head of Community at Notion
Internal Communications
๐ Lisa Mudge: Senior Director, Employee Communications at LinkedIn
๐ Leslie Letts: Global Director, Internal Communications & Community Engagement for Worldwide Operations at Amazon
๐ Lisa Chen: Head of Internal Communications, People Operations, Google
๐ผ Laura McCafferty: Vice President, Global Employee Communications at Indeed
๐ข Nicole Neal: Director, Global Employee Communications at Cushman & Wakefield
๐ช Jesse Bianco-Lane: Head of Internal Communications at Webflow
๐ชAllison King: Senior Director of Internal Communications & Editor in Chief at California Closets
๐ Sean Langston, Jr.: Internal Communications, Reddit
๐จ Laney Erokan: Director, Internal Communications & Employer Branding at Patreon
๐ฃ Hannah O'Brien: Head Of Internal Communications at Culture Amp
๐ฑMona Nabil: Regional Internal Communications Officer at World Food Programme RBC
๐ฅ Butler Rondeno: Director, Executive and Internal Communications at Salesforce
๐ฐ Megan Dold: Head of Corporate and Internal Communications, Financial TimesExecutive Communications
๐ฅ Butler Rondeno: Director, Executive and Internal Communications at Salesforce
๐งช Chase Warner: Director of Internal Communications at Real Chemistry
๐ฆ Sara Glick: Senior Director, Internal Communications and Engagement - U.S. Chamber of Commerce
๐ฒ Caitlin Landsman: Senior Manager, Internal Communications at Peloton Interactive
โ Miki Levine: Retail Divisions Communications Manager at Peet's Coffee
๐ฝ๏ธ Samantha Hillstrom: Head of Internal Communications and Employeeย Engagement, Blue Apron
๐ณ Cheryl Magat: Director, Internal Communications - The Trust for Public Land
๐ซ Rachel Miller: Director, All Things IC
๐ซ Patrick Holmes: Director of Internal Communications at University of California, Berkeley
๐ Beth Furtwangler: Internal Communications Director at National Geographic Partners
๐ Tracey Pavlishin: Senior Director, Head of Americas Marketing and Global Internal Communications + Alumni Engagement - Kearney
๐ Danyelle Pollock: Internal Communications, Amazon
๐ฆ Luiz Whitney: Head of Internal Communications & Employer Brand at Pagaya
๐ Megan Stack: Head of Global Content and Culture, Internal Communications at Dropbox
๐ฅซ Laura Colantuono: Head of Internal Communications, International at The Kraft Heinz Company
๐๏ธ Janelle S. Kpeli: Director of Internal Communications at Cityblock Health
๐ฆ Phillip Hales: Senior Director, Internal Communications at Stash
๐งฑ Nathan Fisher: Director of Internal Communications at Databricks
๐บ Michelle Lyons Dandridge: Senior Director, Enterprise Communications and Colleague Engagement at Pfizer
๐ ๏ธ Michael Maney: Head of Internal Communications, The Home Depot
Employee Engagement, Culture and Branding
๐กLars Schmidt: Founder of Amplify, Author and Podcaster
๐ซ Surbhi Ugra: Head of Employee Experience Excellence at Unilever
๐บ๏ธ Holly Nicola: Head of Internal Communications and Employee Engagement at Mapbox
๐ฆ Sara Glick: Senior Director, Internal Communications and Engagement - U.S. Chamber of Commerce
๐ฝ๏ธ Samantha Hillstrom: Head of Internal Communications and Employeeย Engagement, Blue Apron
๐ซ Jared Taylor: Vice President, Employee Experience at Edelman
๐ซ Camilla Boyer: Head of Internal Communications and Culture at Hopin
๐จ Positively Present's Inspiring Illustrations: Q&A with Artist and Author Dani DiPirro
๐๏ธArlene Amitirigala: Global Corporate Communications Leader
๐ฆ Diane Tate: Internal Communications and Employer Branding at Mozilla
๐ช Michelle Lee: Partner & Managing Director, Play Lab at IDEO