Strategic Communications for Collectrify
ROLE
Narrative Strategist & Writer
CLIENT
YEAR
Collectrify
2024–Present
summary
Collectrify operates a trust-based fund at the intersection of climate justice, housing equity, and community power, providing funding and technical resources to frontline organizations working to replace fossil fuel systems in homes and community-serving facilities. The challenge of communicating this work lies in translating a theory of change that spans community leadership, workforce development, policy advocacy, and narrative and culture change into clear messaging that inspires funders to act—while holding the work’s interconnected layers and, most importantly, the humanity behind it.
My ongoing engagement spans several projects, including co-developing a cornerstone funder-facing document, writing for organizational leadership, revising a major research and impact report, and producing social media content. Working in close collaboration with Collectrify’s Co-Directors Jamesa Johnson Greer and Jennifer Somers, my role has been to find the narrative thread that runs through a body of work that’s gaining momentum—synthesizing strategic intent, organizational voice, partner insights, and source materials into writing that is clear, compelling, and true to Collectrify’s mission.
Strategic communications and narrative support for a frontline-led climate justice fund working to advance equitable building electrification across the United States.
key contributions
01
Co-developed Powering Change Through 2030: Our 2025–2027 Strategic Roadmap, a 24-page funder-facing document translating Collectrify's mission, theory of change, funding priorities, and grantee impact stories into a cohesive fundraising narrative, drawing on organizational source materials and Collectrify's own writing
02
Developed State of the State of Equitable Building Electrification, a thought leadership piece published under Collectrify's organizational voice; this involved an interview with organizational leadership to capture voice and perspective, along with synthesis of funder reports and organizational source materials
03
Produced LinkedIn content to amplify Collectrify's published work, extending the reach of key messages to funder and field audiences
04
Currently leading a narrative revision of a workforce development case study, centering the voices of Collectrify's frontline partners; this phase of the engagement includes interviews with partner organizations to bring lived experience and on-the-ground perspective into the analysis, consistent with my participatory approach to systems storytelling
impact
The strategic roadmap gives Collectrify a coherent, funder-facing account of its 2025–2027 priorities and grantee impact at a pivotal moment in the organization's growth, equipping leadership with a polished, substantive document for fundraising conversations.
The State of the State thought leadership piece, published in the context of accelerating federal rollbacks on climate protections, makes Collectrify's case with urgency and specificity. The blog names the political moment, elevates partners’ work and perseverance, and calls funders to sustained solidarity with frontline communities advancing equitable building electrification.
The workforce development case study revision, when complete, will center the voices of the partners and communities at the heart of Collectrify's work—bringing the same participatory, systems-grounded approach I've used in the Stories of Change body of work and elsewhere to the field of equitable building electrification.
Related links
Testimonial
“Jessica has a gift for taking dense, intersectional work—spanning climate justice, housing, and frontline leadership—and translating it into narratives that are clear and moving. The strategic roadmap she helped develop has been the foundation of our work over the past year, giving us a clearly articulated vision and a compelling invitation for others to join our efforts.”
— Jamesa Johnson-Greer and Jennifer Somers, Co-Executive Directors, Collectrify