Communicating Change in Uncertain Times

Fergal is Founder and CEO of VisibleThread. His mission is to make business communications clearer. Fergal believes that clear communication is a human right. Too often complexity creeps into human interaction and increases friction, both internally and externally. This drives down brand trust, increases operational cost, and lowers employee morale. He has helped large organizations like Airbus, SunLife Insurance, and the Australian Government use metrics and technology to help ditch the jargon, and speak with a human voice.

Ashley Bush is Southwire’s Director of Communications and Giving Back. Ashley began her career at Southwire in 2010 and has held a variety of responsibilities over the last decade including employee communications, visual production, strategic planning, executive communications, crisis communication, brand management, media relations and community relations. In her current role, she leads Southwire’s Communications and Giving Back team and, since January of 2020, has served as the communication liaison for the company’s COVID-19 response team.

Amanda Minto is Executive Director of Internal Communications supporting the Technology, Product and Experience (TPX) organization at Comcast. She leads employee communications for the People & Integration function, the Comcast India Engineering Center and crisis and incident management communications for all Comcast Cable HQ facilities. Amanda utilizes strategic communications tactics to effectively inform, engage and inspire teammates while driving the global employee experience. She strongly believes in transparency and has extensive experience in crisis and issues management, having dealt with various challenging situations such as reductions in force, reorganizations, site closures/moves, product sunsets, employee accidents, facility incident readiness, COVID-19 response and Return to Office planning. Amanda resides outside Philadelphia with her wife, Bobbie, and their two children, Cruz and Nora.

Justin Joffe is the Editorial Director and Editor-in-Chief at Ragan Communications where he oversees the editorial strategy for Ragan across brands and products. In addition to his editorial duties, Joffe also advises the programming team on best-in-class conferences, webinars and workshops during a time of unprecedented change in the way that communicators and marketers learn and meet. He is also a freelance journalist and communications writer specializing in the arts and culture, media and technology, and ad tech beats. Before joining the Ragan team, Joffe worked for Muck Rack, PR News, and The Observer. Additionally, his writing has appeared in several publications including Vulture, Newsweek, Vice, Relix, Flaunt, and many more. You can find him on X @joffaloff.