Spotlights Northeast Farmers Of Color Land Trust
Creative Communications Strategy
The NEFOC Land Trust grew and crystallized out of land access needs originally identified by members of the NEFOC Network, an alliance of farmers, earth workers, land stewards, and land-based activists of color who came together in 2017 with the goals of sharing skills, resources, time and collaborative opportunities; coordinating a vision for meaningful farm policy change; and catalyzing reparations for BIPOC farmers and land stewards. Today, NEFOC aims to improve the lives of BIPOC communities and the land through increased health and wellness outcomes derived from increased land access and reconnection to and reclamation of our ancestral practices. FFCF supported the development of a communications strategy to help NEFOC move from reactive messaging to enacting a proactive, creative, iterative, meaningful and bi-directional communications framework and plan.
NEFOC strives to build narratives that shine light on the histories of dispossession and oppression that have resulted in entrenched barriers to land access for BIPOC communities today, while also uplifting the vibrant potential of our communities to reclaim and steward land in ways that honor our heritage, create regenerative futures for precious ecosystems, and feed our families, communities and nations.
Project Objectives
- Development of an organization-wide communications strategy and plan
- Launch a multi-lingual social media campaign to create awareness of BIPOC land access needs and land-based wealth redistribution strategies
- Produce a multi-lingual podcast and webinar series that will illuminate the living and
As a result of the current communications strategy that this grant funded we now realize we need to develop branding that moves across platforms. We also need to integrate a NEFOC Network-wide communications platform for continued movement building, mutual aid, and skillsharing…We are excited to have made such progress during a very dark and challenging time.
Impact
NEFOC kicked off planning during the COVID-19 pandemic. This required unprecedented out of the box thinking to keep their stakeholders engaged. As a result of their completed plan and rebrand, NEFOC developed a more interactive, private, and detailed/story-rich Reparations Map and contact form to help streamline external outreach from new and existing stakeholders. They contracted communications consultants which led to a high-profile partnership with well recognized musicians, Erica Dawn Lyle and Vice Cooler. This partnership resulted in a benefit album for which the proceeds went exclusively to NEFOC. They successfully generated earned media throughout 2022 and they developed high quality reporting materials for funder and partner engagement.
