CAREER GUIDANCE FROM ERICA DI RUGGIERO, SOCIAL AND BEHAVIOUR CHANGE COMMUNICATION PRACTITIONER BASED IN TORONTO, CANADA

Follow Erica Di Ruggiero on twitter: @ed4socialchange

1. What qualities do you look for in the people you hang out with?

I like to surround myself with people from different walks of life. I have lots of friends in public health and education. I also like hanging out with people who challenge my thinking, who work in different sectors from mine. I like hanging out with my family too. My kids keep me young and on my toes.

 

2. What do you do?

 

I work as deputy scientific director for one of Canada’s health research institutes – the institute of population and public health.
 

3. Why do you do what you do?

 

I think I can make a difference in the health of Canadians and global citizens through research and its use – research that is about what interventions (programs, policies, innovations) work for whom and under what circumstances and that pays attention to questions about gender, social and health inequities.

 

4. Is this where you thought you would end up?

 

Not at all. I started out as a public health nutritionist and then moved into policy, research and research funding roles. I just completed my PhD in public health. What has driven me all along is an appetite to learn and be challenged and to help make a difference.  

 

5. What values are you committed to?

• Transparency
• Work ethic and professionalism
• Teamwork and collaboration
• Creativity
• Striving for excellence
• Equity and social justice  

6. How many hours do you work in a typical week?

Too many :) . It’s definitely full-time work.

 

7. What skills are required in your position on a day-to-day basis?

Research, synthesis and analysis skills, partnership and relationship building, problem-solving, negotiation, leadership, communication, strategic planning and evaluation.

8. Are there any negatives to your job?

I would say that there are a lot of challenges in juggling multiple opportunities but that’s what makes it interesting.

9. What is the background of most senior-level executives in your SBCC circles?

Population and public health research, policy and practice backgrounds in my immediate circle but within the broader organization, the background of executives in health research is highly varied from biomedical to clinical to health services research as well as other fields.

10. What do you wish you knew at our stage? (IE: entry-level SBCC enthusiasts)

It’s hard to say given the world we live in. It’s ever changing. So, I would say a commitment to ongoing learning, being flexible but also you need to look for opportunities to gain experience outside of work. I found volunteering to be one of the most enriching experiences early on and continue to do it. You can get to contribute and give back in ways that you don’t have a chance to do early on in your work career.

11. What is the best piece of professional advice you've ever received -- and used or implemented?

Don’t be invisible (voice your opinions but also be prepared to come with a solution if it’s a problem you are raising)… but don’t take the limelight away from others (learn to step aside, add your voice to theirs if someone needs support). It’s a balancing act.

12. If you could do it all over again, what would you do differently?

Good question. I might have done my PhD earlier in my career but then again I don’t think I would have picked the topic I did (global policy development). I would have gotten involved in global health projects much earlier in my career. That said, I keep building on and learning from my past experiences.

13. What should keep entry-level SBCC enthusiasts up at night?

Sleep is one of the best ways to deal with the stressors of life; so I don’t know if I want to encourage you to stay up at night. That said, there will be times when you are faced with ethical or challenging issues. Don’t fret alone. Find allies, mentors, peers who can give you some perspective and advice.

14. What professional organizations are you associated with, and in what ways?

 Canadian Public Health Association (I was on the board for six years, including in roles as chair-elect and chair), Canadian Coalition for Global Health Research (member), College of Dietitians of Ontario (formal member), Informal member in various networks: evaluation, women’s leadership group, etc.

15. What mistakes have you made?

Lots no doubt but the key is learn from your mistakes (in fact I believe they offer more important life lessons if one is paying attention).

16. What one thing do you still struggle with?

Work/life balance.

17. What traits impress you the most in a working professional, irrespective of their area of expertise?

Vision, Leadership, Decisiveness (after careful consideration of options)

18. What are the top 7 technical skills that entry-level SBCC enthusiasts should strive to horn?

• Critical analysis skills (and I would also include ability to review the literature systematically)
• Communication (for different audiences)
• Evaluation
• Research (appreciation for different methods and the use of mixed methods even if you end up doing more quantitative or qualitative research)
• Relationship building
• Policy and advocacy
• Working in interdisciplinary, inter-professional teams

19. Considering all the people you have met in your line of work, what personal attributes are essential for success?

• Grace under pressure
• Creative leadership and supportive mentorship
• People who share their time and wisdom

20. What's the best advice you can give to help plan a career rather than simply work to keep a job?

Set personal goals, revisit them, talk to others about them so that you don’t lose sight of your own aspirations.

21. What has been your most rewarding accomplishment?

I’ve been privileged to receive several awards but my most recent rewarding accomplishment is completing my PhD (while working full-time and raising a family)

22. What developments in the horizon could affect future career opportunities in this field?

• Technology – how it’s accessed and how people use it.
• Economic growth and development approaches that are implemented at all cost … that is without safeguards for protecting the public’s health and people living in conditions of vulnerability.

23. Can you recommend a "must-read" book that will help us broaden our skills as working professionals or inspire us to reach my highest potential?

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot – great lessons about ethics, Mountains Beyond Mountains – inspirational account of the life of Paul Farmer.

24. As a communicator, if you could write a book on a social issue; what would it be and why?

I am passionate about healthy working conditions. There is a lot of rhetoric about just having a job but we need to do better as societies to promote healthy and dignified working conditions.

25. Which other SBCC maven would you recommend for this interview?

Sharmila Mhatre, IDRC

26. What's the most valuable question we should ask the next SBCC maven who is interviewed on this blog?

As a leader, how do encourage creative thinking in others?

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A TRIBUTE TO BRENDA KYEYUNE

We pay tribute to a young professional colleague Brenda Kyeyune. Brenda was tragically killed on Monday 20 April 2015 alongside her colleagues by a road side bomb which exploded near their minibus in Northeastern Somalia: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-32377965. 

She was a Ugandan Communication for Development (C4D) Specialist who worked with UNICEF in Somalia. She had previously worked with Marie Stopes Uganda and John Hopkins University Centre for Communications Program - Health Communication Partnership.  

We had previously approached Brenda for an interview for this blog, which focuses on young social and behavior change communication professionals in Africa. She had gracefully accepted to contribute subject to her return from duty travel in Somalia. 

A multi-skilled public health communication professional who loved working with young people, she was committed to sharing knowledge and best practices in the field of public health/development communication, and she strongly believed in community empowerment, particularly in the ever-changing global environment. 

Brenda will be remembered for her passion and dedication to her work. She will be sorely missed by family, friends, colleagues and the individuals in the various communities she has contributed to improving their health and well-being in Eastern Africa. May she rest in peace.

CAREER GUIDANCE FROM SUCHI GAUR, SOCIAL AND BEHAVIOUR CHANGE COMMUNICATION PRACTITIONER BASED IN INDIA

Follow Suchi Gaur on twitter: @sg4devpt

1.     What qualities do you look for in the people you hang out with?

I have a variety of people around whom I interact with on regular basis. Coming from varied backgrounds they give me a different understanding of situations. On one hand while I am comfortable sitting and listening to stories, sharing viewpoints with community and village people, I equally enjoy my interactions with the educated audience. Everyone after all has a story to share. 

2.     What do you do?

Having completed my PhD in Community Radio and role of participation in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and United States, I have been as of today working with a Public Health Organization in India as the Communication & Knowledge Management Manager for Zoonotic diseases unit. I am responsible for not just behaviour change communication research and tool development but also engaging with the multiple partners and stakeholders who engage in research in the sector. Along with this, I write on a lot of online magazines and blogs to take my learnings from the field and ground on to the minds of the larger lot, in a more non-academic interesting format. 

3.     Why do you do what you do?

When I started working in the field of behaviour change communication, my aim was to try and facilitate betterment of as many people as possible in my life. Over the years and as maturity gained ground in me, I realized that behaviour change was more to do with realities and goals than to do with IEC material development. As a BCC practitioner, the satisfaction I gain from facilitating this participatory process of social change is immense.

Public Health is a critical component of human development. While my interest areas have been gender and ICT as well, through my work at this organization I am keen on creating participatory communication materials for behaviour change. Especially in an area as sensitive as public health and infectious diseases, creation of communication material for both the policy makers and the communities affected needs a lot of research based understanding of the issue. I am keen on engaging with communities and creating relevant and effective behaviour change material. 

4.     What values are you committed to?

To me as a BCC practitioner, there are few values and skills I find of utmost importance. Being a good listener, keen observer and research oriented communication developer comes of prime importance. What is also critical is the need to engage with your participants and community as all levels of communication development. They should be the drivers, and we as practitioners should be the facilitators of BCC. One has to be honest especially when dealing with such risk associated issues like Public Health. Knowing how large your impact can be, keeping the benefit of the community at top is very important. Reporting facts and designing BCC materials based on research and participation form critical components of BCC. I for once know that my role as a BCC person is promoting the right, scientifically-socially-humaly behaviour, which is often very controversial and needs lot of balancing act. 

5.     How many hours do you work in a typical week?

While on desk I work 10 hours a day, the mind is always on the lookout for developing deeper understanding into what works and what does not with BCC. New methods need time beyond office hours and I for one am a BCC practitioner 24X7. 

6.     What skills are required in your position on a day-to-day basis?

Not just balancing the multiple activities that come my way, at work I get to exercise my research skills, listening and communication with different level of team members, creative skills to engage more innovatively with the participants along with top level officials. On one hand while I have to go and talk as local and individual based on the other I get to showcase my deeper understanding of issues at a more donor-policy level. Not just qualitative and quantitative research understanding, linking data and stories, the ability to transform these into BCC products needs a lot of creative skills. What is also important is the ability to negotiate and network with larger and varied groups of people, because communication is the linking point and as a BCC practitioner you are the bridge between research and field. What are also critical are financial management skills. Leadership forms a major component of management job as well, especially while we engage with different kind of team members. 

7.     What is the background of most senior-level executives in your SBCC circles?

Mostly they are either Masters in Development Communication or Public Health along with PhDs. 

8.   What do you wish you knew at our stage? (IE: entry-level SBCC enthusiasts)

Well, I wish I knew how to manage financial details well. As a Development Communication student that I was years back, I didn’t deal with financial understanding of BCC much and that is where I found my work more challenging as a Manager. Communication and BCC form large chunks of financial budgets in policies and programmes, be government or non-governmental. And so, understanding the utilization is one of the first premise that should be taught to SBCC practitioners. 

9.   What is the best piece of professional advice you've ever received -- and used or implemented?

In one of my internships at a county in Michigan in 2008 I was told that I could immensely benefit from being a better listener. While that was the only critical remark on my evaluation, I took it very seriously. Having come down at this level today, I understand how my better listening skills have benefitted my work. As a Communication person, we often fail to listen and that is even if the most basic professional advice, it has helped me immensely in developing deeper understanding of issues, enhancing my work capacities as a SBCC professional. 

10.   If you could do it all over again, what would you do differently?

To be honest, NO. My understanding has changed over the years, grown and matured in my management of issues. I think everyone needs time to gain momentum in work and likewise, my trajectory is shaping up too. With no intention to be a sputter in a pan, I am glad that my daily learnings are helping me become a more sustainable professional, learning at every point. 

11.  What should keep entry-level SBCC enthusiasts up at night?

Not anxiety but surely curiosity. I see everything from a participation and BCC lens now and so, whenever I face a professional and personal situation, I try to use my learnings into it. For the entry-level SBCC enthusiasts, before one actually hops in and develops products and engages with community, readings-readings-readings along with ground understanding through visits and questions are a must. A SBCC enthusiast and professional should never shy away from field and travel. 

12.   What professional organizations are you associated with, and in what ways?

None.

13.   What used to be your biggest weakness?

That to me development and community local development is a very emotional issue. I feel connected to every human I interact with, which at times creates a bias. But over the years this has reduced. As I said, maturity in SBCC is critical and so, emotional disconnect at times becomes important. 

14.    What one thing do you still struggle with?

I think it’s a little to do with the way policy in development is failing to understand the value of SBCC. I still struggle with making people understand the immense need to invest in SBCC as government systems don’t find it important to provide inputs in BCC activities for enhancing development. 

15.     What are the top 7 technical skills that entry-level SBCC enthusiasts should strive to horn?

• Communication, 
• Motivation, 
• Discipline, 
• Commitment, 
• Persistence to fact finding, and 
• Engagement of all. 

16.    What's the best advice you can give to help plan a career rather than simply work to keep a job? 

Never be satisfied. Stay hungry for more action. 

17.  What factors do you consider most often when planning for the future?

I think it’s important to keep in mind the larger impact you are creating. If one is aware of this, planning becomes easier. 

18.  What developments in the horizon could affect future career opportunities in this field?

Governments and other systems have slowly come to realize how important it is to engage with communities for their benefit and not follow a top-down approach. In such a situation, more research based development defining the value of communication in social change will help. 

19.  Can you recommend a "must-read" book that will help us broaden our skills as working professionals or inspire us to reach my highest potential? 

Half the Sky by Kristof and WuDunn is a must read for people like us. We need to understand how stories can change the world. 

20.  As a communicator, if you could write a book on a social issue; what would it be and why?

I think my book will be the real life examples and challenges I have found on ground through my work in the sector. Not only will it help understand the sector more from a ground level but also develop an understanding on the skills required at every level of functioning to enhance participation based BCC. 

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