CAREER GUIDANCE FROM ROBYN KALDA, SOCIAL AND BEHAVIOUR CHANGE COMMUNICATION PRACTITIONER BASED IN TORONTO, CANADA

Email Robyn at  r.kalda@healthnexus.ca
 

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

I’m an introvert so I look for people who like to talk but who also don’t mind being quiet.

 

2. What do you do?

I’m a technology specialist in health promotion, so I spend time looking at ways we can use, share, and store health promotion information and get it into the hands of the right people at the right time, and I also spend time following what’s happening in the world of technology and helping interpret that for health promoters. I do a fair bit of social network mapping and analysis, and I also coordinate our weekly news bulletin.

 

3. Why do you do what you do?

Health promotion looks at the causes of the causes – working at the level of the social determinants of health could accomplish such enormous changes in society, and I like to support that work.

 

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

I had no idea where I’d end up! My undergraduate degree is in Zoology and Human Biology and my Master’s is in Environmental Studies, which sounds odd. But I learned algorhythmic thinking from my first degree and thinking from many perspectives from my second, so actually it all gets used.

 

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

35 hours. I try not to work overtime.

 

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

Communication, flexibility, various and fairly random technical bits and pieces.

 

7. What do you wish you knew at our stage? (IE: Entry-level SBCC practitioners)

How long behaviour change efforts can take. Sometimes it’s a slow process. On the other hand, after, say, 30 years of tobacco-control efforts, things seem to be snowballing, so perhaps it’s a matter of being patient until the tipping point is reached.

 

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

I’m a huge fan of “pilot projects” in which you go ahead and try something without dotting all the I’s and crossing all the t’s first. It lets you suss out quickly whether something is likely a “go” or “no-go” – then you can either abandon it easily or carry on with the i-dotting and t-crossing.

 

9. What one thing do you still struggle with?

My French! Anyone outside North America will laugh, I’m sure, at the thought of anyone only speaking one language decently. I’m working on improving my French.

 

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

An ability to stay calm and reprioritize things on the fly.

 

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

1. Listening. So often we formulate an answer to someone while they’re still talking instead of deep listening.
2. Fearlessness about technology. You don’t have to know everything, but you have to be comfortable tinkering.
3. Along similar lines, a spirit of experimentation and of learning as you go. Try stuff! If it doesn’t work, figure out what you learned and try something else!
4. Basic HTML, of course, because it makes so many other things easier.
5. Development of a broad information scan, probably using a good RSS reader with a nice variety of sources on various technology issues and other issues of topical or local interest.
6. How to think from someone else’s perspective. 

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

Look for opportunities to do things that make you uncomfortable. You’ll learn things, you might be good at whatever it is, and you never know where it will lead!

 

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

One quite recent read that I liked and reviewed:

 http://en.healthnexus.ca/news/book-review-connecting-change-world-harnessing-power-networks-social-impact-peter-plastrik

14. As a communicator, if you could write a book on a social issue; what would it be and why?
I’m an environmentalist at heart, so it would be on that. Without a healthy planet, we can’t be healthy either.

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CAREER GUIDANCE FROM MONICA CURCA, SOCIAL AND BEHAVIOUR CHANGE COMMUNICATION PRACTITIONER BASED IN LOS ANGELES, USA

Follow Monica on Twitter: [ @MonicaCurcaPAX ]

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

 I look for someone with passion, curiosity and open mindedness. 

 

2. What do you do?

I am a peace-builder and communications specialist. I am currently working as the Communications Manager and Restorative Justice Community Organizer for a local community-based NGO, in addition I am a consultant for peace-building and social impact organizations helping them with strategic communications, experiential learning and peace-building.

3. Why do you do what you do?

I have a passion to help tell the story of those that have not been heard, I want to augment and amplify those voices. Mostly I do the work I do to shift the dominant narrative towards peace.  

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

I take everyday as it comes - more recently I have been envisioning where I want to “end up” I think it's better to prepare yourself and make yourself available but always be ready for what might be.  

5. What values are you committed to?

I am committed to community, peace, justice, compassion

 

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

50-60 hours

 

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

Technical: Design, media strategy, writing, editing photography among others. 

8. Are there any negatives to your job?

If you want to go far ahead of the people you serve you might lose them. Innovation is great but not everyone is there yet. 

9. What do you wish you knew at our stage? (IE: Entry-level SBCC practitioners)

That you need to bring SBCC into every space. It's an organizing and strategic planning model as much as it is a communications strategy. It is useful in all areas. 

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

"If you wanted applause you should have joined the circus"… it keeps you grounded

 

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

Every experience makes us who we are.  I would however worked harder to remember that I have something valuable to contribute and advocate for myself even when it felt like the tide was against me. 

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

The big issues and problems that we can solve. 

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

I focus on SBCC for Peace and International Development and thus I am connected with peacebuilder organizations like the Alliance for Peacebuilding. However, I found WACC to have great information. I am also part of social marketing associations.

 

14. What mistakes have you made?

I let others define who I was.

 

15. What one thing do you still struggle with?

The saying “the first revolution is internal” is very relevant. We must first strive to transform ourselves and our outlook before and during this type of work … sometimes I fail at this. 

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

Humble leadership, I respect people who keep their eye on the prize and are not easily bought and sold. 

 

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

•  Analysis,
• Asking the right questions,
• Research and understanding context,
• Strategic priority,
• Excavating positive deviance,
• Collaboration,
• Having a clear vision of the outcome and working to get there.

18. Considering all the people you have met in your line of work, what personal attributes are essential for success?
Kindness and perseverance -- as they say, people may not remember what you did for them, but they will remember how you made them feel.

 

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

Don't give up.

20. What has been your most rewarding accomplishment?

 I have rediscovered my calling and vision for my work … this positive energy has propelled me into some great successes. Myself along with coalition partners across California just won a bill that became a Law which requires police to document who they stop. This law will curb racial profiling. This sort of ecological model systems change required all sorts of behavioral change, attitude change and shifting of beliefs as knowledge increased. It was a great accomplishment for us as it will literally affect millions of people and curb racial profiling by law enforcement for communities of color in California. 

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

We need to find ways to include and enhance SBCC into every field. 

 

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CAREER GUIDANCE FROM MICHAEL D'ANTUONO, SOCIAL AND BEHAVIOUR CHANGE COMMUNICATION PRACTITIONER BASED IN NEW YORK, USA

Follow Michael on Twitter: [ @ArtAndResponse ]

1. What qualities do you look for in the people you hang out with?
 
Integrity and a good sense of humor.

2. What do you do?

I make paintings that challenge people to think more objectively about socio-political issues.

3. Why do you do what you do?

As an ex-adman, I recognize how the masses have been manipulated to misplace blame and vote against their own best interests by being bombarded with a lot of misinformation. I use my artistic talents to spur discourse and inspire a people to question the messages they are sold.

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

I had no idea, and that’s what makes it exciting.

5. What values are you committed to?

I’ve always been a bit obsessive about justice. I have zero tolerance for hypocrisy and excessive greed.

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

I never have the time to count them.

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

As an artist, my required skill is to visually communicate my message. The other skills are to be able to get my message seen by as many people as possible through promotion.

8. Are there any negatives to your job?

The pay is not very good.

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

I would have started a few years earlier. I began this career at 53.

10. What should keep entry-level SBCC enthusiasts up at night?
Thinking about all the things they want to accomplish tomorrow.

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

My work is controversial, so even though they privately praise me, large organizations are generally too afraid to associate themselves with me in fear of offending potential donors. The California Endowment’s Son’s & Brothers were brave enough to sponsor some stickers of one of my paintings.

12. What mistakes have you made?

Waiting too long for people to live up to their commitments. Although you can generally accomplish more with the help of others, in my experience, it’s been more expedient to take control myself rather than wait for help that doesn’t come.

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

Integrity. It doesn’t matter how intelligent or talented a person is if their heart isn’t in the right place.

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

Perseverance. There is no substitute.

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

Envision a long term plan with specific goals and then be flexible enough to deviate from that plan.

16. What has been your most rewarding accomplishment?

I am fortunate that some of my paintings have received enough attention to direct the conversation on institutional racism and other issues. Art can’t change the world, but it can spark discourse, and that can be the start of positive change.

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

I’m currently writing a children’s book based on my video, “Dear Mr. 1%” about corporate greed. [ Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYtJW0J7rNM ] Whatever the issue, it’s best to instill information to the young in an entertaining way if possible, for that will be engrained in their hearts and minds for years to come.

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

If you had contacted me a couple of years earlier, I would have referred you to my old friend, Pete Seeger. Short of Nelson Mandela, there never was a more dedicated SBCC maven in our lifetime. I recommend you research him.

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

Maybe, “What has your experience in SBCC taught you?”

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