Meeting the Moment: How to Own Your Message & Build Proactive and Reactive Media Strategies
Our Women In Power 2025 closeout confirmed what we already knew: safety and sustainability are not “nice to do’s,” they’re governance infrastructure. When women in power have space to regulate, plan, and be honest about the external and internal risks to them, it is empowering. They are re-energized to govern more boldly, protect their people more effectively, and move transformative change faster.
In October 2025, we held an incredible Alumni Only session with the Vera Institute of Justice’s Insha Rahman and Media Strategist/Political Commentator Ashley Etienne on “The Weaponization of Crime & Immigration: How to Own Your Message & Build Proactive and Reactive Media Strategies,” on messaging around National Guard and ICE deployments.
In this session, Insha and Ashley unpacked how these crisis frames get manufactured, why they erode democratic governance, and how leaders can meet the moment without mirroring militarized rhetoric. They offered concrete ways to talk about real safety rooted in community trust, accountability, and effective local solutions, while naming the harm these theatrics inflict on immigrant families and communities of color.
Key Takeaways for Messaging:
Name the play; reject the trap. Call out fear tactics and the false choice between safety and rights.
Lead with real safety. Center what actually reduces harm: survivor services, youth jobs, mental health care, violence interruption, housing stability.
Clarify roles and jurisdiction. Explain what local government can do—and why outsourcing safety to military or federal immigration forces weakens accountability.
Offer a better plan. Pair values with specifics: more trained crisis responders, targeted patrols where data supports it, stronger reentry supports, multilingual victim services.
Don’t amplify the frame. Avoid repeating inflammatory slogans; pivot to your plan and the outcomes your community cares about.
Some language you can adapt:
“People deserve to feel and be safe. Deploying military or immigration forces into local neighborhoods is political theater that makes families less safe and government less accountable. Our plan focuses on what works: trained crisis responders, survivor support, youth opportunity, and partnerships that reduce harm and build trust—so everyone can get home safe.”
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