RespectAbility is deeply grateful to Meagan Buren for curating and writing this document, as well as to Robert Goldstraw for editing it. Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi also was involved in all of the research.
All of this work was built on the efforts of our entire team. RespectAbility is a nonprofit organization that relies upon a strong team of boards, staff and supporters to move our work forward. In particular, we thank our funders and full boards, staff and Fellows:
Our Boards: Steve Bartlett (Chairman), Linda Burger (Treasurer), Vivian Bass (Vice-Chair), Olegario Cantos VII (Vice-Chair), Janet LaBreck (Vice-Chair), Randall Duchesneau (Secretary), Shelley Cohen (Co-Founder), Calvin Harris (Chair Emeritus), Khadija Bari, Christine Cadena, Stephen Chbosky, Eleanor Clift, Judith Creed, Sneha Dave, Ila Eckhoff, Andrew Egan, Gabrielle Einstein-Sim, Janie Jeffers, Evelyn Kelley, Paul Martin, Donna Meltzer, Jonathan Murray, Jaime H. Pacheco-Orozco, Richard Phillips, Jr., Victor Pineda, Vincenzo Piscopo, Gerard Robinson, Jim Sinocchi and Delbert Whetter.
Our Board Emeritus: Heidi Daroff, Rick Guidotti, Neil Jacobson, Dana Marlowe, Aaron Orlofsky, Robert Schwartz, Dee Soder, Thomas Sweitzer, Donna Walton and Donn Weinberg (Founding Chair Emeritus).
Our Staff: Franklin Anderson, Lauren Appelbaum, Eric Ascher, Ian Cherutich, Debbie Fink, Philip Kahn-Pauli, Matan Koch, Tonya Koslo, Vanni Le, Tatiana Lee, Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, Ben Spangenberg and Joshua Steinberg.
Our Advisors and Consultants: Nasreen Alkhateeb, Ariella Barker, Cathy Bolinger, CliftonLarsonAllen, LLP, Meagan Buren, Erin Dotson, Stan Goldman, Stan Greenberg, Nicole Homerin, Shea Mirzai, Lupe Ramos-Silva, Leah Romond, Robert Tombosky, James Trout and Donna Walton.
We also want to extend a special thank you to our Winter 2020 / Spring 2021 cohort of National Leadership Program Fellows: Chinyere Azike, Autumn Blalock, Zoltan Boka, Nebiyu Dingetu, KiAnna Dorsey, Tyler Hoog, Alex Howard, Courtney Hyde, Ian Malesiewski, Ava Xiao-Lin Rigelhaupt, Roque Renteria, Benjamin Rosloff, Donjeta Sahiti, Stephanie Santo, Jake Stimell and Blair Webb.
RespectAbility is able to accomplish everything we have detailed in this report due to our donors both large and small. If you would like to contribute, please visit www.RespectAbility.org/Donate.
Major financial support for RespectAbility’s work was provided by several generous funders, which are listed on our website: https://www.respectability.org/2020-report/appendix-a-our-funders.
Meagan Buren
Meagan Buren, President of Buren Research and Communications, LLC, has a deep background in public opinion research, strategy, coaching and press relations, which is critical to helping clients achieve their goals. She is focused on client-facing messaging and communication challenges while they work to achieve their goals, better themselves, their communities and world.
Previously she served as Senior Project Director for Luntz Global, a leader in corporate, political and nonprofit public opinion research. There she led public opinion research to help shape the narrative and communications strategies for numerous Fortune 500 companies as well as nonprofit clients.
Prior to joining Luntz Global, Buren worked for The Israel Project (TIP) almost from its inception. For TIP she managed focus groups, polling, dial testing, grassroots training, and media outreach in the U.S., Europe, Russia and the Arab world. Buren conducted interactive language and media training sessions for ambassadors, top-ranking public officials, professionals and leaders key to impacting Middle East security and peace. She initiated and led media tours of Middle East experts worldwide, including at two cycles of the Republican National Convention, Democratic National Convention and presidential primary and debate seasons. She has been interviewed on national and international television and radio and is gifted in strategic communications.
Buren holds a master’s in Communications, Culture and Technology from Georgetown University, a B.A. in International Studies specifying in the Middle East, and a B.A. in Hebrew from The Ohio State University where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa. She is a member of the Columbus 11 class of the Wexner Heritage Program.
View PPT of slides with additional data used in this report: https://www.respectability.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Slides-Positive-Messaging.pptx.
