Last month, the Columbia University School of Professional Studies M.S. in Strategic Communication (SCOM) program convened students, alumni, and industry leaders for its fourth annual Winter Symposium, a daylong event examining how communication strategies can mobilize collective action and advance social and political change. The symposium brought together scholars and practitioners to explore how narratives, leadership, digital platforms, and creativity shape modern movements.
Opening remarks framed the symposium around the role communicators play in strengthening democratic participation and bridging academic insight with real-world impact. Speakers highlighted examples such as the communication campaign led by Ashley All (’23SPS) surrounding the 2022 Kansas vote to protect the right to choose as evidence of how strategic messaging can support civic engagement. Emphasizing the urgency of the moment, SCOM Program Director Kristine Billmyer noted, “Now more loudly than ever is the clarion call to action, and we are heeding it.”
Deputy Program Director Jesse Scinto echoed this sentiment, reminding attendees that “challenging the status quo takes commitment, courage, imagination, and above all, dedication to learning.” Together, the opening remarks underscored the symposium’s central theme: communicators play a critical role in prioritizing democratic participation, cultivating leadership structures, and shaping narratives that create new possibilities for collective action.
SCOM Symposium - Opening Remarks and Keynote
The keynote address by Dana R. Fisher, professor at American University, examined collective action through the lens of social movement research and civic participation. Fisher discussed how mass mobilization can confront entrenched interests, build resilience, and drive meaningful change across multiple simultaneous crises—from climate challenges to democratic instability. Drawing on widely accepted definitions, she described collective action as coordinated efforts by groups working toward a shared vision with the potential to influence policy at local, national, and international levels.
Fisher emphasized that successful activism often blends direct tactics, such as personal behavioral change, with indirect strategies that pressure institutions and markets, arguing that the interaction of these approaches produces lasting social impact. She also outlined factors shaping the outcomes of activism, including organizational structure, targets, tactics, and evaluation processes. By examining patterns of civic participation and protest in the contemporary United States, the keynote highlighted how civil society continues to mobilize through various channels, including community networks, advocacy outreach, and formal organizations.
A media strategy panel titled Building Online Movements expanded the conversation by focusing on digital environments as sites of mobilization. Featuring Jeremy Heimans, cofounder and chairman of Purpose and coauthor of New Power; digital strategist Gabriella Zutrau; and strategist and investor Taufiq Rahim, the discussion addressed how networked communication both enables and constrains collective action today.
Panelists reflected on how platforms powered movements such as #MeToo, the Arab Spring, and Black Lives Matter, while noting that the digital landscape has shifted since then. Heimans pointed to algorithmic changes, reduced content moderation, and increasingly cluttered information ecosystems as challenges that make it harder for movements to gain traction. Speakers emphasized that communicators must adapt by experimenting with new strategies and recognizing that digital participation functions within a broader ecosystem.
Zutrau highlighted parallels between campaign communications and movement organizing, describing the marketing funnel as a conceptual counterpart to an organizing “ladder of engagement.” Rahim stressed that online mobilization must extend beyond symbolic participation, noting that digital spaces can generate momentum and legitimacy but require tangible calls to action—such as volunteer organizing—to translate energy into outcomes.
Across the discussion, panelists underscored both the opportunities and limitations of contemporary tools. Social media platforms encourage emotional hooks, humor, and experimentation, while emerging technologies reshape relationships between users and information systems. Yet participants emphasized that authentic engagement and offline action remain essential, reinforcing the symposium’s overarching message that communication strategy operates across interconnected channels and communities.
SCOM Symposium - Panel Discussion
Throughout the day, additional sessions and workshops explored leadership development, storytelling and narrative design, creative approaches to consciousness-raising, and student presentations showcasing applied strategic communication projects. Together, these conversations reinforced the symposium’s goal of connecting theory and practice while preparing participants to navigate complex social and media environments.
By hearing from voices in academia, industry, and advocacy, attendees of this year’s Strategic Communication Winter Symposium left with the analytical tools, ethical grounding, and creative leadership skills needed to address evolving global challenges through strategic communication.
About the Program
Columbia University's M.S. in Strategic Communication program empowers current and aspiring leaders to shape the future through strategic communication. It is designed to respond to the urgent need for global perspectives, critical thinking, and ethical decision-making at all levels of organization. The interdisciplinary curriculum emphasizes audience-centered strategy and digital competency. Distinguished scholar-practitioner faculty bring real-world experience into the classroom and provide a learning experience that is immediately relevant in the workplace.
The program is available full-time on campus or part-time online with residencies. The part-time format is ideal for experienced full-time professionals based in or outside the New York metropolitan area. Learn more about the program here.