CADAL pursues new and better ways of communication

During the last week of January 2020 CADAL president Sybil Rhodes represented the organization in a delegation that toured three US cities to learn about “Innovative Approaches in Outreach and Communication for Think Tanks”. Her participation was sponsored by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS) via its regional program, the Alianzas para el Desarrollo y la Democracia con América Latina (ADELA). She and her fellow delegates, who represented organizations from Brazil, Chile, Guatemala, Ecuador, Panama, and Peru, visited New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC.

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In New York, the main focus was on think tanks’ engagement with the United Nations, specifically, “The Role of Think Tanks in Latin America to promote, realize and communicate the Goals of the Agenda 2030”.  The delegation visited the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the Executive Office of the UN Secretary General, the UN Department of Political and Peace Affairs, the UN Department of Peace Operations, the Representatives of several Latin American countries, UNICEF, UN Women, the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, and the Department of Global Communication. The group also met with New York-based representatives of the American Jewish Committee and the Council of the Americas & Americas Society.

During a short visit in Philadelphia the delegates discussed the history and current role of think tanks in politics with Dr. Jim McGann, Director of the Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program of the University of Pennsylvania.

In Washington, DC, they met representatives in the KAS office, the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies, the Atlantic Council, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Pew Research Center, the Center for American Progress, the International Republican Institute, and the National Democratic Institute.

Rhodes presented some of the highlights and takeaways of the trip to members of the board and staff at CADAL during a meeting in February. In particular, she noted that it is worth exploring new possibilities of engagement with the United Nations via the Office of Global Communication. Also, CADAL is responding to many of the same challenges in communications and funding that the leading US think tanks face, and can learn from some of the strategies they are employing, such as the innovation uses of the podcast format. Finally, Rhodes noted that several of her fellow delegates and their respective organizations share concerns about democracy and human rights issues of interest to CADAL. It will be important to seize momentum from the trip to build new partnerships and strengthen existing ones.

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