Communications: Captivating, Compelling Content Helps Drive NWAC Messages| Native Women's Association of Canada (NWAC)

Communications: Captivating, Compelling Content Helps Drive NWAC Messages

Posted:
May 29, 2023

Throughout the months of April and May, the communications team has been repackaging complex, lengthy projects from various departments, down to easily digestible, concise, attention-grabbing, conversation-starting materials for social media and marketing purposes. At the same time, we have executed multiple innovative campaigns, while still driving NWAC’s advocacy efforts for Indigenous Women, Girls, Two-Spirit, Transgender, and Gender-Diverse+ (WG2STGD+) Peoples’ rights, equality, and inclusion.

NWAC’s communications efforts over the past couple of months have helped to raise awareness of mental health and addictions, inclusion, and equality, and to call upon the government to rectify wrongdoings and end the genocide against Indigenous WG2STGD+ Peoples.

On May 15, we published our latest edition of Kci-Niwesq, which gave the perspective of Indigenous Peoples living with disabilities. This special edition, which was published during Indigenous Disabilities Awareness Week, also explored how colonization has had a detrimental impact on Indigenous WG2STGD+ Peoples living with disabilities.

On Bear Witness Day, on May 10, we issued a press release in remembrance of Jordan River Anderson. We recognised the extraordinary impact his short life has had on Indigenous Peoples with the implementation of Jordan’s Principle. This order of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal was implemented to relieve “inequalities preventing Indigenous children, and their families, from accessing the products, services, and supports they need, when they need them.” The statement was also issued in French.

During Mental Health Week, which ran from May 3 to 9, Carol McBride, NWAC President, released a statement on May 8 “demanding” that the “federal government and provincial governments take swift action in response to an escalating mental health and addictions crisis.” The statement was also released in French.

Leading up to Red Dress Day, on May 5, we released this invitation (also in French) on May 2, encouraging members of the public to join us in raising awareness for the prevention of violence against Indigenous WG2STGD+ Peoples.

On April 5, NWAC issued a press release (available in French here) in response to another Indigenous woman’s remains discovered at a Winnipeg landfill site. We called upon the Government of Canada to “take swift action to end the genocide” against MMIWG2S+ Peoples.

On April 14, NWAC supported and participated in the National Day of Silence. This initiative raises awareness of how Indigenous 2SLGBTQQAI+ youth are suppressed and silenced every day. As an act of support, NWAC remained silent on our social media platforms for the day. We also reminded our audiences of the importance of listening to youth and creating safe and inclusive spaces where they can thrive.

NWAC took part in Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) Awareness Week in April. During this campaign, our communications team promoted NWAC’s sexually transmitted and bloodborne infections (STBBI) fact sheets. Through social media messaging, we urged people to visit our culturally safe and trauma-informed knowledge hub.

On Earth Day, we collaborated with Project Forest to share Indigenous Knowledge about plant medicines, trees, the land, and climate change. The campaign generated over 500 comments, likes, shares, and follows. In partnership with Project Forest, NWAC ran a free Facebook Live webinar on how to plant trees and why caring for the land is so important.

NWAC CEO Lynne Groulx and other NWAC delegates attended the 22nd United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) in New York to promote Indigenous WG2STGD+ Peoples’ rights internationally. Compelling branding materials and information were developed to help us promote these key points across our social media platforms with.

Our "Change the Bill" campaign continued into April and was a top-performing topic on social media even with only six posts made during this period. These generated just under 30,000 impressions, and the campaign petition received 36,421 signatures, exceeding our 35,000 target.

Overall, the communications team produced captivating and compelling content for our social platforms. Interestingly, while the number of social media posts produced were significantly lower than in the February–March period, our performance was much higher. Our top-performing posts generated nearly 265,000 impressions, over 15,000 engagements, nearly 9,000 reactions, and over 2,000 shares in just nine of our top-performing community posts.

Be sure to follow us on socials to stay up to date on all of NWAC’s happenings and initiatives!

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and LinkTree, and be sure to subscribe to our magazine, Kci-Niwesq.