Social Media and Communications Advocacy at Lift Louisiana
by Sophia Marasco
For the 2022 Fall Semester, I had the privilege of working for Lift Louisiana’s communications team which is tasked with implementing a communications strategy in line with Lift’s mission of educating, advocating, and litigating to improve the health and well-being of Louisiana women, trans and non-binary people, their families and their communities. My job this semester was being responsible for three posts weekly.
A normal day in my position consisted of first looking around for content to post. I found that I often used local, state, and national news outlets to create content for my posts because, given all the changes that have occurred since Dobbs, there was a lot of content that I could use to create posts. One of the things that I didn’t realize I would get out of this internship was being up-to-date on all things reproductive news. This new set of knowledge about what is going on day to day in New Orleans, Louisiana, and the United States has served me well in daily conversations and my Public Health and Political Science studies.
I also enjoyed being included in Lift’s weekly staff meetings. As this has been my first professional experience, getting a glimpse into what working in a non-profit is like has been a valuable experience. Furthermore, this internship introduced me to learning how to use a content tracker to monitor the success of Instagram posts. Because I will be continuing to work with Lift next semester, I want to utilize the content tracker to play with posting at different times, using different hashtags, and utilizing more Instagram reels to increase engagement. I also am looking forward to moving beyond Instagram to increase Lift’s presence on TikTok and implement some series of posts that will make Lift’s content more comprehensive. Lastly, I intend to learn more about Lift’s strategic action plan for the new year so that all social media content is related to Lift’s specific goals.
I am grateful that Lift has asked me to continue working for them next semester, and I am excited to continue improving my social media skills and being an active member in supporting a non-profit that does vital reproductive justice work, specifically in the legislature.