RISE Framework
Most strategic communications frameworks ask: what’s the message, who’s the audience, what’s the channel?
My approach, as captured in the RISE Framework, stems from years of working at the intersection of communication, health systems, and the communities they serve. It’s an equity lens applied before strategy and sustained through implementation and evaluation.
Root
Who is left out of this narrative and why?
Before strategy, before messaging, before anything else: ground the work in context and power.
Root asks us to name who bears the burden of the problem we’re trying to solve, and to examine what structural forces keep them out of the room where decisions are made.
‣ Map who are affected by the problem
‣ Identify power dynamics shaping the current narrative
‣ Ask whose knowledge counts and whose doesn’t?
Integrate
How do we center those who have been pushed to the margins?
Integrate works on two levels simultaneously. In communications, it means centering the stories of people most affected by inequities. In health systems, it means connecting what has been siloed: sectors, services, stakeholders, and sources of knowledge.
‣ Center marginalized voices in stories
‣ Bridge siloed sectors to avoid fragmented responses
‣ Align technical evidence with human realities
Shift
How do we move people from awareness to action?
Information alone doesn’t change systems. Shift is about meaningful engagement, meeting audiences where they are, in the formats and through the voices they already trust. When people feel heard and not just talked at, they stop waiting for change and start demanding it.
‣ Engage communities through trusted voices and channels
‣ Build trust before expecting behavior change
‣ Move from individual awareness to collective action
Evaluate
Did it work for the people it was supposed to serve?
Most evaluations stop at vanity metrics. Evaluate asks what actually changed, for whom, and at what cost. Whether it’s a communications campaign, a policy change, or a systems intervention, success isn’t measured by outputs. It’s measured by whether the right people were moved to act.
‣ Disaggregate outcomes by who benefits
‣ Measure shifts in trust and agency, not only awareness
‣ Feed findings back into Root — the cycle continues