Fostering Strategies

Fostering Strategies is a Social Impact Digital Communications Firm. We take digital brands to new levels. We offer digital services for organizations looking to expand their digital footprints. Whether it be social media strategy, brand and logo design, website creation, or all of the above, we can work with your organization to foster your brand’s online presence into its fullest and most unique potential.

The Violence Interrupters Guide to Social Media
The Violence Interrupters Guide to Social Media is a comprehensive course designed to empower individuals and organizations with the knowledge and skills needed to leverage social media effectively in the fight against violence and injustice. Through a series of modules, participants learn how to strategically use emerging social media platforms to raise awareness, build community, and drive action. The course covers topics such as crafting compelling content for IG and Tik Tok, utilizing storytelling to change hearts and minds, and media literacy to defuse negative trends. With practical insights and real-world examples, participants gain the tools and confidence to harness the power of social media as a tool for positive change in their communities.

Sessions will be offered multiple times throughout the year. Each session will cover all the below topics:

Don’t Make ads, Make Tik Toks: Everything you need to Succeed on Emerging Platforms

Breakdown of the history of social media from Myspace to Tik Tok. Next is a deep dive audit of successful content creators and social impact campaigns. Closing with the media literacy skills to maneuver Tik Tok through a critical lens.
DO’s and Don’ts for getting the right shot. Filming best practices, tripods, mics, and interview questions. Class participants are assigned video creation homework.
A deep dive into the basics of CapCut for video editing, Chat GPT for content writing, and how to find Tik Tok trends to reach wider audiences. Class participants are assigned video creation homework.
Time to make content. Class participants are assigned video creation homework.
Deep dive into setting up a video shoot, recording a shoot, tools for remixing and DJing content.

Storytelling 101: Utilizing Your Story for Change

Training on empathy titled: Empathy as Power: How Words can Impact Our Communities. Closes with a workshop on how campaigns and brands have utilized storytelling to pass bills and budgets.
Media 101 training focused on crafting your story for narrative change. How to tell your story in 30 seconds or 30 minutes.
An audit of content creators who have utilized their stories to create change and how we can emulate their work.
Script writing. The science of creating successful video scripts.

Courses

The Violence Interrupters Guide to Social Media: May 4th

This course is virtual and a Zoom link will be provided to those who register.

Each session will cover all the topics noted above.

Date & Time:

Time & Location: TBD

The Violence Interrupters Guide to Social Media: May 20th

This course is virtual and a Zoom link will be provided to those who register.

Each session will cover all the topics noted above.

Date & Time:

May 20, 2:00pm-4:00pm

The Violence Interrupters Guide to Social Media: June 8th

This course is virtual and a Zoom link will be provided to those who register.

Each session will cover all the topics noted above.

Date & Time:

June 8, 2pm-4pm

Instructor: Kenny Foster

For Kenny, history is always present, his ancestors always somehow alongside him. He got this from his parents. Kenny’s father, a Black man, grew up in the Jim Crow South, and can still remember hearing about the murder of Emmett Till, just a few towns over.

Kenny’s mother grew up in El Salvador, and had to flee when a brutal civil war destabilized the country. From these experiences, Kenny drew some clear conclusions: Too often, the systems we build fail to keep people safe; sometimes, in fact, they actively harm people.

Thus his path was laid out: he would pursue a life of social justice, rooting his life in the struggle for freedom, equality, and safety.

At San Francisco State University, he grasped the transformative power of social media to amplify marginalized voices.

His work to amplify the voices of previously incarcerated folks led to the development of his own digital communications firm.

Now steering the digital ship at REFORM Alliance, Kenny, stands proudest of the Social Media Fellowship he leads for justice impacted individuals.

Instructor: Dominic Reed

For as long as I can remember, I've always had a desire to help others. Growing up, my dad owned and operated a small business in San Francisco that he unfortunately had to close after 20 years. Seeing that hurt me. Although I was too young to do anything about it at the time, I held with me this desire to make sure that others didn't have to face the same harsh reality. This led me to pursue a business & marketing degree from San Francisco State University and then a career in marketing. My thoughts were (and still are) that if I can help bolster the great work that so many businesses do then maybe I can help them not only survive but reach the next level.

Today, I'm blessed to have the opportunity to work with small business, nonprofit organizations, social justice leaders, and community members doing impactful work across the country. Through the power of social media and digital communications, I've been able to help the people I work with reach new audiences, thereby furthering their causes.