This week, we’re talking with Ross von Metzke, Director of Communications & Public Relations at It Gets Better.

It all started more than a decade ago in 2010, when more than 70,000 people took to social media to share their stories and provide hope and encouragement to young LGBTQ+ people.

Today, It Gets Better is a non-profit that reaches millions of young people all over the world through inspiring media programming, educational resources, and more.

Ross is a communications and PR specialist with over 12 years experience working in the non-profit and multimedia space. He co-created and ran ITMFA, which raised more than $1 million for Planned Parenthood, ACLU and the International Refugee Assistance Project. We’ll let you look up ITMFA to see what those letters stand for. And Ross has been published in Newsweek, The LA Times, The Advocate, Entertainment Weekly, and even Seventeen magazine.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• How a non-profit like It Gets Better measures success, considering some of the recent anti-LGBTQ+ state measures and Pride month backlash
• That if allyship was meant to be easy, it wouldn't be so important. If you want to support the queer community, don’t bail at the first sign of controversy.
• About some of It Gets Better’s most successful campaigns, plus who they reached and why they worked
• Practical advice on how to reach the LGBTQ+ community in an authentic way

Brought to you by Mekanism.