Missions to Movements
Missions to Movements is the nonprofit marketing and fundraising podcast that helps you grow recurring donors, scale monthly giving programs, and build digital campaigns that convert.
Hosted by Dana Snyder—speaker, strategist, and founder of Positive Equation—this show is packed with actionable nonprofit growth strategies, social media tips, and fundraising best practices.
Each week, you’ll hear how organizations are increasing donor retention, building thought leadership, and using digital fundraising to drive real impact. If you want to learn how to attract monthly donors, master nonprofit marketing, and transform your mission into a movement, this podcast is for you.
Missions to Movements
NAACP’s Bold Shift Toward Sustained Impact with Trovon Williams
What happens when a 115-year-old organization decides to reimagine EVERYTHING, from brand to fundraising model – in the wake of a global pandemic?
In this episode recorded live at SubSummit, I’m sitting down with keynote speaker Trovon Williams, SVP of Marketing & Comms at the NAACP, to unpack the organization's sweeping transformation.
Trovon shares how the NAACP leaned into the urgency of the moment to pivot its approach to advocacy, storytelling, and monthly giving.
You’ll hear why leading with solutions (not just problems) drives deeper emotional investment, how internal “inside baseball” campaigns are essential to getting leadership buy-in, and why being consistent (not performative!) is key to building successful partnerships and sustainable movements.
Resources & Links
Learn more about the NAACP on their website and YouTube channel.
Connect with Trovon Williams on LinkedIn.
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Let's Connect!
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Today's guest is someone who took the stage by storm at SubSummit. Subsummit is the largest subscription conference in the US and I was so excited to be there with about 20 plus nonprofits this year. We definitely made a prominent presence. I was so excited and the opening keynote wasn't by a Fortune 500 brand or a buzzy D2C direct-to-consumer company. It was the NAACP. And the man behind that powerful moment was Trevon Williams, SVP of Marketing and Communications, and I was so thrilled.
Speaker 1:Subsummit was part of the Monthly Giving Summit this past year and they heard Trevon speak and then they brought him to lead the keynote. How awesome is that. So this is a live conversation recorded at SubSummit. Trevon and I did a live podcast recording on site and he really shares the bold journey of the NAACP's brand rebirth, how this 115-year-old civil rights organization embraced transformation, really in the wake of a global pandemic, and leaned into innovation to meet the moment. So we get into everything from their really powerful campaign blend of DRTV and digital to the vital importance of monthly giving and how for-profit subscription models can and should collaborate more intentionally with nonprofits. So I love this conversation with Trevon. I think it's exactly what we all need to hear as we build sustainable movements.
Speaker 2:Leading with what you're helping to solve is something that we have found, or what the data has found, to be a rewarding opportunity for our subscription model in many cases. So, not beating people over the head with the the problem. Leading with what it is that you're gonna help us saw first empowers you and then, now that I've empowered you, I can say well then, I guess what this is what we're contending with. Well, now I've empowers you, now you're helping me to be a part of it, so I can now take you on the journey with me. It just takes on a a different level of investment If we lead with that. Lead with what you're helping us to solve, versus saying this is egregious, this is terrible, do?
Speaker 1:you see what's happening.
Speaker 2:I've made you feel more powerful. And not only do I make you feel more powerful in that moment. Now I'm telling you. Dana might say well, I want to. What else could I do that I feel more empowered? Right?
Speaker 1:Good morning everyone. We are very excited to have a live recording of Missions to Movements today. Trevon, I am so excited that you are number one here at SubSummit, the largest gathering of subscription businesses with nonprofits in the house growing recurring giving programs. Yesterday, during your keynote, you talked about really the NAACP's evolution in brand and how you really work as an organization due to the changes during the pandemic.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:How difficult was that transition internal growth process? Because I'm sure there are others where we recognize a change might need to happen, but it's not always easy to actually make the changes.
Speaker 2:Yeah, can you?
Speaker 1:explain a little bit about how that shift actually took place.
Speaker 2:So you know, I think it's in some cases and thank you so much for having me as well. You framed it perfectly, first and foremost Because what I think we learn very quickly is that that and I think I may mention to this yesterday is that as an organization we had to evolve Right. There was no doing it the way we've always done it, and sort of the gift in some respects from the pandemic was that doing things the way the organization had done so for over a century was just not going to cut it on behalf of the community. And so all of the what-ifs and I wonder if we could. We had to make those things real and we had to turn them into substantial opportunities for the community that we serve. And so there was no more think tanks and just say, okay, that's a cool idea, let's put it on the board, like, no, let's make these things real. We have a as I think we've talked about this before we have a very, very large board of about 66 members.
Speaker 1:I can't imagine.
Speaker 2:It's a beast, but in some respects I think what we benefited immensely from is from our leaderships sort of giving us the creative opportunity to just say we've got to try something, we've got to do something different, and the result of that was really us fostering a technology, a emphasis on technology and an emphasis on digital that we hadn't done previously. I came from I think you know this is what came from a marketing background in technology spaces as well. So in some cases it felt like, especially in the nonprofit space I think you could attest to this is that in some cases, nonprofits felt like they were way behind in sort of adopting some of the communications mechanisms. So for me it was like, well good, I get to turn on some of the bells and whistles that I'm more you know.
Speaker 1:Digital became important. It became very important. A priority and essential where it had not been before 100%, 100%.
Speaker 2:So we had to adapt, and I think our community let us know in real time that this is where we needed to be, and so we leaned into it and we continue to lean into it.
Speaker 1:Part two of this question. And we continue to lean into it. Part two of this question If the pandemic had not happened, do you think that there would have been a shift in all the amazing content and all the campaigns that you have focused on? Do you think it would have happened eventually? Just maybe not as quickly.
Speaker 2:I think it would have probably happened, but it probably would not have happened as quickly, I think. There we, like I said, I think we had to move, given some of the maneuvering and sort of the environment that we're sitting in. But to your point, there was, you know, there's no rush to do anything when there's no urgency behind it, and the pandemic forced our hand. I think there's a Martin Luther King quote talking about the fierce urgency of now, and so the pandemic provided us with that, the fierce urgency of now. We have to do something different. And so, no, I don't think we would have moved this quite as rapidly. I think we'd have probably gotten there, but it would have been a lot more inside baseball and sort of getting people adapted to what we were trying to do, versus us just being able to just kind of go and do it.
Speaker 1:So and you had this quote adversity births innovation. So for an organization that wants to move faster, there is no. I mean, I would say there is a sense of urgency right now, but they're not, let's just say they're not feeling it. How would you help somebody address and talk to leadership when they want to see movements happening, but there isn't a national pandemic necessarily that's happening to influence it?
Speaker 2:I can only speak for this from a marketing communication standpoint. I think some of the best marketers and creators are horrible at marketing and creating their own work internally Inside baseball is probably the hardest thing to do within communication space. And so how do we get the organization on board? Is there an internal campaign for some of these efforts to get the adoption necessary before we try to turn on all these bells and whistles? Educating your internal audience, getting your stakeholders on board for what it is that you're ultimately trying to do? On all these bells and whistles Educating your internal audience, getting your stakeholders on board for what it is that you're ultimately trying to do, showing them the data.
Speaker 2:I cannot stress this enough. Being able to tell the story data-wise is so key. Being able to sit with my leadership and explain to them what these numbers actually mean, what engagement actually results in, as I mentioned to you yesterday, that's being able to redefine what advocacy meant in a pandemic. Well, as I said before, it used to be signing a petition or going to a town hall or simply voting. I've reimagined that now in a pandemic where I can say you're retweeting or reposting. Now I'm redefining what advocacy looks like and so I've changed someone's mindset around what this looks like. But it took us doing a little bit of inside baseball and communications campaign work internally so that we can get the key stakeholders inside so that we can go do what we needed to do quickly.
Speaker 1:So good. So in the same sense for inside baseball, on sustainers.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:The importance of sustainers. Now we are literally at the subscription conference. How important, or was the emphasis on sustainers important before and or and? Or did it grow after and during the pandemic? Was there always an importance on having recurring support, or did that change and shift?
Speaker 2:I think it was always important. I think the mechanisms or how we went about sort of cultivating or starting that sort of changed We've always been. You know, nacp is a nonprofit organization. We're an advocacy organization, so we don't receive any federal funding, so all of our funding comes from donations from those who are willing to believe in the vision and mission of the organization itself, and so long-term sustainers of the organization is really how the organization has been able to sustain itself for over 100 years, and so it's always been a priority.
Speaker 2:How do you tell that story differently is something that we have to sit down and sort of wrap our heads around, and I sort of made mention to this yesterday. It's not the sexy part. Trying to figure out where we're trying to take someone, what the journey looks like it's not the sexy part in many cases. You know the campaign and ooh, we got cool pictures. That's cool. But mapping out a journey for your sustainers where do you take Dana after she subscribes, right, and what does her journey look like as far as getting her to maybe go from making a donation to becoming a member those are the things that people don't spend enough time on, and I think that's one of the things that we as an organization had to sit down and say if we want to get this actually right and store people so that they feel like this is not just a transaction but an investment and a commitment, we had to make that investment, and so it became that much more important as to how we went about it.
Speaker 1:Incredible. And so there's something that you another quote. You said people give to models where they see success stories Absolutely A lot of time. There's an emphasis on expressing our need, expressing the problem, expressing the issue. Come support us and there is impact. There's impact reports that go out, but I think, like yesterday we were talking about this in a group off to the side, like people want to be a part of a winning team, absolutely. I went to University of Central Florida and there was definitely a difference in our game watch parties when we were winning versus when we were losing.
Speaker 2:I can imagine, I can imagine.
Speaker 1:We went from like 250 people in a room to like 30 when we were losing. So how do you do this in messaging and communication to show you're a part of a winning solution that is making a difference consistently?
Speaker 2:So it's funny you say this. I was at a conference in Chicago two weeks ago on the Alliance Aspen Institute Alliance Trust Summit one-day summit and they were talking about building trust within our nation. National trust has waned over the last several years. It's probably as low as it's been in maybe I don't know 40, 50 years and so, but one of the things that you just said that was so key is they were talking about to the point around. Being a part of success is telling people what they're solving, before we start beating them over the head with the problem itself. Dana, don't you want to be a part of helping more people get a higher education and different things like that? I don't have to tell you around the fact that education is disproportionate within the community. I'm telling you that you can help foster higher education across the community. Don't you want to be a part of that? Regardless of what the problem is, that's something you want to be a part of.
Speaker 2:Leading with what you're helping to solve is something that we have found, or what the data has found, to be a rewarding opportunity for our subscription model in many cases. So not beating people over the head with the problem. Leading with what it is that you're going to help us solve first empowers you, and then, now that I've empowered you, I can say well, dana, guess what? This is what we're contending with. Well, now that I've empowered you, now you're helping me to be a part of it, so I can now take you on the journey with me. It just takes on a different level of investment, and what we found within some of our donor base itself is that if we lead with that, lead with what you're helping us to solve, versus saying this is egregious, this is terrible, do?
Speaker 1:you see, what's happening.
Speaker 2:I've made you feel more powerful. And not only do I make you feel more powerful in that moment, now I'm telling you well, dana might say well, I want to. What else could I do now that I feel more powerful in that moment?
Speaker 1:Now I'm telling you Dana might say well, I want to. What else could I do now?
Speaker 2:that I feel more empowered right. So it's a little bit switched. We're leading with the solution first and then letting you know as a result of you being a part of the solution. Now you're helping us to solve a problem and we found that that sort of measurable has helped us have the direct impact that we're looking for.
Speaker 1:Incredible. I love that and I think pause, rewind, listen back, figure out to the listeners how you can do this in your own organizations and literally have that be something. I think that's something really powerful to think about every time we're going through communication is sometimes we're working so fast on our website and our emails that like stop, pause.
Speaker 2:Yep.
Speaker 1:Let me read this through from the perspective of somebody not me who's reading it and does it express to your point what you just said. Is it giving them that? What feeling do I want it to evoke?
Speaker 2:Yeah, Like I mean, if we're checking the boxes, communicators, we're doing this wrong. We can't just say, OK, I sent the email out, We've got a discount, we got to get the word out around the discount Great. What do you want someone's feelings to be as they receive it? Right, If you're giving a discount on you know, internet access or something like that telling someone about the benefit of increased internet access or letting people know that you know more people are spending more time on their internet, you want to make sure that you have maximum. I have to leave with what this problem solves first before I leave. That sort of engagement makes it more of a dialogue versus a transaction of here's 25% off. Please, please, please, please, please, take advantage of this, because I really need the numbers.
Speaker 1:Okay, and I also wanted to speak to this in how you teach.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:On stages. Okay, I'm going to go real meta here. So we're at the event. You spoke yesterday. You had a keynote. You just said. You spoke a week, two weeks ago, in Chicago. You are traveling a lot. You are speaking on stages on behalf of the organization that raises awareness, that gets people on the website, that gets people following on social for nonprofit leaders that might have never maybe stepped on a stage or thought about doing thought leadership like you do. When did that part start in your career and how would you express to other leaders how to start doing that? Because I think I can just speak for myself. When I have started to virtually through webinars in person, the awareness Right Substantially grows.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:And interest, because not only are you in person and you're able to cultivate an audience that is looking at you for a 30, 40, 60 minute period of time. How did you start to build that?
Speaker 2:period of time. How did you start to build that? Well, I mean, I kind of cheated in some respect because I'm a church kid so I spent a whole lot of time in pulpits and stuff like that. So I had no choice then. And then also I did on stage. You know, I was an actor, so I was on stage doing stuff like that.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh, I did not know that about you, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I used to do, I used to do on stage stuff.
Speaker 1:Wait, wait, I got to just side note Plays, plays. Yeah, give me one play and a character.
Speaker 2:Oh, I mean they were all like I played Dante, some baby's mama or something like that back in the day. I'll send it to you all in the link later on, but I used to do this when I was in high school and college. Okay, A little side hustle to keep the lights on. But I used to do this when I was in high school and college Little side hustle to keep the lights on.
Speaker 1:I love it. I learn new things about you every time I'm with you.
Speaker 2:So I mean, being in front of the stage is not as challenging. But what I will say and I think your greater point is this One you have to just go do it. This is not something that you're going to perfect sitting on the sideline, Not so you have to. I think some of you all were with us yesterday when I just went up to the edge and leaned up. You're going to have to go do it. You just have to go lean up to the edge of the stage and figure it out from that standpoint, Because that's the only way to figure out where the gaps are. It doesn't matter how many stages I've been on. I'm going to go back and look at what I did. I'm going to say that sucked. I need to do that over. Oh, I should do more of that, but as a nonprofit or any in those spaces in particular, what story?
Speaker 1:are you?
Speaker 2:trying to tell, because if you find a conviction for that story, it becomes a lot easier to be able to resonate with an audience more appropriately. I'm not reading a slide anymore. The slide is a backdrop to what it is that I'm trying to articulate. It's just taking me on the journey. So what is the story you're ultimately trying to tell? I think too often we spend time with what's on the slide versus what do I, how do I want to land a plane and who's on the plane with?
Speaker 1:me when I get there right.
Speaker 2:So I would just urge anybody, figure out what kind of story you're trying to tell. Use opportunities, don't back out of them. Don't say no, let somebody else do it. No, take the opportunity to do it yourself. Because building the engagement I think I mean we've met doing these sorts of things right, doing these sorts of things right. Build the engagement, build the profile, because it's only going to be more optimized to your organization. When it's all said and done, people believe in. There's people who care about the NAACP because they care about Trevon, or they care about the NAACP because they've engaged with Trevon. The same can be said for any other organization.
Speaker 2:If you're doing a great job of profiling yourself or putting yourself in particular spaces. Now people are more willing to engage with your organization appropriately. So get right up to the edge. Try it. Fail fast. Try some stuff out, but make sure that you have the story that you have a conviction for, because it doesn't matter what's on the slides or what you're presenting to. You'll always be able to go back to that part.
Speaker 1:Yes, okay. So I want to break down an example. Sure, yesterday we're in a very unique space. Yeah, this is not a nonprofit conference by any means. What was your story? Intent, call to action. At the end of the presentation, what did you ideally want the audience to come away with, and hopefully do?
Speaker 2:So, more than anything else, I wanted to make sure the audience understood that we can embody both the emotions of an audience with a call to action. I don't have to be in a nonprofit space in order to invoke emotions and see my subscriber base as people, even as an organization who is built off of a membership base itself. It becomes very easy to tell an audience to sign a petition, contact your senator Okay, great. But that can run its course very, very quickly. How do I let them know that I see them as individuals? First, let me acknowledge you for who you are first, acknowledge where you are in this moment and then take you on this journey of what problem are we going to solve together? You don't have to do that in a non-profit space. You can do that with any organization, service, product, doesn't matter what that is. And then also figuring out what your profile looks like for your audience. Who are you trying to grow your audience into? I made mention today, yesterday, more than half of the black America is 32 years of age or younger.
Speaker 2:If that's the audience that I'm going after, then I have to be intentional about how I'm messaging to them and I have to build a plan commensurate with that and I have to block and tackle appropriately, right. And so I would urge any organization that map out what your target is. Who are you trying to go after? Who are you speaking to? Who are you speaking to? Yeah, and be intentional about how you're going about trying to acquire them as much as possible, because every acquisition sounds good but before you know it I mean, I said this a couple weeks ago if you keep trying to brand yourself in every place, you're not going to have a brand when it's all said and done. You can't keep recreating yourself over and over again who you are. Plant a flag, who are you going after, go after those people and then count the data, see where you land. Where it's all said and done, you can make adjustments on the back end, but you've got to have a plan first. That's right.
Speaker 1:So because we are here and we are in a room full of for-profit brands, vendors that service majority usually usually for-profit brands. In the discussions I've been having in the room, we are sitting live in an expo hall for those of you that are joining audibly later. From your perspective, how can these two sectors partner better together to more intentionally drive growth and progress?
Speaker 2:So that's a great question, and I think we've had this conversation with a lot of our partner organizations over the last few years who are for-profit organizations themselves. It's finding where there is an intersection point, whether it's mission-driven work itself or allyship, or where these organizations want to lean in and then being consistent in it. If there's opportunities where your organization is going to be found and you want to live there, stay there and live there. As I made mention to you yesterday, it can't be a campaign, it has to be a commitment. So if you want to partner with organizations within movement-based organizations, nonprofits and different things like that, make sure that your audience can expect you to show up in those spaces consistently, because the nonprofit space is going to see you in those spaces as well and that's going to build an awareness for them as well. And then vice versa, those who are in the for-profit space or customers may be wanting to. It's advantageous on both accounts.
Speaker 2:I say this all the time with the for-profit spaces that we work alongside, I want this to be equally beneficial on the other side. How is the NAACP helpful to the organizations that we're partnering with as well? I want you to see the benefit for partnering with us on the other side as well. So it has to be an intersection of an investment. Where can for-profit organizations find themselves? Where do they feel comfortable? I can't stress that enough in being consistent and then find organizations that you can work alongside so that your audience gets used to seeing you in those spaces. So it's not a surprise where you know, organization X pops up in supporting this area, because this is where they've been consistent over a period of time.
Speaker 1:Can you give us an example of one that your organization has been working with as an allyship for a while and how that kind of came to be?
Speaker 2:Sure American Red Cross is one that we've worked with. That's not a for-profit. Sorry, you said for-profit. In particular, ben Jerry's is one.
Speaker 1:I love it. Ben Jerry's is one.
Speaker 2:Great company.
Speaker 2:Ben Jerry's is one in particular, because they've had a very, very strong stance on certain issue areas that align with the NAACP standpoint in particular, and so they've been incredibly consistent in terms of showing up appropriately on behalf of our audience around social justice issues as well, and, as I mentioned to you yesterday, diversity is good for business, no matter where you are, and so our audience sees Ben and Jerry's and they see when we acknowledge Ben and Jerry's when they speak up for certain issues themselves, and because of that, well, now we're helping Ben and Jerry's as well as far as their market shares and different things of that sort as well, and so that's been a good example of one as well.
Speaker 2:There's probably several others that I'm not thinking of as well, but it's just, it's the consistency more than anything else, as long as I think from an NAACP standpoint, I think I'm fair in saying this as long as you're in an area that you're going to be consistent in, then that's what our audience is looking for. I can find you in a place over a period of time Great, wonderful. We know where to find you.
Speaker 1:When you start up those conversations, are they typically? Let's just have a conversation, let's learn about each other, let's figure things out. I think sometimes we have this idea that we have to come with a presentation and a PDF and levels of support, and I mean, from my standpoint, it's always been more beneficial to just come and ask what are you working on? What problems are you trying to solve? How can we be beneficial partners and then have maybe some ideas in your mind but not have like this is what we've mapped out, put together? Is that how that developed?
Speaker 2:I absolutely love being able to sit down and just have a conversation, because what it allows us to do is figure out what your pain points are, and that's what I mean by wanting to be a good partner and an ally for those who want to invest in NAACP and in our community. We want to help you solve a problem correctly as well. I've said this tremendously, as it pertains to sort of diversity as a business practice as well. In some cases, organizations just don't know how to do this. That's not an indictment. They're trying to figure out how to navigate certain spaces, so how can we be a good ally in helping you to navigate these spaces more appropriately?
Speaker 2:And so the only way to do that is to really sit down and have the conversation. It's not coming out with a plan, it's not. We need money for X, Y, Z. It's no. What are you trying to solve? What are your pain points? What guidance can we afford you? What programs can we build as a result of those things? We have a great partnership right now with Wells Fargo that we started maybe three years ago around the power to build, Talking about investing in community itself, but it was birthed out of them wanting to do more investment but not wanting it to be very, very surface level where it's just a transaction. Here's a check. See, we did good things, Nobody bother us, but it was okay. How do I proof of concept? Well, we worked with them around what that program actually looked like, and so now you're getting short form content. We're getting to show the benefits of working alongside the organization. We want to sit down and have the conversation with you and be a good ally in that respect and help come up with creative concepts.
Speaker 1:Completely customized, unique, based upon what you're both trying to do. Absolutely Amazing. So, looking ahead, always this forward thinking, crystal ball questions what are their new tools? Are there innovations? Where are you excited around donor engagement? We talked, I mean, in the sustainer space, and I kind of want to break this up into two aspects. Okay, on the acquisition growth side, and maybe what are you testing, trying on retention side?
Speaker 2:So I think the one that is very exciting for us right now and I think I may mention to it briefly at the end of the presentation was with regards to NAACP Plus. We are we have launched our media property itself. Some of you all may be familiar with this, but NAACP has a studio deal with CBS right now. Beyond the Gates, which is a daytime soap opera that just started airing, maybe a couple months ago, is a NAACP property. It's the first of many instances where you're going to see the association showing up in different places so that our stories can be told more appropriately in different places.
Speaker 2:But we want to expand that into other areas, and so conversations like we're doing right now podcast conversations, where we can lean into the areas of interest from our community, allows our donor base to one be educated a bit more around how these issues in a much more tangible manner than just, you know, I got an email or I saw a social media tweeters or I got a direct mail.
Speaker 2:I'm I'm digging a little bit more into these issue areas with subject matter experts, digging a little bit more into these issue areas with subject matter experts, and then that allows them to know what their investments are going into around the areas that the organization is working on. We're working on a concept around behind the movement which allows people to kind of get a peek behind how the association is governing and working on behalf of these things. It's not all sexy and wonderful things. There's a lot of big personalities in politics that play a major part into how the organization shows up. But I think that level of investment will allow our donors to understand that we are working feverishly on behalf of the community that we serve and them seeing it I can't stress this enough them being able to visually see what their investment is going into. It's only going to help us increase their stewardship over a period of time.
Speaker 1:And I love that you mentioned this podcasting as a vertical. Yes, absolutely there is nothing. I am an avid listener myself and the people that I listen to on a weekly basis when I am on a run or a walk or driving. I never listen to music anymore. Usually it's always a podcast.
Speaker 2:It's always a podcast conversation.
Speaker 1:And because it's like my me time. The trust that is built with the individuals that are in my ear for 30 to 40 minutes at a time is huge 100%.
Speaker 1:And I think, if you can find there's this sense of I have to be on a big show and that is absolutely false, like leaning into a very niche show, that is, on a topic where you are going to find what I call the believers and the super fans of something that they might not know you exist, but it's within your space, is so powerful. Within your space is so powerful.
Speaker 1:What strategies have you applied to pitch shows or most of that inbound? How do you actually? I like to get into some of the tacticals. How do you actually find them, research them, prep for them?
Speaker 2:all of the above the barbershop, the barbershop, the barbershop and I'm being honest in some respects, some ideas specifically within our community. You throw concepts out to see whether or not they stick in the barbershop, because if it was specifically in the black barbershop and it's probably within the black hair salon as well A lot of conversations are unpacked within these spaces. This is like this is a ground zero for town halls, and so if you can have a conversation with our community in certain spaces like the barbershop or, you know, at the church or different things like that, you find out whether or not it has legs. I've thrown out ideas while getting a haircut just to see what the barbers would start talking about. We have a concept that we're going to launch here, probably in the next month, that we're calling. So I want you all to follow us on NAACP YouTube right now.
Speaker 2:I told you all yesterday I want you all to do this as well, but we're going to launch a podcast called the Stupid Laws Podcast, which I'm very excited about, because I think we were talking about this yesterday about subscriber exhaustion. There's also voter exhaustion, and so we can't just beat people over the head with, you know, vote. Our lives depend on it. 24, seven. You know, yes, there's midterms, yes, there's presidential elections, but I have a life. But there's the entertaining way of being able to tell those stories. But there's the entertaining way of being able to tell those stories.
Speaker 2:And so what we found is is that, if I can um move with the speed of culture around certain conversations, that when the moments come, I've stewarded an audience long enough that when I tell them to go to the polls and go vote, or tell them to take action, well now I'm a trusted voice to your point. And so one of the concepts that we are exploring they're going to be really excited about is the Stupid Laws podcast, because and I purposely call it that because there's a number of legislations that are put in place on a hyper-local level that you would be amazed, that are in practice. If you just heard them, you're like how did this get through in any way, shape or form? And so I pitched some of these in the barbershop. I just threw some of the the laws that we were pitching in the barbershop and it turned into a 45 minute conversation and I was just sitting there getting a fade.
Speaker 1:I didn't say anything.
Speaker 2:But it's amazing, something that small. Turning to meaningful dialogue within the community, well, if I can stimulate you from an entertainment standpoint around something that simple, now I've educated you on how these sort of laws come into practice, because now I've told you a law I've transitioned you into education on how these things become law. Now, when it's time for me to tell you to take action around the association, whether that's donating so that we can fight against these laws, or voting in the next election so we can undo laws like this. I've taken you on a journey with me, but it started with me stimulating you first from an entertainment standpoint, so that's one that we're pretty excited about launching here. We have some legal fellows that are joining us in the next couple months here from Howard University, which is really exciting, so they're going to help us do a lot of research on some of these bad laws on a state and local level that we're going to be able to amplify. So it's going to be exciting.
Speaker 1:Amazing. So there's the owned aspect of having your own show and then the outward of being on other people's aka like this.
Speaker 2:Thank you, Dana.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much for being here and sharing your wealth of information and knowledge with us. The Call to action sounds like that you should go to their YouTube channel.
Speaker 2:Please.
Speaker 1:And whenever the podcast becomes available, I am sure it will be on all the channels you can listen to, because this is a podcasting platform, so go check it out 100%. Where can people connect with you?
Speaker 2:You can find me on LinkedIn. You can find me at Trevon Williams on Instagram. I'm on all the platforms. He's got good stuff, though. Look me up, you'll find me, you'll find me, thank you. Thank you, appreciate it.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much for tuning into today's episode of Missions to Movements. If you enjoyed our conversation and found it helpful, I would love for you to take a moment to leave a review wherever you're listening. Love for you to take a moment to leave a review wherever you're listening. Your feedback helps us reach more changemakers like you and continue bringing impactful stories and strategies to the show. Don't forget to hit that subscribe button too, so you'll never miss an episode. And until next time, keep turning your mission into a movement.
