At Change, we believe communications and storytelling are the key ingredients that movements need to win justice. That begins with strategy, the foundation of a communication program that reflects your highest aspirations and moves people to take action toward the change you seek in the world.
We are excited to announce that we have added two members to our Strategy team who will help us better serve changemakers looking to advance their strategic communications programs and win transformative change.
Welcome, Kay and Mariah!
Kay Cuajunco, Communications Director – Strategy
Kay joined Change Consulting as a Communications Director of Strategy in April. She is passionate about amplifying stories that center resilience and self-determination. With more than a decade of experience as an organizer, filmmaker, and communications strategist, she joined Change Consulting in 2022 as Communications Director specializing in narrative strategy, brand and messaging development, coaching and training.
Kay has worked with frontline organizers and statewide alliances across movements for racial, economic, educational, and environmental justice. As the Senior Narrative Strategist at Power California, she advanced narratives about the leadership of young people of color flexing their power from the streets to the ballot box on issues from affordable housing to police free schools. Prior to that, she was Communications Manager at the California Environmental Justice Alliance where she uplifted the voices of communities of color to win groundbreaking state policies for climate justice and supported local organizing to transform toxic hotspots into healthy neighborhoods. She first cut her teeth as an organizer for food justice and farmworker rights, reclaiming her connection to land as a granddaughter of rice farmers in the Philippines.
Kay holds a Bachelor’s in Political Science from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and an interdisciplinary Master’s from San Francisco State University. Her films have screened nationally at the Queer Women of Color Film Festival, Seattle Asian American Film Festival, San Francisco Green Film Festival, and the Allied Media Conference in Detroit. She finds joy swimming, surfing, skating or riding her bike all over Oakland.
Mariah Cochran, Sr. Communications Manager – Strategy
Mariah Cochran (she/her), our newest team member, is a writer, communications strategist, and visual artist committed to writing and imagining realities that speak joy and liberation into existence. Her work rests on the foundational belief that words matter, and the words we choose to describe our realities can either reinforce harmful systems or dismantle them.
Mariah has over 6 years of experience developing communications strategies and message platforms that center the voices and experiences of Black people and people of color in education and health policy spaces. She has a passion for strengthening the brand identity, core messaging, and digital voice of community-based organizations and initiatives.
Before joining Change Consulting, Mariah worked with the Education Trust–West, leading communications strategies and digital advocacy efforts that helped win local and statewide policy change. Mariah cultivated her passion for storytelling and advocacy communications during her time as a youth program coordinator, working alongside high school students to create multimedia social marketing campaigns about inequities in their communities.
Mariah is an MFA candidate in Social and Environmental Arts Practice at Prescott College, focusing her studies on clothing as a visual language and the relationship between textiles, memory, and the racialized body. She received her BA in American Studies from UC Berkeley.
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Through responsive facilitation, deep listening, and an unwavering commitment to — and understanding of — racial justice, we work closely with our clients to develop powerful messaging and actionable strategies and tactics. We design branding, messaging, and communications strategies that advance social change based on five decades of collective experience in strategic communications and research-based best practices.
To find out more about how our strategy team can help advance your vision, reach out to us today at hello@change-llc.com.