THE DIPLOMAT · STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS ADVISOR
The person you call when the conventional solutions haven't worked.
I help mission-driven executive leaders stabilize leadership communication, repair narrative breakdown, and build the communications infrastructure their organizations need.
American Academy of Pediatrics · American Cancer Society · CDC Injury Center · Heifer International · Making Caring Common · Muscular Dystrophy Association · National Conference on Citizenship · Phillips Foundation · ZOE
SELECT CLIENTS
My background is unusual: I have a Ph.D. in music and brain science. I've been out of the lab for 20 years, but this lens — how people process information, form narrative, and construct the stories they tell about themselves and their organizations — runs underneath everything I do.
My work is also built on 19 years of consulting and a reputation as The Diplomat — a name given to me by colleagues — for walking into the hardest rooms and building what comes after. I don't parachute in with a framework and hand over a deck. I make room for the full reality of a situation — the frustration, the embarrassment, the months of wasted budget, the team dynamics nobody wants to touch — and I build what comes after it.
One senior leader shared that their entire staff agreed working with me was the best thing to come out of a major initiative. Another said I was the most effective communications professional they had encountered in decades in the field.
WHO I AM
THE PROBLEMS I SOLVE
You've already tried the conventional solution.
Some organizations call me because they're recalibrating or launching something new. Others call because something is broken — and nothing has worked.
“We paid a lot and have nothing to show for it.”
The board approved the budget. The agency pitch was polished. Six months later, the deliverable is a strategy doc sitting in a shared folder no one opens. Someone says, "I heard Christine can make magic happen." I make space for the reality of the situation then build a plan that to help achieve impact and create calm.
“The CEO is carrying everything on their own.”
They're smart and effective. They’re also singularly holding the strategy, the funder relationships, the internal tensions. I become an embedded thought partner who already knows the full story, can hold the hard parts without flinching, and helps the leader think out loud in a room where nothing has to be softened first.
“Our programs and people are deeply siloed.”
The work and people are good. But program teams have become their own islands and the communications is fractured. What's broken is upstream — in how the work is understood internally before it's communicated externally. I find the connective tissue and build the shared language so the organization can tell one story.
“We've been told this isn't possible.”
It’s not uncommon for smart organizations to hire vendors who gatekeep. Some version of "that can't be done" has been accepted as true. As someone with deep strategic and creative experience, my answer is always the same: Nothing in communications is impossible. If you can trust me, I will make magic for you.
Three ways to work together.
HOW I WORK
DIPLOMAT RESET
For organizations experiencing serious fractures, I diagnose and repair mission-critical internal and external communications. Following this 90-day engagement, organizations will have narrative clarity, alignment at the leadership level, repair of the internal fractures that are driving the external symptoms, and a sustainable communications operating rhythm their team can actually use.
FRACTIONAL DIPLOMAT
For organizations who are not in an immediate crisis state but need trusted thought partnership, I provide executive stewardship to help organizations avoid costly communication mistakes and develop execeptional communication systems and skills. At the end of the six-month engagement, organizations have documented infrastructure and a clear path forward.
DIPLOMAT CIRCLE
I bring together senior communications professionals and chiefs of staff into a curated six-month cohort. This safe and collaborative container provides a structured place to work through the hardest parts of their role with peers who understand the terrain without needing the context. This community of practice includes working sessions, practice labs, and one-on-ones with me.
Not a sales call. A diagnostic conversation.
If you've read this and something is resonating — if your organization has been living with a communications problem that conventional solutions haven't solved — I'd be glad to have a conversation. I'll know quickly whether I'm the right fit, and I'll tell you either way.
Book a free 30-minute conversation
An insightful, confidential diagnostic. No agenda or ask on my side — just an honest read on whether there's a fit.
Or email me directly: christine@christinekoh.com