Creating a genuine two-way relationship - before you need someone’s help - is a critical component of successfully influencing advocacy issues.

Today’s guest has built her career by creating and nurturing authentic relationships. The kind of relationships that benefit the organization she works for and benefit the people in her network.

And that’s the key takeaway of today’s episode, how to build and nurture mutually beneficial legitimate relationships including:

• Being authentically curious
• Following up after you provide value or assistance
• And the key indicators of your impact

Please note, we recorded this episode in the spring of 2021 as Covid-19 vaccines have become more readily available.  And we don’t shy away from what that means in relation to in person meetings and events and building real relationships.

About My Guest

Joanne Sullivan’s career in fundraising, development and community relations in Tampa spans thirty years and includes key leadership positions at the University of Tampa, Florida Hospital Tampa Foundation (now Advent Health), Academy at the Lakes, the Tampa Museum of Art and Berkeley Preparatory School. She currently serves the University of South Florida as USF Health Director of Community Engagement.

Ms. Sullivan is a graduate of Florida State University and is on the Tampa Bay regional board of Easterseals Florida and also serves on the Easterseals National Board of Directors where she chairs the Marketing and Development Committee. She is a member of Leadership Tampa Bay’s Class of 2010 and Leadership Tampa’s Class of 1991 and is a current Leadership Tampa Bay Board member. She is a member of the Tampa Bay Chapter of the Association for Fundraising Professionals, where she is a past president and is a sustaining member of the Junior League of Tampa. She is a member of USF’s Women in Leadership & Philanthropy.

About the Host

Cori Henderson, host of the Policy Influencer Playbook podcast brings her Master’s Degree in Public Administration and 20+ years in Government Relations and Economic Development to help you and your organization engage at all levels of government to advance your agenda. From her unique perspective having sat at the legislative, regulatory, and stakeholder tables, Cori knows that passing (or killing) legislation, getting a regulatory project permitted quickly or a tax incentive package negotiated successfully all come down to the same thing: clearly communicating your message to the right person at the right time.