This week Momentum had the pleasure of welcoming Liz Singer, president of the New York Society for Ethical Culture, for a Lunch & Learn. Liz’s career path has been full of many surprising twists and turns. Starting off in the Garment District after college, she played many roles in the fashion industry from buyer to owning a private label. After losing her husband in 2012, she wanted a meaningful way to fill the void. This led her to a career in elder care. It was during this point of her life that she also discovered Ethical Culture.

Ethical Culture quickly became an integral part of her life. It was her passion for their philosophy that drove her to eventually become president of the board and help Ethical gain more exposure, working closely with Momentum to shape the PR campaign. 

Liz shares a valuable lesson she learned in the fashion world, where it’s often the common goal of selling a product that drives everyone to work together – and the results are clear and measurable. With nonprofits, it’s more about selling an idea, which leaves room for debate as to how to best achieve the organization’s overall goals. She suggests re-framing a goal into a “product” that everyone can work together to promote. 

As a fashion industry veteran, Liz has a great sense of spotting trends and focused on identifying “trend worthy” stories within Ethical NYC. She emphasizes the importance of pitching a story when it is most relevant to what’s currently in the news, to ensure it will trend. For instance, one heart warming story that brought great exposure to Ethical was their televisiting program for the children of incarcerated parents.

Since 2015, the Society saw a 35 percent increase in attendance, which Liz attributes in part to the PR efforts of Momentum over those five years. Liz’s hands-on involvement and advocacy for  PR paved the way for that success.