TESTIMONIALS FROM JPB GRANTEE PARTNERS

“In a short hour I went from a decent pitch to a targeted, clear, well focused ask.”
Joshua Ginsberg, President
Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies

“This training was incredible– in just an hour, the buffer words that I have relied on for what feels like my whole life were highlighted with humor and Marc helped me become more comfortable stepping into the power of pausing.”
Raquel Mason, Policy Manager
California Environmental Justice Alliance

“Marc helped me prepare for an upcoming important meeting with the White House to advocate for resources to make affordable rental housing energy efficient and climate resilient. Marc’s insights and suggestions were incredibly helpful to make my presentation more effective, dynamic, and resonant. Thank you for this extremely valuable hour of training!”
Ellen Lurie Hoffman, Senior Director of Federal Policy
National Housing Trust

“Marc’s training was an empowering way to start my day; the one hour flew by. Highly recommend – especially for folks who have been at their organization for many years and want to freshen up how they speak about the work and why it matters.”
Daniel Hatcher, Director of Community Partnerships
Alliance for a Healthier Generation

“This was one of the most impactful trainings I have ever participated in. In just one hour, Marc helped me find more accessible language and targeted framing to talk about my work with potential partners. These are skills that I will use everyday.”
Alexandra Nassau-Brownstone, Director, Resident Outcomes & CORES
anassaubrownstone@sahfnet.org

“In just an hour, Marc helped me distill complex institutional language into a much more relatable, emotionally resonant way about speaking about organizational vision.”
Joshua David, Co-Founder
The High Line

“Marc’s personalized feedback, provided in real-time, was both efficient and effective. Great use of an hour.”
Tracy Kaufman, Chief Operating Officer
National Housing Trust

“I feel better equipped to communicate a sense of urgency when trying to influence colleagues and external parties”
Angela Bruno, CFO
National Housing Trust

“Marc was amazing. He provided a lot of great tips on how to improve my presentations and how to do a better job when introducing myself at the beginning of a presentation.”
Miguel Yanez-Barnuevo, Senior Project Associate
EESI

“The Elevator Speech Training was incredibly useful! Marc is a joy to work with, he is super personable, patient, and understanding, and his feedback is on point–he is professionalism embodied. Please do yourself a favor and learn about Marc’s “secret sauce,” it will change your life.”
Alberto Rodríguez, Board Member
OneAmerica

“I can’t believe how, in just one hour, I went from bumbling around a conversation about my job to having a structured recipe for success!”
Amanda Winn, West Coast Project Manager
HOPE

“A lot of value packed in one hour – Marc gives strong feedback on how to up your brand message game, including providing fresh and impactful language.”
Diana Martin, Chief marketing Officer
Healthier Generation

“The benefits of the training to me… better explain in less time by hitting key points.”
Rhonda Thompson, Executive Assistant
Partnership for Southern Equity

“These sorts of trainings always make me nervous but Marc was able to instantly put me at ease, workshop things with me, and share smart suggestions that I could start implementing immediately.”
Sarah Treuhaft, Vice President for Research
PolicyLink

“The training crystallized how I can briefly / vulnerably include my personal story in a pitch, to emotionally connect with my audience and drive them to action. Invaluable!!!”
Cassie Manjikian, Special Projects Manager
California Environmental Justice Alliance (CEJA)

“Well, the hour I spent with Marc today may be the critical piece of this elaborate puzzle that helps my organization move the needle on the change our city so desperately needs. I’m always looking for a better way to get ppl to absorb the urgency of our campaigns and doing this work with Marc is making that happen.”
Odessa Kelly, Executive Director
Stand Up Nashville

“The personalized training allowed for a direct approach to focus on key areas for maximum effectiveness.”
Kamilah Wallen, Grants Administration Manager
Miami Foundation

“In just one hour, Marc provided a framework I could easily use to craft and deliver my message in a way that inspires action.”
Tawechote Wongbuphanimitr,
Stewards of Affordable Housing for the Future

“The skills and format of this training can be adapted to everything else, this training will help me more clearly communicate my message.”
Yadira Hernandez, Finance and Administration Director
California Environmental Justice Alliance

“Our non-profit is about to create a 3-minute presentation to compete for a $250K grant, and the skills we gained in one hour of training with Marc will make that presentation much more compelling.”
Melissa White, Development Director
California Environmental Justice Alliance (CEJA)

“Marc’s training was like hitting a re-start button on our usual framing.”
Gladys Limon, Executive Director
California Environmental Justice Alliance (CEJA)

“While I’d love to have more time for this training, the hour long session is very productive. It’s a challenge to watch yourself give a pitch repeatedly, but it is so helpful in honing your message and improving your delivery. I highly recommend the training!”
Shannon Lee, Senior Urban Conservation Manager
The Conservation Fund

“The Elevator Speech Training was so beneficial to my work and provided me with several important tools to strengthen our messaging and storytelling. Highly Recommend!”
Shelly McPhail, Grantwriter/Researcher
National Consumer Law Center (NCLC)

“Very productive way to spend an hour – way more than most meetings. Instant utility. Really, really good.”
Marty Davey, Director of Product and Service Development
New Ecology, Inc

“In one hour, I had a clear, concise and powerful message to share with future donors. Marc helped tighten up my messaging for the most impact.”
Heena Khatri, VP of Board
OneAmerica Votes

“I found the training to be so precise and effective in the little bit of time we had – starting off right from the top with a quick demo and then workshopping it from there was the perfect approach.”
Jane Patton, Senior Campaigner
Center for International Environmental Law

“The ground I was able to cover in just one hour with Marc was phenomenal. I’ve taken part in separate training that lasted hours and didn’t come close to the value and insight this training provided. We got right to business and the guidance and feedback was extremely helpful.”
Richard Sheward, Director of Innovative Partnerships
Children’s HealthWatch, Boston Medical Center

“What a great training! Marc was thought-provoking, positive, and offered helpful new ideas. I also appreciated that he had spent time in advance of our session to learn about my organization – we were able to get right to work. An hour well spent!”
Carol Emig, President & CEO
Child Trends

“It was very helpful to have a full hour with one coach’s full attention and help.”
John Smillie, Executive Director
Western Organization of Resource Councils

“This training was very useful, and something staff, executive leadership and board could benefit from. This is practical, easy-to-do, and every-day relevant. I have a much better sense of the importance of what I communicate, why, what and how I speak.”
Ana Traverso-Krejcarek, Manager
Highline Network

“In just one hour, with this training, I was able to distill a short and moving way to communicate my organization’s unique add and impact as well as a way to naturally and compellingly transition the conversation to directly asking for support from potential funders.”
Stephanie Ettinger De Cuba, Executive Director
Children’s HealthWatch

“Marc is an excellent training leader and coach. This training was a game changer for me – although I am a seasoned communications professional, I felt sharpened by this framework and I will take it back to our communications team.”
Monica Novoa, Communications Director
National Employment Law Project (NELP)

“I gained a lot of helpful insights from the training. It was a highly productive use of just one hour — I highly recommend it.”
Richard Dubois, Executive Director
National Consumer Law Center

“I learned a lot about how to build a stronger narrative based on a few key points, and to elevate that narrative in a way that will better capture people’s attention and strengthen my overall presence.”
Gabriel Jones, Senior Associates
Arabella Advisors

“This training was a gamechanger! I typically freeze when I am asked to present ideas to a group — even on topics I know and love. The feedback and tips from this training session made me aware of what I can do to make my passion for the work I do clear, while sharing it with others.”
Alicia Hill, Associate Editor
Groundswell

“We were inspired enough to gather our entire staff on a giant zoom call and talk about it. Because we are global we wanted to give everyone the opportunity to benefit from a really insightful and helpful process. The early results have been amazing.”
Kathleen Rogers, President
Earth Day Network

“While intense, I found the session to be energizing due to the focus on self-improvement–how I communicate, what I value, and how to forge connections with others in an efficient way and informative way. We accomplished a great deal in just an one hour. Marc came impressively prepared.”
Dave Wright, Director of Project Development
Groundswell

“My Elevator Speech Training with Marc was an hour full of helpful suggestion and reminders about how to convey my organizations mission, and the urgency of our work, in the most compelling way(s).”
Steve Hurley, Chief Development Officer
National Consumer Law Center

“Mark’s training was value-added and fit well into my busy schedule. Because I’m often in situations where sharing information about my organization with others is limited, his advice on how to message information effectively was timely and effective.”
Delmar Gillus, Jr., COO
Elevate Energy

“The one hour session was a great reminder of how important this elevator-pitch work is. You can get so busy in the day-to-day, it was an extremely useful reminder that this is a valuable thing to spend time on!”
Brady Walkinshaw, CEO
Grist

“This training was very efficient and felt valuable to me both professionally and personally. thank you!”
Vanessa Barrios, Senior Associate, State Programs & Advocacy
Regional Plan Association

“The training was easy, fun and provided me with practical feedback that I will put to immediate use.”
Chris Jones, Senior Vice President and Chief Planner
Regional Plan Association

“Marc’s willingness to adapt to what I wanted to focus on and his broad expertise was great. The role playing, getting to see and analyze myself—the whole hour was very useful.”
Elsbeth Pancrazi, Director of Institutional Advancement
New York Hall of Science

“Re-framing how I see things so that I don’t come into these conversations thinking that I come from a position of powerlessness in need of help and not able to offer something in return, but that the simple quest to explore is enough of an offer to others. Helped balance and give me the composure that I needed. The Worksheet is also very helpful and will be used as the basis of my default when entering certain “ask” conversations.”
Mona Wang, Program Officer
Low Income Investment Fund

“All communication is about engaging your audience and striking an emotional chord, one powerful enough to compel action. Marc’s training showed me how to create a narrative to accomplish just that — keep it simple, relatable and provide resolution to a problem. I will use this approach going forward.”
Jenny Riley, Associate Director, Marketing
Elevate Energy –

“Marc is an excellent communicator, he did a great job sharing his expertise in a very clear and concise way.”
Kristal Knowles, Director, Operations and Customer Support
Groundswell Inc

“I was super impressed by how much training/learning could be done in one hour!”
Anne Griffith, Senior Director, National Initiatives
Enterprise Community Partners

“I didn’t know I could accomplish so much in an hour! This training not only gave me specific advice for my chosen “elevator speech”, but also gave me the tools to apply the same learnings to other elevator speeches I may have to give in the future!”
Lakeshia Wright, Senior Program Officer
Institute for Sustainable Communities

“In just one hour this excellent training helped me distill down complex policies and programs into effective talking points that will be useful in a variety of situations. Thanks, Marc!”
William Bryan, Built Environment Project Manager
Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance

“The worksheet provided to walk you through crafting a winning elevator speech is fantastic, well thought out, and very useful. I felt lightyears ahead of where I was when the class first started. It’s amazing what you can accomplish in just one hour!”
Radiah Shabazz, Communications Manager
Institute for Sustainable Communities

“In a short period of time, the training allowed me to see the strengths and weaknesses of my “elevator speech.” I will most certainly be able to apply the lessons learned in my communications moving forward.”
Emily Russell, Director of Major Gifts
American Forests

“The training was really great and helped me to almost fully develop a pitch in just one hour! I appreciated the critical feedback and the emphasis on what was working so that I could continue to build on that.”
Jaime Love, Associate Director of US Programs
Institute for Sustainable Communities

“Marc goes beyond helpful frameworks and rules of thumb, and quickly drills down into concrete, personalized feedback to help make your communication more punchy – the hour goes a long way!”
NIKHIL VIJAYKAR, Staff Attorney
Environmental Law & Policy Center

“I walked away from the training with concrete feedback that made my elevator speech significantly more powerful and effective. It was incredible what skills I was able to improve in just one hour!”
Amanda Bridenhagen, Partnerships Director
Just Transition Fund

“This short session will have lasting impacts on the way I introduce my work and pitch ideas. The process by which we identified areas for improvement was instrumental in helping me to find better ways to articulate my meaning.”
Emmeline Luck, Policy Associate
Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance

“Marc is awesome! I was surprised by how quickly he provided tailored feedback to my prepared elevator pitch to make it even stronger. With his help, I was able to incorporate stories in my elevator pitch that bring our mission and vision to life.”
Kelsi Eccles, Project Manager
The Conservation Fund

“A simple yet effective and engaging format”
Sydney Céspedes, Green for All, Campaign Manager
Dream Corps

“I couldn’t believe how much I was able to learn about public speaking and delivering a pitch in just one hour. Marc really analyzed me quickly as a person and honed in on specific things about my personality that I can highlight in any interview. Will definitely be recommending to my friends!”
Rebecca Charles, Racial Justice Research Coordinator
Columbia University Center on Poverty and Social Policy

“I loved this training session. It was inspiring and energizing beyond my expectations. Marc is great at this and creates a safe and comfortable space for the participants to open up. Great listener.”
Bari Samad, Communications Director
Environmental Health Coalition

“Mark’s training was very helpful in my continuing to improve and shape ways to present short effective messages about the Environmental Law & Policy Center’s strengths.”
Howard Learner, Executive Director
Environmental Law & Policy Center

“Marc was very well prepared, a friendly instructor, and covered a lot of ground in the one-hour session. Already, I feel better able to prepare a range of formal and informal scenarios. Thank you!”
Megan Curran, Postdoctoral Research Scientist
Columbia University Center on Poverty and Social Policy

“I wish every community organizer in America could have this one hour training. We would go a long way toward changing this country.”
Madeline Janis, Executive Director
Jobs to Move America

“Marc’s training was super helpful; His framework will now be a go-to resource!”
April Hewko, Program Manager
Equal Justice Works

“In just an hour with Marc, we unpacked and tightly re-packaged some of the most complex elements of what we do. Marc doesn’t just prepare you for that fortuitous elevator ride—he also prepares you for today’s partnership meeting and tomorrow’s donor meeting by giving you the tools and tactics to be a compelling storyteller.”
George Tsiatis, CEO & Co-Founder
The Resolution Project

“I felt more confident in myself and my pitch after just one hour!”
Linda Anderson Stanley, Senior Manager
Equal Justice Works

“Our times demand effective, fast-paced communication that also engages at a personal level. Marc’s coaching helps professionals move beyond recitation of mere facts and figures and provides a solid formula on how to connect with an audience of one or many and get them invested in your story.”
Erik Meyers, Vice President
The Conservation Fund

“My elevator speech was improved *at least* 100% in the fun hour I spent with Marc.”
Kyra Shields, Bright Cities Program Director
Healthy Babies Bright Futures

“I learned how to craft a more effective speech and elevate the most salient points with limited time. This is super helpful for me as someone who spends a lot of time networking with others from all kinds of backgrounds.ref”
Gabriel Jones, Senior Associates
Arabella Advisors

“In just an hour, Marc helped me to identify the key elements of my proposed pitch that had the most power, see where I could amplify resonant messages, and distill points so I had fewer “items” to remember in the pitch; which made it feel more natural as I practiced afterward.”
Tiffanie Luckett, Sr. Officer, Individual Giving
National Immigration Law Center

“This training was excellent! I learned so much in this one hour session and came away with multiple recordings of myself as well as a written breakdown of everything we covered, both of which have been so valuable.”
Stephanie Stohler, Toxic-Free Future
Toxic-Free Future

“In 60 minutes, you can greatly change the way you communicate, which elevates the way you are perceived. An easy, fast and fun way to improve yourself.”
Judith Felix, Senior Administrative Assistant, Poverty Program
The JPB Foundation

“I thought I was a good quick pitch but Marc made me better.”
Robert Hammond, Executive Director
The High Line

“This opportunity came at an important time and I appreciate the flexibility that Marc demonstrated in identifying a topic that resonated for me and supporting me in preparing for the conversation.”
Dana Johnson, Communications Manager
WE ACT for Environmental Justice

“I found the training immediately useful for my work. Marc is engaging and provides incredibly useful feedback. thanks!”
Roshelle Payes, Project Director, Early Childhood & Health
Nemours Childrens Health System

“Marc was incredibly kind and allowed me to understand how to make my pitch more poignant and relevant to this moment in history. He had done some research on me and my nonprofit’s work, and that was beneficial to using our hour well. I really enjoyed our session and having a third party analysis of my pitch. I highly recommend for other folks in the non-profit world.”
Ariel Fugate, Communications Coordinator
MACED

“Marc’s Elevator Speech Training was, quite simply, transformational. He helped me clearly talk about work, connect with my audience, and communicate in a way that’s authentic and people-centered. Foundation and non-profit leaders who want to communicate effectively should not miss this!”
Heidi Binko, Executive Director & Co-founder
Just Transition Fund

“We always say our work is too complex or bespoke to have an effective ‘elevator speech.’ Marc proved us wrong.”
Kim Latimer-Nelligan, President
Low Income Investment Fund

“Learning how to deliver a good speech is very related to my work. As a community organizer I have to talk to many people in order to motivate them to join our movement. Marc first allowed me to give a speech that came natural and then he gave me valuable tips to make it much better. I feel more comfortable now to speak in public with Marc’s advise.”
Miriam Garcia, Community Organizer
Chispa AZ

“Elevator Speech Training is truly exceptional.”
Anne Evens, CEO
Elevate Energy

“A very focused training that will benefit anyone who is trying to sell an idea to others, and isn’t that everyone.”
David Yates, Senior Consultant
UNC – Chapel Hill

“Got some great, practical feedback on upping the emotional impact when I talk about my organization’s mission. So helpful!”
Sarah Milligan-Toffler, Executive Director
Children & Nature Network

“Marc was extremely engaging and helpful in tangible ways. He led me to my own narrative, which is the purpose here. Thank you!”
Kate Seifert, Development Director
The Redford Center

“This training was fun, informative, and very helpful to clarify how we get our message across in a clear and compelling way.”
Julia Appel, Researcher
Tufts University

“I highly recommend this training.”
Jojo Annobil, Executive Director
Immigrant Justice Corps

“This one hour session was more impactful for me than the hours, days, weeks that I have spent in other communications trainings.”
Dan Nissenbaum, CEO
Low Income Investment Fund

“This was a well-used hour to step back and make sure that our most basic communication reflects the current needs and connects them to not only our long term mission and but with the shared values of our current and future partners.”
Andrea Ponsor, CEO
Stewards of Affordable Housing for the Future

“It felt inconceivable to prioritize a one-hour elevator pitch training in the midst of a global pandemic, racial justice uprisings, and a collapse of democratic spaces – but it was 100% worth it, and I’ll bring these skills and feedback forward into all the work I do.”
Amanda Kistler, Vice President
Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL)

“Marc gave suggestions that dramatically increased the effectiveness of my pitch – in just one hour. I am so excited to test and hone these strategies in our evergrowing virtual world. And, it was very conversational and fun!”
Kyra Shields, Bright Cities Program Director
Healthy Babies Bright Futures

“If only all my one-hour meetings were so productive!”
Priya Jayachandran, CEO
National Housing Trust

“Marc Fest’s Elevator Speech training is what we all need – especially during this time of transition – to hone a pitch.”
Zerline Hughes Spruill, Managing Director of Communications
Advancement Project National Office

“Grantees consistently give this training high marks and wish they had access to it sooner.”
Dana Bourland, Vice President, Environment
JPB Foundation

“The ability to articulate your work and its value has to be worked on. You can’t be sure on your own that you are actually using the strongest arguments or raising the best examples. This type of interactive training one on one rapidly orients you to what is an ongoing process of honing your messages.”
Whit Faulconer, Program Officer, Environment
JPB Foundation

“Marc’s approach to communications training is as sophisticated as it is supportive. He helped me to understand the audience’s mind, and he worked closely with me to reframe key messages for maximum impact.”
Wally Patawaran, Program Officer, Poverty Program
The JPB Foundation

“I felt comfortable, and supported. Marc’s suggestions were spot on, fun, and I could tell he really cared to make my experience personal to me, not canned or scripted.”
Carly Maready, Special Assistant to the President
The JPB Foundation

“The Elevator Speech training helped me to meld elements of multiple conversations I have about myself into a brief, coherent introductory narrative.”
Mark Harris, Program Officer, Poverty
The JPB Foundation

“This was the best bang for the buck in training I can recall — from just a couple of hours, I gained lots to act on both immediately and over the long term.”
Stephen Burrington, Executive Director
Groundwork USA