Source: Courtesy of Comfort Photography / TIME’S UP
Chelsea Fuller, a veteran communications strategist who has worked closely with the Movement for Black Lives, has been appointed as TIME’S UP’s new Vice President of Communications.
“Fuller replaces the organization’s first communications chief, Amanda Harrington, who joined in May 2019 and departed March,” Variety reports. When speaking on the latest addition to the organization, Tina Tchen, TIME’S UP’s president and CEO, said, “I’m thrilled to have Chelsea join the fight for safe, fair, and dignified work. As an expert storyteller and strategist, she is the ideal leader to connect with our growing audiences and successfully communicate the impact of our groundbreaking initiatives.”
Monifa Bandele, TIME’S UP’s Chief Operating Officer, noted, “Chelsea will be a vital part of our campaigns and initiatives. With a strong commitment to addressing anti-Black racism and systemic oppression, she will help our movement shift the narrative around survivors and women in the workplace, especially for BIPOC women who experience sexual violence and injustice at disproportionate rates.”
Fuller leaves her role as the Deputy Director of Communications at Blackbird — an organization that helps other companies shift the narrative regarding how they portray the experiences and stories of marginalized groups. Being highly regarded for her award-winning work and counsel — which the organization’s site noted has been “sought after by social justice leaders working on criminal justice, immigrant detention and electoral justice,” Blackbird makes it clear that Fuller’s impact in “the MeToo Movement and The Movement for Black Lives has led to fundamental shifts in policy and practice nationwide.”
In a statement about her departure, the organization’s founders Mervyn Marcano and Thenjiwe McHarris told Variety, “Chelsea has given so much to Blackbird, our movement, and our people. We have no doubt that her qualities as a powerful leader, sharp strategist, and beautiful human will strengthen the work of TIME’S UP and the broader movement to end sexual and patriarchal violence.”
For the record, Fuller’s extensive background also includes previously fronting the Youth Criminalization program at Advancement Project — a role wherein which Blackbird detailed she had the opportunity to “deconstruct harmful media narratives around youth of color, primarily those involving state-sanctioned killings of Black youth and the school-to-prison pipeline.”
Currently, she continues to hold influential positions as a member of The Reframe Mentorship, The National Association of Black Journalists, and the Radical Communicators Network respectively.
