Session Type(s): Training
Training Tag(s): Communications
Starts: Friday, Aug. 19 1:30 PM (Eastern)
Ends: Friday, Aug. 19 2:30 PM (Eastern)
Join us for a counter-disinformation training examining what disinformation is and why you should care about what happens online. We will look at key tactics right-wing actors use to move social media messaging into the mainstream, common pitfalls campaigns and organizations fall into that make the problem worse, and best practices for assessing and responding to new social media threats.
Jake currently serves as GQR Digital’s lead strategist for campaigns in 2022. He partners closely with clients to keep communications and digital strategies rooted in data and geared toward outcomes—despite an onslaught of propaganda and lies. While he specializes in synthesizing research about online propaganda and mis/disinformation into actionable insights, he also has a wealth of experience in quantitative/qualitative opinion research and social listening, as well as crisis and general communications.
Since 2018, Jake has trained progressive groups around the US on digital organizing, smart social listening, and two-way engagement online. He has worked for a range of political clients in the US and internationally, as well as for corporate and nonprofit clients. His client work includes training and consulting with party committees, over 300 progressive groups, and Democratic campaigns—including in key battleground states such as Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Florida, and Arizona.
Jake’s prior experience included education and nonprofit communications work, as well as work on statewide campaigns and Senate work for New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. He has a BA in Public Relations and Political Science from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University.
Oscar Portillo serves as Director of Spanish Language Digital Research at GQR. In this role, he works alongside progressive advocacy groups and coalitions to better understand the political conversations of diverse communities across social platforms in the US and abroad. His work helps to map disinformation narratives, identify their root causes, and offer strategic insight to leading political operations on how to best counter and respond to digital threats in the modern age.
Prior to joining GQR, Oscar worked to organize voters across the US in the 2020 election, including in the battleground states of Florida and Georgia. His broad experience includes work for high-profile clients at a strategic communications and public affairs firm, more than a year of voter rights advocacy at a national non-profit, and a financial company on Wall Street. At the University of South Florida, he studied history, economics, and political science.
When not at work, Oscar spends time listening to a broad range of podcasts discussing global affairs.