Celebrating one year at OG with our Communications Manager, Hannah Jolliffe

Our Communications Manager, Hannah, recently celebrated her first anniversary at Opportunity Green. Here she tells us why she loves the team ethos at OG, especially when people are happy to get on board with her mixed bag of comms requests…

Hannah (bottom right) with the rest of the team at OG’s Christmas party.

What drew you to work at OG?

I had been working as a freelance communications consultant for around 10 years and I really enjoyed the fast-paced nature of working across multiple projects at once. Many of the projects I worked on during this time were environment-focused, but as my role was always short term, I was often left feeling like my work wasn’t having much impact overall.

I was ready for a change, and ready to be part of a team – and then I saw the Communications Manager role at Opportunity Green and I instantly knew it was right for me. I could see that, although the organisation was young, it was engaged with the right stakeholders to make real change happen in the climate space – and that appealed to me more than anything.

What has changed since you started?

Well, there were six of us when I joined and there are now 16 – and counting – so the first thing is the size of the team! I’ve also been incredibly lucky to start growing the communications team, with our brilliant Digital Communications Assistant Daniel joining us in November, and a new Multimedia Content Producer currently in recruitment.

Having a bigger team has changed the output of the organisation too. As one of the few members of staff who works across all our projects, I’ve really noticed our projects ramping up. I find this really exciting, as we’re moving into new, often less-explored territories, and there’s always something new to learn about.

No matter how much we have on, one thing that hasn’t changed though, is everyone’s upbeat attitude. My work would be nothing without input from the OG team and everyone is always up for trying new things out in the name of raising awareness – whether that’s cataloguing their endless train journeys around Europe, filming themselves in all weathers or having photos taken while shovelling manure at away days or wearing silly Christmas hats and then being published in blogs like this! We have such a great working environment at OG and it’s great to be able to reflect this to our audiences through our comms.

What are you most proud of being involved in since you joined?

I recently opened an old document with our previous logo on it and was instantly reminded of how proud I am of our new branding. This was one of the first big comms projects I worked on (with much help from the brilliant design agency Alchemy Mill) – and I feel so proud to show our new brand and website to anyone who will take notice now!

It’s also been fulfilling to see the SASHA Coalition develop. We officially launched it last May and have had to build it from the ground up. Again, developing an entirely new brand, raising awareness through media coverage, and creating some brilliant content, such as factsheets and roadmaps to educate audiences on the vital role of green hydrogen.

A big part of my role is gaining press coverage for our work, and it’s been amazing to play a part in getting our people and projects covered in The Guardian, the Financial Times, the EU Observer, Euractiv, Business Green, Climate Home News and many, many more trade publications. I’m often told by people outside the organisation that they see us mentioned in the press a lot, which is always great to hear!

Hannah (bottom right) and the OG team enjoying the sun!

What inspires you about what you’re working on?

I love the fast-paced nature of my job and the fact that I get to work closely with everyone across the entire team. Having come from short-term freelance projects, I’m glad I’ve found a job that offers the same excitement, while having the camaraderie of being in a permanent team at the same time.

I’m also hugely inspired by the knowledge of the legal and policy experts work with. As someone who had no previous knowledge of law or policy, this has been a big learning curve, and I’ve gained so much understanding from each new project I get involved in.

But what inspires me most goes back to the main reason I joined the organisation: raising awareness of climate change issues with the people who have the power to effect real change. It’s exciting to engage directly with policy makers, States, international courts and even industry (to name a few) and to think that the work we do impacts their decisions.

What are you looking forward to in the coming year?

I’m looking forward to seeing what we can achieve with a bigger, multi-skilled team and being more strategic about our communications output. This will no doubt lead to more crazy comms ideas to ask colleagues to get involved in, but I’m sure they’ll be up for the challenge… Watch this space to find out!

Inspired to come and work at Opportunity Green? Keep an eye on our vacancies page and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.