Rich Polt, principal of Communicate Good, LLC, is an accomplished marketing specialist, a seasoned business manager, and a practitioner of values-based public relations. As a consultant to nonprofits, foundations, and for-profit social enterprises, he helps clients build and implement successful PR programs, hinged on clear messaging and solid strategy. Rich believes that communications should be used as a force for good – inspiring audiences, advancing causes, and driving organizational performance.
Rich’s attitudes about communications and the workplace were forged in the cauldrons of the technology bubble. Frustrated with corporate America’s emphasis on image over substance and the abounding notion that PR was a job for spin-doctors and flacks, Rich wanted to build a PR agency where clients and team members would all share a commitment to improving the world. Instead of focusing on why clients were “better” than the competition, Rich believed that optimal results would be generated by showcasing clients’ contributions to society and industry: in other words, communicating the good.
With these ideas and ideals serving as the foundation, Rich launched Louder Than Words in 2003. The award-winning agency quickly established itself as a leader in values-based PR, through its quality of service, caliber of results, and ability to layer communications strategy with organizational purpose. In 2005, Louder Than Words launched “Press For Action,” a unique program that helped area nonprofits advance mission though branding, messaging, and strategy development. Later that year, Rich was named one of Ten Outstanding Young Leaders by Boston’s Junior Chamber of Commerce. Rich managed and actively participated in all aspects of the agency, until 2010 when it was acquired by a Baltimore-based, full-service marketing firm.
In addition to his consulting work, Rich writes and blogs on the topics of communications, doing good in the world, and the intersection of the two. He volunteers on the strategic planning committee for Big City Farms, the Nation’s first planned network of urban CSA farms, and volunteers on the development committee for Baltimore’s KIPP Schools.
Outside of his consulting practice, Rich is a passionate road cyclist. He has ridden tens of thousands of miles in support of charitable causes, including a 600-mile ride from Fairbanks to Anchorage, Alaska, funding AIDS vaccine research. From 2008-2010, Rich organized and led an annual 300-mile tour of New England and in 2011 he will lead a tour of the mid-Atlantic region. In 2009, Rich helped organize and promote a 1,500-mile ride from Atlanta to Boston for the CEO of a major baking company, raising awareness for family homelessness. Rich loves yoga, skiing, crossword puzzles, and his family (though not necessarily in that order). He lives in Baltimore County with his wife, Jennifer, and sons, Samuel and Ethan.
Thanks for visiting!
