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WHO I AM

Yael bartur_Sundae Cruz_Central Park @ 5
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TL;DR*

*Too Long Didn't Read

  • 15+ years communications experience 

  • Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Master's of Public Policy

  • ​2014-2020 NYPD: Director of Social Media and Digital Strategy:

- Built entire digital communications strategy

- Transformed the voice of the largest police department in the US.

- Wrote the NYPD crisis communications orders.

- Created the NYPD social media training guides.

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  • International Association of Chiefs of Police "40 under 40"

Proven Results:

200

NEW SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS

1M+

FOLLOWERS

~60M

VIRAL VIDEOS VIEWS

1000+

People trained

2.2M

Engagement

100+

Positive news stories

MY STORY

I’ve been living and breathing communications and digital media for as far as I can remember.

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Born and raised in Israel, I came of age with the modern internet, and remember the early excitement of exploring websites, chats and email as they were first being introduced to the world.

At 18 I joined the Israeli army as press liaison, and served on the ground from the Gaza strip to the Lebanon border and even in Haiti as a reservist following the 2010 earthquake. The lessons I learned from my military service about crisis, teamwork, and creativity are hard to put in words, but I take them with me to every project I work on.

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I went on to complete a B.A in Government studies with a major in Counterterrorism in Israel, and in 2007 came to the USA to begin my American adventure.

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I’ve completed my Master’s in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, writing my graduate thesis on a proposed social media use for the NYPD and interning at the NYPD office of Management, Analysis and planning. During my time at the Kennedy School I was fortunate to receive fellowships from the program in criminal justice policy and the Harvard Belfer Center for Science and International affairs.

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In 2014 I joined the NYPD full-time to implement my academic research, and in 2016 was promoted to Director of Social Media and Digital Strategy.

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During my time at the NYPD, I built the entire digital communications strategy from the ground up, transforming the voice of the largest police department in the country. It was quite a journey for a department that had a strict top-down communications strategy, but eventually I moved the elephant’s feet, and helped introduce to New Yorkers a personal, authentic and localized voice that still speaks today. My team and I oversaw the launch of over 200 new social media accounts, amassed over 1 million followers, Wrote the NYPD  crisis communications strategy, initiated a new “Digital Communication Officer” role in every command in the city, wrote a comprehensive training guide and education curriculum, and produced viral videos with millions of views, generating hundreds of positive news articles.

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I’m an annual guest lecturer at the Harvard Kennedy School Communications Program, and frequently talk and write about social media, police, public safety and communications.

SOME OF MY WORK:

examples of work
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