Communicating a Classical, Christian Mission and Vision in a Critical, Combustible Culture
We live in a society with clashing values and beliefs. In the future, your institution will likely arrive at the intersection of faith and culture and find it necessary to reassure your community and constituency of your commitment to your school’s mission and distinctive classical learning environment. Preparing now can help you be ready to counter negativity around your rights to hire to mission, to create a volunteer community around a shared framework of faith, and to enforce policy and behavior in support of your sincerely held religious beliefs, all while demonstrating the love of Christ and conveying to outsiders that we can live together with our deepest differences in a civil public square.
A. Larry Ross
Larry Ross is Founder and CEO of A. Larry Ross Communications, a Dallas-based full-service public relations firm founded in 1994 to provide crossover media liaison at the intersection of faith and culture. In 2016, he served as Communications Director for Dr. Ben Carson and his presidential campaign.
Ross, whom Newsweek magazine headlined as “Point Man for God,” has more than 40 years of mainstream and Christian corporate, agency and non-profit experience influencing public opinion through strategic PR counsel to organizations and individuals. These include men and women on a mission for God or the common good, such as evangelist Billy Graham, for whom he served as principal spokesperson beginning in 1981; Dr. Rick Warren, Bishop T.D. Jakes and many other national and international Christian leaders; and theatrical film releases, such as “The Passion of The Christ.”
A graduate of Wheaton College in Illinois, Ross and his wife Autumn have three sons, two daughters-in-law and four grandchildren, and live in Lewisville, TX. You can follow him on Twitter at @ALarryRoss.
Kristin Cole
As President of A. Larry Ross Communications (ALRC), Kristin Cole provides strategic leadership to the agency account team, consults on crisis communications and reputation management projects, and leads the company’s vision and mission. She is constantly looking for cutting-edge ways the Agency can serve its clients.
During her nearly 14 years at ALRC, Ms. Cole has served a variety of film, book and ministry clients, including Gordon College, I Am Second, Interstate Batteries, CURE International and HarperCollins Publishing as well as leaders such as Anne Graham Lotz, Dr. Tony Evans, Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, Joel C. Rosenberg, Christine Caine, Dr. Albert R. Mohler and Jon Weece. She also continues to coordinate media and public relations for Pastor Rick and Kay Warren of Saddleback Church.
Ms. Cole is a graduate of Union University in Jackson, Tenn., where she earned a communication arts degree with an emphasis in public relations/advertising and was elected President of the Student Government Association. She currently serves on the Union University Board of Regents and Religion Newswriters Association Membership Committee and chairs the Honors and Awards Committee for the Dallas Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA).
Kerri Ridenour
Kerri Ridenour, PHR, SHRM-CP, has spent her professional career focused in the area of consulting with small to medium-sized companies, non-profits, and academic institutions advising them on strategic preparation, human resources, and crisis planning. She permanently joined the ALRC team in May of 2006.
As Chief Operating Officer, she leads the Agency’s business acquisitions, day-to-day operations and utilizes her human resources expertise and certifications to act in an advisory capacity on a variety of crisis communications projects.
Kerri is a SRHM Certified Personnel (SRHM-CP) Consultant and a Certified Professional in Human Resources (PHR) who before joining ALRC, served as President of The Bask Group, Inc., a Dallas based consulting firm specializing in operations, personnel, strategic and tactical planning, and compliance.