Chloe, Sharing her PR Fellowship Experience at JWB

Chloe Hui, PR Fellow (2022)

I first joined JWB’s PR Fellowship because I was always interested in NGO work and social justice. Having grown up in Hong Kong, I knew how migrant domestic workers were an essential yet often taken-for-granted part of people’s lives, so I wanted to join JWB as a way to contribute to greater education and change. Now that my fellowship is coming to an end, I’m reflecting on the ways it has not only been incredibly rewarding by getting to further the mission for migrant workers’ access to basic rights, but also through my own personal and professional growth.

While I entered this fellowship with some prior marketing and writing experience, in many ways this was a completely new and challenging experience for me. It was the first time I was given so much responsibility and independent control in a PR campaign. I thought that I would mostly be putting together content as instructed by my PR lead, but when it came to implementing social media series’ such as Annual Report 2021 promotion and #16Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, I was pleased to be involved from start to finish—from brainstorming on messages, creating the graphic, refining and reviewing, and finally posting online. 

This was very demanding at first, and in the early weeks I felt slightly discouraged when posts that I thought got the messaging across were returned with lots of edits and feedback. However, as time went on, I came to realize there was so much more to the “key message” in any PR content—a single heading that I previously used for an event name could be rewritten to push forward JWB’s messaging, and every part of the post, from the heading to the graphic to the caption, could be used to hook the viewer in gradually. With every task, I learned from my PR lead’s detailed comments, and even after a month I had plenty of experience to draw from. It was amazing to see first-hand how to adapt to an organization’s image and messaging and what language would best communicate our key message in cohesive and accessible ways. 

Working with the PR team also meant that I got to work closely with a group of fellows with similar mindsets yet very different backgrounds and opinions from me. Although I worked remotely and often independently, our team’s weekly catchup calls still gave me the chance to hear other fellows’ feedback, their own takes on PR campaign ideas, and their own ongoing tasks. Even though I never got to meet the team in person, I still felt like I learned a lot from being part of this community. 

One of the most rewarding things about the fellowship was gradually learning that a lot of PR writing and design is first and foremost about highlighting the human element of the work. While “cross-border claims” and “capacity building mentorship” may be less enticing to a general audience, I got to see that through the editing, case overviews, and learning about details like video link trials and litigation, the thing that shines through in JWB’s work is how migrant domestic workers are simply being supported in accessing justice while also helping others do the same. One of my most memorable PR tasks was writing an event summary about the graduation of Programme AKSES caseworker mentees. I was initially so focused on the logistics of their work and the stakeholders present, but eventually the message evolved to simply celebrate a group of people, many of whom were migrant workers themselves, coming together for a shared mission and celebrating a year of mentorship together, even rounding off the event with a rendition of “Heal the World”. This side of PR writing fulfilled my initial interest in joining JWB and made it all the more motivating to be part of this network myself.

Looking back on my time with JWB, this fellowship was extremely rewarding not only in the skills I developed, but also in being able to witness the human impact of social justice work, which I can take forward with me even beyond PR skills. Though I’m sad to see my fellowship come to an end, working with this team and the lessons I’ve learned have inspired me to continue joining similar causes in the future, whether with the JWB team or beyond.