Alumni Spotlight: Harrison Allen
Harrison Allen, Public Affairs Analyst
“My favorite part of working in public relations/public affairs is that the learning continues far beyond the point when you eventually master your professional skills.”
What was your undergraduate experience like?
At American University, I studied Public Relations & Strategic Communication and minored in Spanish. I always thought I would graduate as a political science major, but quickly fell in love with communications classes like speechwriting, public speaking and political communications. Not to mention, it came much more naturally than comparative politics, so I changed my major.
During my junior and senior year, I was a member of PRSSA and helped lead Eagle Communications during that time. In typical AU fashion, I also interned almost every semester and summer after my freshman year of college. I bounced around a few marketing internships at law firms, spent some time as a communications intern on Capitol Hill, then eventually landed an internship at Nestlé.
Where has your career path led you since graduating?
Nestlé offered me a position in Corporate Communications after I completed what became a yearlong internship. As a Communications Specialist, I supported external communications in developing executive communications, helping drive sustainability messaging, and supporting media relations and monitoring. Part of my role also required support during crises, including tracking, coordinating and communicating on Nestlé’s relief efforts in the wake of natural disasters.
What does your current role entail?
Currently, I am a Public Affairs Analyst in Nestlé US Corporate & Government Affairs. In this role, I focus on emerging policy at the federal level, as well as the 34 states where Nestlé has a presence, in order to understand how the business can proactively or reactively engage and communicate back to our external and internal audiences. My policy portfolio covers issues like workforce equity and packaging sustainability.
As an extracurricular, I also Nestlé’s lead LGBTQ employee resource group out of our Arlington, VA headquarters.
What’s one thing you love about your current job or working in public relations?
My favorite part of working in public relations/public affairs is that the learning continues far beyond the point when you eventually master your professional skills. In other words, you can grow to become the best writer, communicator, or speaker in your field, but you will always be tasked to communicate on new subjects and issues that require a propensity to learn. For me, I find this helps me escape the trap of finding a job monotonous – even when COVID-19 has added more monotony to life in general.
What’s your proudest accomplishment across your career so far?
I was most proud to be a part of the team that advocated against an anti-LGBTQ adoption bill that was moving through the Tennessee statehouse – something we view to be harmful for our employees and their families living and working in the state. Ultimately, the bill succeeded and became law. Nestlé and our coalition members, however, received external recognition in media, including outlets like the New York Times and USA Today, for fighting the discriminatory bill. While we couldn’t prevent the measure, we clearly let our consumers and employees across the nation know our forceful position against LGBTQ discrimination.
What’s in the future for you?
I definitely envision remaining in corporate public affairs where I have the freedom to take on a variety of new projects in a fast-paced environment. In the long term, I always dreamed of marrying my passion and skills in creative writing, with my interests in politics and current events, to become a speechwriter. Personally, Washington, D.C. has felt like home since my freshman year of college. Professionally, I cannot think of a better city to be a young public affairs or communications professional looking to build a diverse network and work experience.
How have your experiences with PRSSA supported you in your professional career?
PRSSA connected my peers and me to so many public relations firms and agencies, as well as the professionals who worked in them. From that experience, I learned what agencies expect from clients and vice versa. At Nestlé, I coordinated and managed projects with agencies all the time. Part of ensuring a successful project requires maintaining a successful relationship with your agencies by setting expectations, demonstrating mutual respect and overly communicating.
What advice would you give to current AU PRSSA members to prepare for a career in public relations?
Never fall victim to laziness. That’s probably overused and seems like a given, but public relations is a unique field that usually requires you go the extra mile whenever you can. I can best explain in two ways:
What public relations practitioners do is typically not widely understood. When you get the chance, you have to PR your work. You have to find creative ways to give PR outcomes numerical value – especially dollar values when you are in house. Rarely is your job as simple as “doing PR” and moving along to the next project. You will always be required to PR the PR to help others understand why organizations need a strong PR department.
The external environment is noisy. It is hard, but not impossible, to break through. If you are creative and constantly striving for best-in-class communications, you will eventually get there. As a rule of thumb, when you feel like you are finally finished editing your writing, edit, and then edit it again.
Harrison Allen is a Public Affairs Analyst for Nestlé where he supports US Corporate & Government Affairs in issues of workforce equity, sustainability, and policy communications. Prior to his role, he worked as a Communications Specialist for Nestlé Corporate Communications. In that role, he supported external communications including executive speechwriting, media relations and drafting key messaging for leaders. Harrison graduated from American University in 2019 with a Bachelor of Arts in Public Relations & Strategic Communications and a minor in Spanish Language. Harrison lives in Washington, DC with his partner Tyler, and their dog named Holly.
