Founder’s note – January 2026

Welcome to my January 2026 founder’s note. 

This month, I have had a particular focus on strengthening our existing relationships and forming new connections to expand Strategic.

I am delighted that we have renewed our partnerships with the Centre for Strategic Communication Excellence (CSCE) and The #PRethics Community. Both organizations share our passion for the public relations and communication profession. They are an important part of our community. We are interested in welcoming additional partners who wish to collaborate with communication leaders worldwide. We are proud to facilitate these connections and conversations.

As part of our partnership with the CSCE, we are offering new training courses for 2026 with 43 in-person and virtual courses across Europe, North America and APAC. Strategic Training gives communication professionals the opportunity to be masters of the profession. It empowers you to develop professionally, and provide the best strategic communication counsel and direction to your clients and organizations.

We continue to expand our Global Columnist Network and I am thrilled that we welcomed Greg Howe, Kateryna Byelova, Regine Nelson, and Tariq Peters this month. Our 60+ columnists share their expertise and insights to ensure our community is kept informed on current industry developments. We encourage collaboration and engagement among our community; to liaise with our columnists, view their profiles here.

A key milestone for Strategic is the recent removal of the paywall from Strategic Magazine. Access to content is no longer subject to a registration process. This move benefits our platform as a whole, and extends the reach of our content for columnists, contributors and partners to a wider audience. 

Our Mastermind program is attracting communication leaders who wish to tackle communication challenges facing them as internal communicators and corporate communicators. The groups will provide guided peer coaching, and accountability. Our first group will cover Leadership in Communication and will be hosted by leading coach and expert, and strategic columnist, Louise Thompson. It begins on 10 February and limited places remain available.

Strategic Global Awards shine a light on the talented and successful members of our community. The awards program recognizes excellence in communication leadership, and strategic communication, internal communication and ethics in communication for individuals, teams and campaigns. This week, we announced our judging panel; 10 leading international communication experts. We added a new and free category this month – Strategic 26 – to celebrate communication leaders who are making a real difference in and for the profession. This is one I am particularly proud of given the foundation of Strategic is to elevate and advocate for communication leaders and the profession. Entries are open and the awards celebration will take place on Thursday, 16 April in Brussels. The awards are sponsored by the Centre for Strategic Communication Excellence (CSCE) (strategic communication category) and The #PRethics Community (ethics in communication category).

Our 2026 events plan includes our flagship Communication Leadership Summit in Brussels on 17 April 2026. For details and to book tickets, visit: https://strategic.global/Events/. We will also be hosting further events, and bespoke in-person and virtual events with our partners during the year.

Whether you are a columnist, contributor, partner, reader, or another stakeholder of Strategic’s, I hope it resonates with you. 

— Orla Clancy, Founder and Managing Director, Strategic

Written by: orlaclancy