March For Our Lives (Part I): Brendan Duff on Its Founding, PR and Youth Activism

On February 14, 2018, a gunman open-fired on Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, in what became the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history. The tragedy gave birth to an influential movement, the student-led March for Our Lives, which transcended South Florida and sparked activism for gun control reform through national protests and school walkouts.In this episode, March For Our Lives co-founder Brendan Duff recalls how the organization came together, and as the de facto media relations manager, how he used public relations tools early on to bring their messages to a global stage.This discussion is part of our series reviewing the 2020 Global Communication Report on New Activism, which is available for free download at annenberg.usc.edu/gcr. Featuring: Brendan Duff (@Brendinid), Co-Founder of March For Our Lives and Elon University Strategic Communications MajorHost: Fred Cook (@fredcook), Chairman of Golin, a global PR firm. Author of “Improvise - Unorthodox Career Advice from an Unlikely CEO” and Director of the USC Center for Public RelationsFollow us: @Center4PR (Twitter, Facebook and Instagram)Newsletter: News from the USC Center for Public RelationsFor more, visit our website: https://annenberg.usc.edu/research/center-public-relations Production CreditsA production of the USC Annenberg Center for Public Relations at the University of Southern California.Host: Fred CookExecutive Producer: Ron AntonetteSeason 7 Producers: Joe Carreon and Anvi MahajanProduction: Camille Culbertson, Jack Gisler, Toma BattinoEditorial: Joey Cha, Ivan Feng, Natalie Lopez, Grace AnSocial Content: Angelina Tran, Hailey Evans, Arushi Purkayastha, Chris ApyGrowth: Van Luu, Shaan DhaliwalLinksFollow the USC Center for PR (@usccenterforpr) on Instagram and LinkedIn. Follow Fred Cook on LinkedIn. Find all our reports at annenberg.usc.edu/cpr.Download the 2025 Relevance Report at annenberg.usc.edu/relevance