VIRTUAL EVENT: Getting Stuff Done: Getting it Right on Social Media

**Due to COVID-19, this event was delivered via Zoom.**

Join P3E for Getting Stuff Done: Getting it Right on Social Media with Nikki Sunstrum, U-M’s Director of Social Media and Public Engagement, who lead this session that began with a discussion and Q&A with and Ford School Professor Shobita Parthasarathy (@ShobitaP) on her experience, success, and challenges using Twitter.

After the discussion with Professor Parthasarathy, Nikki gave a presentation on how to build your personal brand online and why it’s important (as an expert in whatever area you go into) utilizing different platforms - Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.

More about our speakers:

Nikki Sunstrum, Director of Social Media and Public Engagement is responsible for developing innovative solutions to strategically leverage and advance interactive communications at one of the world’s top universities, Nikki leads the social communications office (#UMSocial) and the strategic oversight of the President’s Public Engagement and Impact Initiative. Her duties include the overarching coordination and leadership of a unified brand presence, standards and policy implementation, consultation, facilitation, and training. These efforts, along with the university Social Integrity project, each aim to ensure that all online communications provide additional value to university stakeholders, while mitigating institutional risk, elevating brand perception, and educating users of all ages, around the globe, of the lasting impact of these critical tools. Prior to assuming her current role, Sunstrum developed and coordinated the State of Michigan’s statewide social media footprint: reinventing constituent engagement, elevating transparency, and establishing Michigan as a trailblazer and leader for government social communications. Sunstrum possesses a Bachelor of Science degree from Grand Valley State University and a Master’s degree from Aquinas College.

Shobita Parthasarathy is a Professor of Public Policy and Women's Studies, and Director of the Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program at the University of Michigan. Her research focuses on the governance of ethically and socially controversial science and technology, particularly in comparative perspective. She is also interested in how technological innovation, and innovation systems, can better achieve public interest and social justice goals. She is the author of numerous articles and two books: Building Genetic Medicine: Breast Cancer, Technology, and the Comparative Politics of Health Care (MIT Press, 2007) and Patent Politics: Life Forms, Markets, and the Public Interest in the United States and Europe (University of Chicago Press, 2017). Her current research explores the intersection of gender, technology, and international development, with a focus on India. Findings from Building Genetic Medicine influenced the 2013 US Supreme Court decision prohibiting patents on isolated human genes. The US National Science Foundation, UK Wellcome Trust, the German Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition, and various programs at the University of Michigan have funded her research. She has advised the US HHS Secretary's Advisory Committee on Genetics, Health, and Society, the Austrian Genome Research Program, the American Chemical Society, the European Patent Office, the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, and the US Government Accountability Office, among other science and technology policymaking institutions. Shobita sits on the Board of Directors of Breast Cancer Action, a feminist health justice advocacy group. She also regularly works with scientists and engineers to more explicitly consider the ethical and social dimensions of their work. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Biology from the University of Chicago and Masters and PhD degrees in Science and Technology Studies from Cornell University.

• Shobita Parthasarathy
• social media
• P3E
• Getting Stuff Done
• Nikki Sunstrum