Christie L. Goodman, APR, Fellow PRSA, is IDRA’s director of communications. She leads communication strategies for building relationships with constituencies and fostering understanding of IDRA’s mission to achieve equal educational opportunity for every child through strong public schools that prepare all students to access and succeed in college. She manages a staff team to design and implement communications strategies and coordinate materials development, websites and an award-winning podcast.
Ms. Goodman has a bachelor’s degree in advertising and minors in sociology and art from Texas Tech University. She is accredited in public relations, which is maintained through professional development, service and leadership. In 2023, she was one of 19 in the country inducted into the PRSA College of Fellows.
Ms. Goodman works with staff teams and coalitions to design campaigns for policy advocacy, including information tools (infographics, videos, etc.), media relations, community activism and student voice. She guides strategic planning for external communications and media relations regarding IDRA issues, projects, events and mechanisms. She led IDRA’s 50th anniversary communications, event planning, year-long social media campaign and media relations in 2023.
Ms. Goodman develops IDRA’s monthly newsletter (IDRA Newsletter, national circulation 21,000), email newsletters (IDRA eNews, Learning Goes On, Knowledge is Power, Education CAFÉ Advocacy Networks for Texas and Georgia) and other publications, such as curriculum, training guides, research reports and infographics.
She coordinates IDRA’s communications through social media and led the development and production of the Classnotes Podcast series since launching it in 2006. She manages IDRA’s websites ongoingly for content, currency and usefulness. In 2022, she led development, content and promotion of the Southern Education Equity Network website and the IDRA SEEN School Resource Hub. She co-edited Courage to Connect – A Quality Schools Action Framework
Previously, Ms. Goodman worked with two non-profit interreligous organizations on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., where she served as associate editor of a national magazine and led media training for staff. She represented the board and the National Council of Churches in taskforce work on the issue of violence in the media and monitored federal congressional and administrative action on the issue. She worked with staff colleagues to develop a plan of action for the board on the United Methodist Church’s new initiative on Hispanic ministries; served as an editorial advisor for Interpreter and el Intérprete magazines; and initiated a process to make the latest two educational Church and Society videos available with closed captioning.
In addition, Ms. Goodman has provided pro-bono and low-cost PR services to small religious advocacy and community‑based organizations, including the Joint Appeal by Religion and Science for the Environment, Rural Coalition/Coalitión Rural, Churches for Middle East Peace, and the Korean United Methodist Church of Greater Washington.
She has written numerous articles and led presentations on effective communication, use of social media, and social justice. Her articles have appeared in Christian Social Action, Baptist Peacemaker, the IDRA Newsletter, Lean Communicator, PRSA’s Tactics, Interfaith Impact Magazine, and Echo of the Four Winds.
Among her awards is the national first-place Silver Anvil for IDRA’s 50th anniversary campaign and the national first-place Bronze Anvil for speechwriting from the Public Relations Society of America. She received the Del Oro Community Service Award from PRSA San Antonio in 2007 and the Del Oro Tex Taylor Lifetime Achievement Award from PRSA San Antonio in 2012. In 2019, she received the Women of San Antonio award from News4SA and KABB Fox News 29.
In 2023, Ms. Goodman was selected to serve on the Parent and Family Relations Think Tank for Texas Tech University’s Office of Parent and Family Relations. She serves on the Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Racial Justice (DEI/RJ) task group. She has served on the PRSA San Antonio board of directors for 20 years, including serving as chapter president in 2003 and launching the chapter’s annual awards program. As accreditation chair, she designed and led the chapter’s PR Insights series of seminars. She is a member of the Texas School Public Relations Association.
She also serves on the board of the March of Dimes San Antonio chapter, served on the council-level GSSWT Volunteer Advisory and led two energetic Girl Scout troops (with her mentorship and their leadership, nine girls earned their Girl Scout Gold Award). Ms. Goodman was an active member of the Brandeis Broncos Band Booster Club for six years. In 2018, she launched her blog, Safe Roads for Brandeis High School, to bring together school and community member voices to ensure the safety of the students on the roads in front of the school. She also is a multiple recipient of the President’s Volunteer Service Award.
Fun fact: Christie loves zip-lining and watching old movies.
Sample Writings
- Legacy Alumni, Editor’s Pick, Matador Memories – The Oral History Project. Texas Tech Alumni Association, 2021
- Safe Roads For Brandeis High School, blog created and authored in 2018-19
- San Antonio: Byline Blog, team blog launched by five other PRSA professionals to provide professional development for public relations practitioners, 2006-2012
- Steps to Creating Your Own Vodcast, IDRA, with Hector Bojorquez, 2011
- Semillitas de aprendizaje Big Books, English language editor, 2010
- Courage to Connect: A Quality Schools Action Framework, co-editor, 2010
- Contest Winner Shares Podcasting Tips, Lean Communicator, 2008
- Students for Sale – The Use of Public Money for Private Schooling, with Albert Cortez, Josie Supik & Anna Alicia Romero, 1999
Sample Outside Podcast
- People are Not Props, Ethnical Voices podcast, hosted by Mark McClennan, February 12, 2024
- Older Girls with Troop Leader Christie G. from Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas, Scout Troop Leader Experience Podcast, March 1, 2019
Recent Media Coverage
- Based On a True Story – An Evening of Very Personal Tales, July 23, 2023
- PRSA’s College of Fellows Elects 19 New Members, July 18, 2023
- Hardy Clemons remembered as mentor, encourager, hero, Greg Warner, Baptist News Global, July 2, 2020
- Women of SA: Christie Goodman, News4SA and KABB Fox News 29, December 16, 2019
Writings
- IDRA School Resource Hub Provides Tools for Teaching About Race and Gender, September 29, 2023
- Families Insist on Equitable School Funding – Rodríguez v. San Antonio ISD Ruling 50 Years Ago Has Lasting Effects, March 20, 2023
- Habits of a Healthy School District Where All Students Thrive, May 27, 2020
- School-Based Strategies for Supporting Girls in Technology – With Perspectives from a 14-Year-Old Coder, February 28, 2018
- Coming to Grips with Reading Instruction at the Early Grades, April 30, 1998
- Are We Creating Safe and Drug-Free Schools?, November 03, 1997
- Principal of National Blue Ribbon School Says High Poverty Schools Can Excel, June 01, 1997
- Adult Literacy Outreach Innovations: Porque Significa Tanto, September 30, 1996
Podcasts
- Student Leaders Surprise Teachers – Podcast Episode 240, January 19, 2024
- AIM Framework for Teaching Intercultural Skills – Podcast Episode 230, November 07, 2022
- Texas Higher Ed Commissioner on College Access – Podcast Episode 161, March 29, 2016
- A Discussion about Diversity Training – Podcast Episode 90, May 31, 2011
- Parent Institutes for Education – Podcast Episode 89, May 20, 2011
- Tool for Building Quality Schools – Podcast Episode 81, December 09, 2010
- Bilingual Stories for Young Learners – Podcast Episode 80, November 16, 2010
- Using Social Media to Build Better Schools – Podcast Episode 67, February 26, 2010
- Reflective Teaching – Podcast Episode 61, November 13, 2009
- School Accountability to Poor Families – Podcast Episode 60, October 16, 2009
- Helping Schools Address Issues of Race – Podcast Episode 57, August 24, 2009