Community Relations consulting

When people in the community are getting angry, you need expert help in lowering the temperature. Mark Weaver from our firm is an attorney and crisis communications specialist whose experience working with police, prosecutors, higher education leaders, and community groups makes him one of the most sought-after consultants in community relations in a crisis context. When he helped the City of Charlotte, NC handle a racially sensitive case in which a white police officer shot and killed a young black man, the NBC news there called Mr. Weaver “one of the nation's foremost experts in crisis communications.”

Mark Weaver first learned about community relations in his own home. His mother spent three decades as Chairperson of the local Human Relations Commission. Her work focused on easing racial and religious tensions flaring between police and community members. The mediation meetings between angry neighbors sometimes took place in the Weaver living room.

Also early in his career, was appointed Assistant Director of Public Affairs for the United States Department of Justice. In that role, he was spokesman and a key member of the prosecution team for the Civil Rights Division. Much of his work involved briefing national reporters about the federal prosecution of police brutality cases. He also served as spokesman for the department’s Community Relations Service (CRS), the federal government's premier conflict resolution experts. CRS is often called into tense community situations to help calm citizen anger and work for positive change.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper interviewed Mr. Weaver for his expertise on how a city embroiled in a racial shooting case ought to engage with the public. The article is available at http://tinyurl.com/clevelandpoliceissue.

One Ohio newspaper editorialized about the value Mr. Weaver and his firm brought to one school district faced with a devastating scandal and a grave reputation risk. That editorial is available at www.communicationscounsel.com/good-idea.

The professionals at Communications Counsel also have experience moderating and hosting town hall meetings, often where audience members have strong and vitriolic opinions.