Mor Greenberg heads new public relations entity, Citadel Communications
“There are a lot of extremist voices that are getting really loud. In our case, there are a lot of people in the middle, both on the left and the right.”
Pittsburgh resident Mor Greenberg had to wait until after Simchat Torah before she could react to Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attack in Israel.
Appalled by the images she saw and the reports she read on Twitter and other news sources, Greenberg immediately jumped into action.
“It was sickening. I had to get to work right away,” she said.
Director of public affairs at Coldspark, a political consulting firm that counted Nikki Haley’s Super PAC SFA Fund as a client, Greenberg had clients in Israel who needed assistance.
“There were people missing from all over the country,” she recalled. “Some people had been killed, some had been kidnapped.”
Those first few hours and days were spent assisting clients on the ground in the country.
It wasn’t long before ColdSpark found out that one client had been murdered by Hamas.
“It was just shock and horror,” Greenberg said. “It was a matter of informing people that she had died — and doing so sensitively.”
A harsh reality was becoming apparent: Israel was at war and groups needed supplies and money.
“There were a lot of these grassroot organizations getting together and sending things like medical supplies,” Greenberg said. “So, we were helping to get the word out about that.”
Many of ColdSpark’s clients were able to legally send money to Israel so Greenberg helped communicate that message.
“I needed people to know that these organizations were the place to come with donations,” she said.
The campaign used a broad spectrum of tools, including targeting people on social media and email campaigns, and even physical mail and texting were used.
Everyone wanted to contribute, Greenberg noted, and it was her job to communicate how people could make donations.
It was an exhaustive process involving ColdSpark’s entire staff working 12-hour days, including graphic designers, videographers, copywriters and account managers.
“No one complained,” she said. “Everyone did what was needed.”
Simultaneously, some of ColdSpark’s clients were being asked to testify before Congress to ensure proper information was being relayed about what happened on Oct. 7, what was continuing to happen in Israel and the need to correct misinformation that had begun to be transmitted — not to mention the antisemitism and anti-Zionism that was popping up on places like college campuses and social media.
“There was this whole domestic antisemitism that exploded overnight,” Greenberg said. “A lot of the earned media was making sure that people understand the situation and knew how bad the antisemitism was.”
Greenberg said that when clients would testify on the Hill it was ColdSpark’s responsibility to get them booked on both national and local newscasts.
Of course, not all of her work was done for national clients.
Greenberg’s children attend Yeshiva Schools of Pittsburgh. They, along with other students, teachers and members of the school’s administration have faced antisemitic attacks since Oct. 7.
Knowing that security — and its cost — was going to be an issue for the school, Greenberg volunteered to help organize the 36-hour “Here to Stay” fundraiser with a $600,000 goal. It raised nearly $665,000.
Sadly, the goodwill present immediately after the terrorist attacks has begun to dissipate, she said.
“It went from them begging us for information to now I have to craft things very creatively to get them,” she said. “It’s all about the human story, less about what’s going on. It’s all about how are we going to get people to care about this.”
Greenberg recently assumed a new role with ColdSpark. Along with Jeremy Neuhart, she now heads the firm’s new public relations entity, Citadel Communications.
The agency will help ColdSpark’s non-political clients who want to be serviced by a non-partisan entity.
Greenberg said that not all of Citadel’s clients are Jewish or Israeli, but many are. The goal is to help those who are centrists and looking to speak to Middle America.
“There are a lot of extremist voices that are getting really loud,” she said. “We see it locally and nationally. In our case, there are a lot of people in the middle, both on the left and the right.”
Greenberg’s work was honored with Reed Awards, which recognize the best political campaign professionals from around the world, in 2022 and 2023. She’s been nominated for this year’s awards as well.
A Jewish wife and mother of five, her job often requires her to be out of the home, including monthly trips to New York and Washington, D.C., but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t also plan birthday parties, shop for the family, attend school meetings or ready Shabbat meals.
And while juggling a Jewish home and work isn’t for everyone, she said, it works for her family.
“I wouldn’t want it any other way,” she said. “It’s fulfilling, meaningful and an honor to work with organizations doing such good work.” PJC
David Rullo can be reached at drullo@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.
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