Robin Goist

Background

About Robin Goist

I'm a passionate and driven storyteller and communications professional with a proven track record of high-quality journalism, public relations, and political advocacy. As a reporter, community organizer, spokesperson, and media relations manager, I have been publicly recognized for my creativity, writing skills, and public speaking abilities. At John Carroll University, I majored in Communication: Journalism with minors in Political Science and Gender, Sexuality & Women's Studies. I also studied social justice issues and effective social movements as part of the Arrupe Scholars scholarship program, with focus areas in workers' rights (particularly farmworkers), homelessness and poverty, criminal justice, and racial justice. My activism resulted in legal and legislative victories, and earned me the Campion Award at JCU, a statewide Ohio Student Association fellowship, and a national Newman Civic Fellows fellowship. Following graduation, I became a staff reporter for cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer - the metro daily newspaper and news site in Cleveland - where I covered breaking and general assignment news, reporting on politics, public policy, transportation, environment, and business stories. I was a beat reporter for the Akron/Summit County area for two years, and then led "Stimulus Watch," a public-service government watchdog journalism project to track taxpayer money coming into Northeast Ohio through the American Rescue Plan federal COVID-19 stimulus bill. After several years of being a journalist and interacting with public relations professionals, I decided to explore the world of mission-driven PR at the end of 2021 and started in the media relations department of PETA. In April 2023, I joined Mercy For Animals where I coordinate our media relations in the United States as part of efforts to construct a just and sustainable food system. The struggle to end factory farming is one of the most pressing social justice issues of our time, as it intersects with climate and environmental justice, workers' rights, corporate greed, biodiversity conservation, feminism, racial justice, human health, nutrition, and public health - including preventing the next pandemic. I am an ethical vegan (vegetarian since I was 10 years old), and it's deeply gratifying for me to use my journalism and public relations skills to advocate on behalf of animals, the planet, and a better future. In my free time, I write and report as a freelance journalist, editor, and communications specialist. Please reach out if you're interested in collaborating!