Communicating for Impact
Masterclass
Fall 2026 Cohort
October-November 2026
Become a better sustainability communicator for your business.
Communicating sustainability has never been a more critical as businesses face increased demand for sustainability information from customers, investors, consumers, regulators, employees and other stakeholders—even as they must navigate greenwashing risks and political blowback. While many companies are resorting to greenhushing—staying quiet about sustainability progress—silence isn’t a viable long-term strategy when it leaves your stakeholders waiting in want.
And simply disclosing more sustainability data and information isn’t enough—stories are what motivate people to actually act.
Yet many companies struggle with sustainability communication due to those responsible for it often having only half the requisite skills:
Sustainability practitioners have strong sustainability subject matter expertise but often lack communications skills and experience.
Communication and marketing professionals might have good storytelling skills but typically don’t have deep sustainability subject matter expertise.
The Communicating for Impact Masterclass is designed to help address this gap by teaching students the fundamentals of sustainability communication, using practical lessons from Mike Hower’s new new book, Sustainability Storytelling: Communicate Trust, Brand Value, and Better Business. Taking place over four lessons, students will enjoy a mix of interactive lectures, discussions, and hands on workshopping that applies learnings to their organization’s sustainability messaging. All students receive a signed copy of Sustainability Storytelling, which they’ll encouraged to read in between lessons.
The masterclass centers around teaching one of the core frameworks from the book: The Four C’s of Effective Sustainability Storytelling.
The Four C’s of Effective Sustainability Storytelling
The Communicating for Impact Masterclass helps students master the Four C’s of Effective Sustainability Storytelling.
A professional development opportunity for mastering sustainability storytelling
Learning outcomes
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Understand the social, historical, and economic contexts of sustainable business.
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Craft sustainability messages that are contextual, compelling, credible, and compliant.
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Learn how to recognize greenwashing—and how to avoid it.
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Communicate sustainability’s business case.
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Work cross functionally to tell a unified sustainability story across your business.
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Frame sustainability messages to different stakeholder audiences.
What you’ll get
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8 hours of virtual instruction, featuring a mix of lectures and workshopping.
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A signed copy of Mike Hower’s book, Sustainability Storytelling.
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A certificate of completion and the right to display this achievement on your LinkedIn profile.
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The opportunity to apply lessons directly to your company’s existing or develop new sustainability messaging.
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Learn directly from a sustainability communication practitioner and author.
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Build community with fellow sustainability communicators across industries.
Who this masterclass is for
Sustainability Practitioners
Sustainability directors, managers, and analysts with sustainability subject matter expertise who want to strengthen their strategic communication skills.
Communications and Marketing Professsionals
Communications / Marketing directors, managers, and associates with communication expertise who want to learn how to apply this in a corporate sustainability context.
Meet Mike, Your Teacher
The Communicating for Impact Masterclass is taught personally by Mike Hower, a sustainability communication leader with nearly two decades of experience on both sides of the podium—as a journalist covering sustainable business and a consultant helping leading global companies like Mars, The North Face, Kashi, HP, Sandisk, Western Digital, and others develop and deliver authentic sustainability communication and reporting.
Mike founded Hower Impact to help organizations across industries better translate sustainability strategy and performance into effective stories. He has taught the Writing for Impact Masterclass, which focuses on helping sustainability professionals improve their writing abilities.
Mike is the author of, Sustainability Storytelling: Communicate Trust, Brand Value, and Better Business, the host of The Sustainability Communicator podcast, and writes The Sustainability Story Substack.
Class Schedule*
November 5, 2026
Lesson 2:
The Four C’s of Effective Sustainability Storytelling
In this lesson, we’ll do a deep dive into the Four C’s of Effective Sustainability Storytelling: Context, Compelling, Credible, and Compliant.
November 12, 2026
Lesson 3:
Developing Strong Sustainability Messages
In this lesson, we’ll discuss the fundamentals of what makes a story a “story” and how to develop sustainability messages that work.
November 19, 2026
Lesson 4:
Delivering Your Sustainability Story
In this lesson, we’ll cover actionable strategies for delivering your sustainability story to the world.
*All lessons will be recorded and shared on our course website.
October 29, 2026
Lesson 1:
Sustainability Comms Foundations
Sustainability Comms Foundations
In this lesson, we’ll cover the basics of sustainability communication: what it is, its historical context, and why it’s important for creating business value.
Frequently Asked Questions
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The Communicating for Impact Masterclass registration investment is $975.
Group discounts are available for organizations sending 2 or more employees. Please contact us to learn more.
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All classes begin at 10 am PST / 1 pm EST and are two hours long. Students are given a 10-minute break halfway through each class.
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The course is taught via Zoom. All lessons are recorded for students to revisit later.
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This class is designed for early-to-mid-career sustainability and communications professionals working at large companies.
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Yes! If your company offers a professional development stipend, we encourage you to use it for this course.
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This course helps you strengthen your skills and knowledge around communicating sustainability in business. Some learning outcomes include:
Understanding the social, historical, and economic contexts of sustainable business.
Crafting sustainability messages that are contextual, compelling, credible, and compliant.
Learning how to recognize greenwashing—and how to avoid it.
Communicating sustainability’s business case.
Working cross functionally to tell a unified sustainability story.
Framing sustainability messages to different stakeholder audiences.
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Yes! While we hope you can make it to every lesson, if you need to miss one for any reason you can review recordings on the course website.
Ready to invest in yourself as a sustainability storyteller?
Testimonials for Past Masterclasses
“The Writing for Impact Masterclass provided worthwhile and practical tools and habits for writing. These tools, along with instructor and peer feedback, helped elevate not only my writing ability, but my confidence and voice as well.”
— Dave Alden, Program Manager, Environmental Engagement, The Walt Disney Company
“Hower Impact’s Writing for Impact Masterclass codified a lot of best practices I had learned on the job into a much clearer framework for writing and gathering feedback. When you work in the comms field for a while it can be easy to get sloppy and adopt bad habits, taking this course forced me to examine my own writing process and develop a piece with more intentionality and thoughtfulness than I had in years.”
— Kati Kallins, Global Lead for Sustainability, Adobe
“The Writing for Impact Masterclass was exactly the course I had been searching for. In the small but ever-evolving field of sustainability communications, staying up to date on best practices and evolving legal regulations can feel overwhelming. Mike’s expertise and thoughtful, encouraging feedback made all the difference. This course was more than developing skills—it was about building community. It was truly refreshing and energizing to connect with peers who understand the opportunities and unique challenges in the sustainability communications space. If you’re looking for a course to sharpen your sustainability writing while fostering meaningful connections, this is the one!”
— Angelina Troia, Sustainability Communications Manager, Samsonite
Companies that have participated in past Hower Impact Masterclasses
