Lauri Hennessey: Closing the Circle, A Journey of Purpose and Passion
It’s not that Lauri Hennessey hasn’t enjoyed a rewarding career. Several, in fact.
“I had way too many careers to count!” she says. Her dynamic professional life began as a radio journalist, learning from “incredibly smart people” at a young age. From there, it was on to the historic corridors of Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., where she served as a press secretary in the United States Senate, an experience that led to her embracing a “sense of history.”
After working in the Senate, she held various senior communications roles in federal government agencies, then moved into the corporate world as a vice president at Edelman Public Relations in Seattle.
Her drive and passion for community impact led to her running communications at the local zoo, leading several non-profits, and shaping communication strategies for another national non-profit. Somewhere in the mix, Hennessey took a decade “off,” as she describes it, to raise her kids, running a small PR firm from home and consulting with nonprofits.
“I have mostly been in communications,” she says, “but also politics, journalism, and nonprofit leadership. I loved being on the Hill because of the sense of history. I loved working in PR because of the creativity. I loved leading nonprofits because of the feeling of doing good.”
Public Interest Communications: It Felt Like Coming Home
Despite her success, passion, and purpose, Hennessey had one goal yet to achieve. She had never completed her BA all those years ago. “I always meant to do it,” she says. “I always envisioned myself finishing the degree. But the years just flew by quickly. I did not want my life to go by and never finish school.”
One thing led to another, and once back in school, she began thinking how much she’d love to teach. “It was something that always interested me. So, I went back and got my MA in Florida as soon as I got my BA. I think I had a week off between the two. From when I started the BA completion to receiving my MA, it was just over four years, mostly during the pandemic,” she said.
With her experience and passion for communications, Hennessey enrolled in an online graduate program from the University of Florida’s College of Journalism and Communications. She chose the Master of Arts in Mass Communication with a concentration in Public Interest Communications program.
“I felt like I found a home when I came to the program,” she says. “I was instantly surrounded by people who were like me. We all had a passion for causes and doing good through communications. I was much older than my classmates, but they made me feel like part of the group.”
The sense of community and belonging she felt from the very first Introduction to Public Interest Communications class confirmed that this was where she was meant to be.
“We all keep in touch,” she says. “And I have stayed involved, attending and helping with the Public Interest Communications Summer Institute and feeling like part of the PIC community now. It has been utterly inclusive.”
Instruction for Changemakers
There was so much Hennessey loved about the PIC program that it’s difficult for her to zero in on one aspect.
“I became close to so many people at UF who let me jump in and quickly get involved,” she says. “Sam Snyder brought me into the program and was an amazing first instructor. I loved classes with Evan Kropp on storytelling, Cheryl Oberlin on how to teach courses, and many others.”
Hennessey emphasizes the significance of the community she created with other students, who, she says, “are all doing great work now. So, I guess the throughline is the community and connection, tied to the fantastic material.”
Hennessey uses what she learned in the PIC program daily in her latest role as a communications professor at the University of Washington. “UFCJC has a set of core academic tools for PIC teachers and students everywhere,” Hennessey explains. “They are the base of the program. From teaching people how to design campaigns on the back of an envelope to how to tell stories, I rely on the materials constantly.”
Finding Common Ground in a Troubled World
The program didn’t alter Hennessey’s worldview but made it more vivid. Her studies have “only made me more fiercely interested in finding common ground in this difficult time.”
In a turbulent world, communication’s power can shape positive narratives and effect change. Hennessey cites the Frank Talk When Ireland Said Yes about marriage equality in Ireland. “I use this video every time I teach, because it touches on so many key points in Public Interest Communications, from segmenting audiences and intentionally going to those you need in your campaign, to getting out of the negative frame and giving people a positive way to create change, to giving them a connection to someone in their own lives. It touched on many components of strong political campaigns I have worked on. I love seeing how much it continues to inspire students every day.”
When Hennessey recalls the emotional response from a friend’s Irish relative when she mentioned how that video has steered her teaching. “She said it felt like every person had a stake in marriage equality, and fractures fell away,” says Hennessey. “It was so inspiring to see the power of PIC.”
An article she read in her first class, “Truths from the Liar’s Table,“ is another example. “I still share the article with my students,” she says. “It speaks to the idea of people moving forward and finding a way to see the humanity in one another. This is a pretty critical time for us to find a way to do this more effectively, so I speak to that article and concept in my classes as much as I can.”
A Full Life
From journalism, politics, communications, volunteering, and now teaching, a desire to learn, contribute, and build positive narratives in challenging times has motivated her journey.
Hennessey earned her master’s degree in late 2022. In true form, she has since been busy teaching. She started teaching classes at the University of Washington. Soon after, she added classes at Seattle University and taught an online class at the University of Florida. She did all of this, she says, while “keeping my day job.”
The journey went full circle in January 2025 when she joined the University of Washington faculty. In the same school where she dropped out all those years ago and finally earned her bachelor’s degree, she now teaches Advanced Journalism and Public Interest Communications undergraduates. “It is a dream come true for me to teach these concepts to students,” Hennessey says.
Closing the Circle
When Hennessey first dropped out of school, it was on her father’s advice. She was juggling her budding radio journalism career with school. “I was having a breakdown,” she says. “You can always go back,” her father told her.
When Hennessey was about two months from earning her master’s degree, her father, who had been a school psychologist and had a Master of Education, was diagnosed with cancer. He died five weeks later. Before he died, Hennessey told him, “Hey, Dad! I’m going to be as educated as you! I am also going to have my master’s! You always said I would go back.” Her dad chuckled and said, “I was thinking four years, not 40.”
“He was so proud of me, as are my husband and three adult kids,” says Hennessey. It wasn’t easy. There was a lot of juggling, but it was worth it.
“It’s so funny, the things that matter to a person,” she says. Despite her exemplary career and work, she didn’t want her obituary to read “she went to school for five years,” and leave it at that.
That was never really in the cards. There was little chance Hennessey wouldn’t have found a way to close the circle by returning for her bachelor’s degree, earning a master’s degree, and then teaching advanced public interest communication at several universities.
In a career filled with highlights, Hennessey says getting her BA and her master’s later in life rank among the highest, saying: “It truly does make me more proud than almost anything I have done in my career.”
Posted: June 19, 2025
Category: Student Spotlight, UF CJC Online Blog
Tagged as: lauri hennessey, public interest communications, student testimonial
