This graduate capstone project explores how leadership communication can contribute to major corporate ethical crises. Through a comparative analysis of Enron, Volkswagen, Wells Fargo, and the Tylenol crisis, I examined the role that leadership decisions, organizational culture, and internal communication practices play in shaping ethical outcomes and stakeholder trust.

The project required extensive research, case study analysis, and the application of strategic communication concepts developed throughout my graduate studies. By evaluating both successful and unsuccessful leadership responses, I identified common communication patterns that can either strengthen organizational credibility or contribute to long-term reputational damage.

This capstone represents the culmination of my Master's degree in Professional Communication and reflects my interests in crisis communication, leadership, organizational communication, ethics, and strategic decision-making.

This project called for developing a comprehensive strategic communication plan for San Francisco SafeHouse, a nonprofit organization that has provided housing, advocacy, and wraparound support services to women experiencing homelessness in the Bay Area since 1998.

Working as part of a three-person team, I contributed to audience research, donor segmentation, and the development of a messaging framework designed to increase brand visibility and deepen community engagement. The plan drew directly from the organization's Housing First model and examined how SafeHouse communicates its mission to prospective donors, partners, and the broader public.

The project required translating real organizational data into actionable communication strategy, identifying where current outreach fell short and proposing a phased approach to close those gaps. It reflects my interest in how nonprofits build trust, communicate impact, and sustain meaningful relationships with the people who support their work.

This research project was completed for my Quantitative Research Methods in Communication course at Santa Clara University and examines how communication between supervisors and employees can influence the quality of their workplace relationships. I focused specifically on whether supervisors who actively create opportunities for open communication can build stronger relationships with their employees.

To explore this question, I reviewed existing research on workplace communication, supervisor-employee relationships, communication channels, and leadership responsibility. From that research, I developed a hypothesis and designed a two-group experimental study that could test the effect of supervisor-initiated communication on perceived relationship quality. The proposed methodology included clearly defined variables, participant sampling, a one-week communication intervention, and measurement using a 7-point Likert scale.

This project gave me hands-on experience developing a research question into a fully testable quantitative study while strengthening my skills in literature review, hypothesis formation, research design, variable operationalization, and academic analysis. The infographic provides a concise overview of the larger research paper and its proposed methodology.