Maura McCarthy is the Director of Digital Content for the World Wildlife Fund. Since 2011, Maura has managed all aspects of worldwildlife.org, determining the voice, tone and breadth of content seen by the site’s more than one million monthly visitors. She also leads content development for WWF’s apps, including its award-wining app WWF Together, helping the organization expand its digital footprint across platforms for targeted audiences. Prior to WWF, Maura worked as Editor for Smithsonian.com and Arts and Living Editor at washingtonpost.com.
Center for Social Impact Communication: Describe your career path and your current position.
Maura McCarthy: It wasn’t a career I planned from the start. I went to graduate school to study art history, which lead to work in museum and archive curation. From there, I went into journalism, first as museums editor at washingtonpost.com and later as an arts and features editor. As my areas of interest kept expanding, I moved to Smithsonian.com, overseeing digital content across a range of topics. After a while, I was interested in applying my skills toward a cause I believed in — and I had developed a passion for science and conservation while at Smithsonian. When the opportunity arose at WWF, I jumped.
The Center: What is your best piece of career advice?
MM: Embrace change. Be open to seeing where opportunities lead and what interests might develop. It’s essential to be able to change course and move even in an unexpected direction. We don’t have the luxury of being complacent in anything we do- and who would want to be?
The Center: What career accomplishment are you most proud of and why?
MM: Being a change agent within a mature organization can be challenging. But at WWF, I’m part of the team expanding our mobile storytelling and digital engagement efforts, which is opening up new audiences and new potential donors. Our first app, WWF Together, was an opportunity to take our brand onto a new platform — and seeing how audiences have embraced it has been tremendous.
The Center: What can someone do early in his/her social impact career to secure a position similar to yours?
Worry less about the position and organization and more about the skills you’re acquiring while there. It’s your core skills that will bring you along.
The Center: What skills are necessary to working in digital content?
MM: An openness to experiment and test. Especially if resources are limited. It’s one of the great things about working in the digital space — there are terrific opportunities to try new things quickly and get immediate feedback. Some things will work and others won’t, but either way you’ve gained invaluable insight into your audience.
The Center: What is your go to source to learn about cause communications trends?
MM: Since I’m driven by content, I Iike content.ly and Digiday. Both sum up the smartest things brands are doing in the digital space. I’m also constantly inspired when I look around at what other NGOs are doing in this space.
The Center: Is your organization hiring?
Absolutely! Check our listings at worldwildlife.org/careers