Episode 15: Nancy Groves - From Library Science to Global Impact: Knowledge, Communication, and the United Nations

In this episode of Shush-Free Zone, host Dawn Brushammar is joined by **Nancy Groves**, Chief of Digital Strategy at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in Nairobi, Kenya. Nancy's career has taken her from library school to CNN, NPR, the United Nations Library, global social media leadership, and now overseeing the digital strategy that helps communicate some of the world's most important environmental issues. Nancy shares how the same core principles of librarianship such as organizing information, understanding user needs, building trust, and making knowledge accessible continue to guide her work on a global scale. Sharing many anecdotes from her unique her career path, Nancy highlights how asking "What do people actually need?" transformed her career. Nancy also reflects on volunteering for opportunities before they officially existed, learning through curiosity, embracing international careers, and why librarians should never underestimate the value they bring to organizations. If you've ever wondered where a library degree can take you, this conversation is a powerful reminder that those skills can help inform decisions that affect millions of people around the world. **About Nancy Groves:** Nancy Groves is part of the senior communications team at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in Nairobi, where she leads digital communications strategy focusing on social media, web, knowledge management and digital transformation, multilingualism, and internal communications for the organization. She manages a team of 25 personnel, overseeing online coverage and editorial support for major international events including sessions of the UN Environment Assembly, negotiations towards a treaty on plastic pollution, World Environment Day, and global advocacy campaigns on climate, pollution and biodiversity. Prior to joining UNEP, Nancy spent 15 years with the Department of Global Communications at UN Headquarters in New York, where she conceptualized and led the Organization's multilingual social media strategy, supported Secretary-Generals Ban Ki-moon and António Gueterres and their spokespersons on digital and crisis communications, and organized live-streaming coverage of high-level UN events, including the UN General Assembly's first social media zone. She started her UN career in the Dag Hammarskjöld Library where she responded to questions from diplomats, journalists and the general public and started the first UN blog, called UN Pulse and the UN’s revamped intranet called iSeek. Her earlier career included research and editorial roles supporting broadcast newsrooms at CNN and NPR in Washington, DC. along with part time work at public libraries and community colleges in the DC area. Nancy holds a Master's degree from College of Information Studies at the University of Maryland-College Park and a double Bachelor's degree in English and French from Luther College.