Student Profile: Zoe Bultman, Persuasive Writing Credential’24

A Public Policy Lead for Rivian Automotive, Zoe Bultman has a deep commitment to advancing sustainability and bridging the gap between emerging technologies and equitable access. “A lot of my interest lies in ensuring that amazing technology and human ingenuity improve everyone’s lives exponentially. That’s the framework I spend my time on. One way to do that is to support policies that support emerging technology and create access for people that haven’t historically had it.”

Her policy work with emerging technologies, Bultman said, was what led her to the Persuasive Writing Credential (PWC) program at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy. “I wanted to more fully develop the skill to translate technical material to broader audiences. I felt I had a skills gap in storytelling and narrative framing, so I started looking for programs to support that. The policy focus of the PWC made it an ideal match."

The PWC’s approach to building compelling narratives was exactly what Bultman had hoped for. “I really liked how the program was set up. Before you aim to persuade people, you need to have a coherent and cohesive argument. In PWC, we spent the first weeks of the program developing strategies for creating airtight logic supported by sound evidence. Most critically, we focused on how all the components connected and supported one another to create an impactful narrative.”

For her capstone writing project, Bultman leaned into her experience at Rivian. “I wrote an op-ed about challenges with installing Level 2 charging stations in multi-unit dwellings, specifically in California. I highlighted how the set of incentives for all stakeholders involved were actually misaligned and sought to find a way to realign them, with the eventual goal of enabling more people to benefit from EV [electric vehicle] technology.”

Since participating in PWC, Bultman has noticed changes in how she analyzes policy and makes recommendations to stakeholders and regulatory bodies. “For example, using my PWC training, I was able to effectively help a bill author see how my suggested edits did not concede their values but did better align their policy's details to the technology it would regulate—all while keeping the argument focused on the higher-level human impacts important to the author.”

Bultman also said her PWC skills have given her more confidence in her ability to translate technical insights into a story. “Before PWC, I simply described technical insights in a technical nature. Now, I consider the intent of the folks I’m working with and translate the technical elements into a tangible larger picture. As a result, I’m more collaborative—and effective—in presenting and advocating policy suggestions to different audiences.”

Taking different audiences into account in her writing, Bultman said, also was a direct result of PWC. "In PWC, we learned about value framing, which helps you determine what narrative techniques are most likely to be effective with an audience. For example, when discussing the benefits of moving away from fossil fuels, one audience may be more responsive if I focus on future generations’ access to resources, and another audience may be more responsive if I lean into near-term national security. There are many ways to examine a policy issue, and PWC made it easier for me to think about how people view what they care about from different lenses.”

Bultman continued, “I'd argue that fundamentally, public policy provides vision and values. The government dictates the rules of the game; if we can set up incentives that make people want to play—and build things that help others—that’s the best-case scenario. Public policy is about setting a vision based on shared values that enables people to move society forward.”