Meet your Ragan Training content team

Last week, our existing Ragan Training hub— an on-demand, subscription-based hub collecting videos and resources from Ragan conferences and webinars— transformed into a full-fledged learning portal.

The Ragan Training learning portal integrates the hallmark features of an effective learning portal such as micro-learning modules with knowledge checks and quizzes, transcript dashboards for learners (and their managers) to track progress and much more.

We’ve already unpacked what makes Ragan’s new learning portal different, and introduced you to our incredible roster of inaugural instructors.

Now it’s time to meet the content team behind the scenes who make it happen.

Justin Joffe, Senior Director of Learning and Development, Ragan Communications

Justin Joffe is the senior director of learning and development at Ragan Communications, where he oversees the production of Ragan Training courses and content, along with the implementation of learning pathways across Ragan products and services.

In this role, Joffe serves as the content lead and subject matter expert for Ragan Training. He recruits and collaborates with guest instructors to produce industry-leading communications courses, in addition to teaching and producing courses of his own. Joffe also serves as an ambassador of Ragan Training, promoting the platform at industry events.

Previously, Joffe served as editorial director and editor-in-chief, leading Ragan’s editorial strategy across brands and products. In addition to his editorial duties, Joffe also advises the programming team on best-in-class conferences, webinars, and workshops during a time of unprecedented change in how communicators and marketers learn and meet.

Joffe remains a freelance journalist and communications writer specializing in travel, arts and culture, media and technology, and ad tech beats. Before joining the Ragan team, Joffe worked for Muck Rack, PR News, and The Observer. His writing has also appeared in several publications including Vulture, Newsweek, Vice, Relix, Flaunt, and many more.

Brian Pittman, Dean of Ragan Training and Manager of Strategic Programming, Ragan Communications

Brian Pittman has spent the last two decades elevating communicators’ skills and challenging the status quo in PR, journalism and events. As the Dean of Ragan Training and a manager of strategic programming at Ragan Communications, he produces virtual and live events that empower comms pros to level up, leads Ragan Learning Labs, writes the Ragan Training newsletter and regularly advises in the creation of Ragan Training explainers and shorts.

A former business magazine editor-in-chief turned comms innovator, Pittman introduced the first audio conference training series in the space and helped develop Ragan’s earliest certificate courses—paving the way for a profession where yesterday’s playbook is often “about as useful as skywriting in a hurricane.”

Raised as an expat in Norway, Brian channeled his passion for pop culture into a parallel screenwriting career. He’s gone toe-to-toe with Jason Statham on set—failing to prove the pen is mightier than the sword—and has sold multiple scripts with his writing partner. Credits include “The Mechanic: Resurrection” (Statham, Jessica Alba and Tommy Lee Jones), a surfing drama featuring Scott Eastwood and Rita Wilson, and a new project currently in development at Skybound Entertainment.

A digital marketer, journalist and content strategist, Pitman’s mission is to help communicators thrive—not just survive—in today’s evolving ecosystem. He’s interviewed everyone from past presidents and prime ministers to recent White House comms directors and AI execs, gleaning insights now funneled into Ragan’s editorial and training programs.

Pittman believes storytellers can change the world by creating new ones—a philosophy he applies equally to Hollywood thrillers and comms training. As Benjamin Franklin famously said and Pittman likes to remind comms colleagues, “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest”—a truth at the heart of the Ragan Training experience. When Pittman’s not elevating comms or penning scripts, you’ll find him on California’s Silver Strand Beach, avoiding left-breaking sentences and right-breaking waves.

Mike Prokopeak, Director of Learning and Council Content, Ragan Communications

Mike Prokopeak is director of learning and council content for Ragan Communications. In that role, Mike creates content for Ragan’s Communications Leadership Council and Ragan Training.

In collaboration with the learning advisors from Ragan’s Communications Leadership Council, Prokopeak uses the Ragan Framework, an industry-first blueprint for guiding communications learning and development as an investment linked to strategic value, to deliver a manager learning experience for Council members.

This managed learning experience features individualized development pathways for communications leaders and their teams based on key performance indicators at the individual and team level that are linked to business outcomes.

The Council uses a blended learning model that incorporates instructor-led courses, on-demand learning from Ragan Training, curated peer knowledge exchanges through the Council and personalized coaching from industry experts.

Prior to joining Ragan, Prokopeak was editor in chief at Chief Learning Officer magazine where he directed content for the brand’s award-winning magazine as well as events and benchmarking programs. A former high school teacher and U.S. Peace Corps volunteer, Prokopeak brings deep experience in education and curriculum development to his role at Ragan.

From micro-learning modules with knowledge checks and quizzes, transcript dashboards for learners and their managers to track progress and much more, the new Ragan Training is already becoming an indispensable resource for our community to keep learning and growing their skills as communications leaders.

Jess Zafarris, Editor at Large, Ragan Communications

Jess Zafarris spends most of her time trying to teach people how to do things that involve words—and sometimes, even make sense of them.

As Editor at Large at Ragan, Zafarris produces and leads courses that teach comms pros how to tell better brand stories, run smarter social media, and occasionally survive the chaos of it all.

As an adjunct professor at Emerson College, she brings a healthy mix of real-world experience and absolute chaos to her courses on social media, storytelling, journalism, communications and beyond. The students, professionals and authors who learn from her quickly discover that she’s the one who’ll tell them when something’s good, and when it could be a whole lot better.

Zafarris also helps writers level up through Writer’s Digest University, teaching all the things it takes to make words shine and, hopefully, not get fired while doing it. When she’s not in the classroom, writing her next book or making a TikTok for her latest brand partner, she’s presenting or moderating sessions at conferences like the Writer’s Digest Conference, the Future of Communications Conference, Social Media Week, Brandweek and State of Social, where she can be found talking about the things she’s obsessed with: writing, social media, marketing, language, and the dozens of reasons you should never stop learning.

If you’re looking to upskill yourself or your team, there’s no better time to join Ragan Training.