In an increasingly skeptical environment, the government affairs team’s standard messaging wasn’t breaking through. The company had built strong relationships with small business leaders through its corporate social responsibility program, but those program alumni’s voices remained disconnected from advocacy efforts. These alumni had genuine expertise about the policies affecting their communities—and the credibility to discuss them. But they lacked advocacy training, coordination, and established pathways to reach decision-makers.

Instead of asking the small business stakeholders to repeat corporate talking points, we helped them advocate for policies they genuinely believed would benefit their communities. This transformed once scattered individual relationships into coordinated collective action. Throughout, we used digital-first engagement approaches for scale and agility. Each phase built on the previous to create a sustainable advocacy infrastructure.

Learn: Understanding the Landscape

We ran workshops with CSR program alumni (the small business owners) to understand their policy priorities and advocacy experience. We analyzed competitor approaches and surveyed the nationwide community to understand shared interests and messaging preferences.

Lift: Enabling Authentic Voices

We then created digital spaces connecting alumni across the country for collaboration. We developed training programs to help emerging leaders become effective policy advocates and built content creation systems amplifying diverse, authentic stories.

Lead: Coordinated Campaign Execution

We designed core digital infrastructure including a website and data management tools. Organized strategic events and policymaker meetings were facilitated by credible community leaders with integrated media and grassroots campaigns.

Sustain: Ongoing Infrastructure

We maintain campaign momentum through quarterly strategy workshops and weekly project management. The sustainable advocacy infrastructure we created continues generating value beyond one-off campaigns.

The impact was immediate. Alumni participated in over 500 policymaker meetings, leading to multiple state and federal policy reforms through authentic grassroots pressure. The company's reputation with key decision-makers improved even more as authentic voices replaced corporate spokespeople.

Community engagement exceeded expectations, with an 80% alumni activation rate far surpassing typical corporate metrics. Private networks fostered ongoing collaboration beyond campaigns, with alumni reporting increased confidence as policy advocates. The platform gave them the tools they didn't know they needed and made lasting connections.

Media impact generated over 1,200 press mentions across local and national outlets. Stories focused on community impact cut through media noise where corporate spokespeople couldn't. Policymakers gained access to diverse, credible voices from their very own constituencies.

The value extended beyond any single campaign. We transformed scattered relationships into coordinated action and created a sustainable advocacy infrastructure that continues generating value. When authentic voices lead, policies change.