Over the last
20 years,
Outreach Strategists has grown into one of the largest public relations, research, and media firms in Texas.
The firm is a proven leader in strategic communications for corporations, nonprofit organizations and government entities. Our firm’s leadership designs and delivers sophisticated public relations, crisis communications, marketing initiatives, institutional strategic plans, and innovative policy research, resulting in pivotal outcomes for our clients.
Outreach
With over 35 associates and senior media and public affairs experts, our diverse team has the experience, relationships, and judgment to tackle the most complex challenge and turn crisis into opportunity. Outreach Strategists’ seasoned professionals and digital natives know how to bring people together, leverage the growing digital landscape and deliver results.
our services
Transforming Perspectives, Engaging Audiences, and Driving Impact
Research
Outreach Strategists, an award finalist for Affordable Housing Research, demonstrates proficiency in understanding people’s thoughts. Through qualitative interviews, surveys, and analysis, we drive actionable insights to transform brands and engage audiences.
Advertising
Award-winning Texas Department of State Health Services campaign partnered with Outreach Strategists for a geotargeted, bilingual digital initiative, reaching 8.6+ million impressions, promoting breastfeeding and safe sleep practices to reduce infant mortality.
Public Relations
Outreach Strategists, led by an Emmy-winning team, excels in public relations. With $30M+ in earned media, successful TV partnerships, and impactful community engagements, we elevate profiles and drive public engagement.
Public Affairs
Outreach Strategists, partnering with AARP Texas since 2011, excels in public affairs. From building community engagement strategies to tackling historic ordinances on payday lending, we navigate complex issues with expertise.
Training
Outreach Strategists transformed Houston Police Department’s training with a TCOLE certified cultural intelligence curriculum. Through scenario-based exercises and community input, we fostered critical thinking and mutual respect, achieving a 90% appreciation rate.
Campaigns
Initiatives
At Outreach Strategists,
we know how to listen
Our research team helps both emerging and established brands transform their businesses, create differentiation, engage targeted audiences, change public perception, and drive growth.
THE STORY
BEHIND THE STORY
America in One Room
In 2019, America in One room delivered 526 Americans representing 50 states to Fort Worth, Texas. Participants spent the weekend discussing and sharing their opinions and experiences…
Houston Police Department
The Houston Police Department (HPD) has over 5,000 sworn officers, over 1,000 civilian personnel, and serves a fast-growing population of around 2.3 million people. Ranked the fourth largest city in…
Takata Airbag Recall
About 2.5 inches in diameter and 9 inches long, this replacement airbag inflator comes with an extensive list of precautions, including never bringing into contact with electricity, storing above 200…
Uber
Outreach Strategists led public engagement for the largest auto safety recall in U.S. history. In major Texas markets, including Houston and Dallas, we successfully organized a coalition of more than 140…
Workforce Solutions
Outreach Strategists led public engagement for the largest auto safety recall in U.S. history. In major Texas markets, including Houston and Dallas, we successfully organized a coalition of more than 140…
2 OFFICES
425 Massachusetts Avenue NW, unit 1222, Washington DC, 20001
Outreach Strategists engaged in a significant research initiative in collaboration with the City of Houston Housing and Community Development Department, focusing on the critical issue of affordable housing. The primary objective was to formulate effective messaging and engagement strategies that could counter prevailing skepticism and mistrust within the community. This extensive research unfolded in three distinct phases:
Literature Review:
A comprehensive national literature review delved into news articles, videos, podcasts, books, and reports covering housing shortages, affordable housing, and Houston’s housing landscape.
The review scrutinized how various municipalities communicated the positive impacts of affordable housing, pinpointing reasons behind sentiments, concerns, and immediate mistrust among developers, city agencies, and community members.
Partner and Expert Interviews:
Outreach Strategists conducted over 20 in-depth interviews with key stakeholders, including nonprofit organizations, developers, agency staff from the City of Houston Housing and Community Development Department, and community advocates such as the Texas Housers organization and legal advocates.
These interviews aimed to identify the unique challenges to affordable housing in Houston and develop tailored recommendations.
Focus Groups:
Six virtual focus groups were conducted across two days, involving 52 participants from seven city council districts.
Organized by neighborhoods due to Houston’s demographic, geographic, and economic diversity, these focus groups aimed to gain profound insights into regional attitudes, discern distinctions between neighborhoods, and identify common sentiments shared across participants.
Results:
The culmination of this research effort is presented in an extensive report designed to be a valuable resource for a diverse set of stakeholders, including the City of Houston, developers, nonprofits, small business owners, activists, and community members. Additionally, a meticulously crafted messaging toolkit has been included, specifically tailored for developers. This toolkit offers comprehensive guidance on what to say, how to say it, and to whom. It also provides collateral templates for various communication channels, including press releases, letters to community leaders and agencies, invitations to community events around affordable homes, infographics, brochures, social media graphics, and more.
For in-depth insights and detailed resources, you can access the full report here and explore the messaging toolkit.
The Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) and Outreach Strategists collaborated on an award-winning digital marketing campaign aimed at addressing the high infant mortality rates in the United States, particularly associated with sleep-related deaths. The campaign focused on promoting continuous breastfeeding and safe infant sleep practices as crucial measures to reduce preventable infant deaths.
Campaign Objectives:
- Raise awareness among parents and caregivers about safe infant sleep and breastfeeding.
- Educate and engage employers, hospitals, and public health partners on evidence-based strategies for breastfeeding support and safe infant sleep.
- Position DSHS Maternal and Child Health Unit as a trusted source for reliable information on infant health and safety.
Campaign Strategy:
Outreach Strategists designed a bilingual digital campaign strategically targeted to high-risk areas for infant mortality. The campaign ran across various platforms, including Meta (Facebook and Instagram), LinkedIn, Programmatic Display Ads, Over-The-Top Television (OTT), TV, and radio.
Creative Elements:
- Seven motion images and two videos representing diverse Texas families in English and Spanish.
- Radio spots and TV ads in both languages.
Tactics:
- The campaign ran from September to December 2022, with motion images featured on social media and OTT video ads on streaming networks.
- TV spots and radio ads were strategically placed on major English and Spanish stations across Texas, including endorsements by popular radio personality Ashlee Young.
Outreach Strategists, with a team comprising seasoned professionals, has been pivotal in enhancing Workforce Solutions’ (WFS) public image since 2016. The collaboration navigated challenges during the early days of the pandemic, redirecting media focus to WFS’s mission of aiding job seekers amid unemployment issues. Key achievements include:
Earned Media Success:
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- Over 1,200 mentions, resulting in $30 million in earned media value.
- Strategic management during the pandemic garnered ongoing positive coverage since April 2020.
Television Program Launch:
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- Leveraging relationships with local TV stations, Outreach Strategists facilitated a 30-minute weekly TV series, “Your Career Your Choice – Powered by Workforce Solutions,” at no cost.
- KHOU-TV picked up the program with an initial 13-episode order, premiering in August 2022.
Hiring Red White & You Event:
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- Significant growth and increased awareness for the veteran career fair.
- More than 10,000 attendees and over $300,000 in earned media value between 2016 and 2019.
Community Engagement:
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- Organized roundtable discussions fostering collaboration among community, civic, and business leaders.
- Facilitated more than 30 meetings with employers, community-based organizations, and government officials between 2016 and 2022.
Public Relations Methodology:
- Utilizes earned media opportunities due to restrictions on using federal and state workforce development funds for paid media.
- Issues press releases and media advisories to publicize events, economic data, and programs.
- Regularly engages local media with press releases on employment figures, establishing credibility as a go-to source for economic data.
- Pitches events and training opportunities to local broadcast outlets, resulting in regular interviews and appearances.
- Effectively managed reputation during the early days of the pandemic, changing the narrative and securing regular airtime for Workforce Solutions.
- Video production expertise employed for the creation of “Your Career Your Choice” TV series, promoting job search services, career training, and more.
The comprehensive approach by Outreach Strategists has not only elevated Workforce Solutions’ public profile but also contributed significantly to positive community engagement and awareness.
AARP and Coalition, Historic ordinance- payday lenders to curb largest in the South
SCOPE
Outreach Strategists has conducted continuous community and public engagement activities for AARP Texas since 2011, focused on the Greater Houston region. AARP struggled with developing local angles on many of its key, national-level issues, and needed local experts who could develop programs and initiatives to give a human face to public policy outcomes. Our varied projects have included building community engagement strategies, conducting in-depth research into underserved communities, building strategic local partnerships, and supporting community-based coalitions.
ROLE
Over the course of 10 years, our evolving role with AARP has ranged from strategic communications to building community coalitions and implementing programs across Texas. On an ongoing basis we help AARP manage community engagement efforts such as roundtable discussions and provide local public affairs support in key markets.
Among our initiatives with AARP have been engaging the Greater Houston community on the matters of payday lending and complete streets, an initiative to improve transportation for motorists, public transit riders, pedestrians, and bicyclists. Both of these matters are public policy issues in the hands of the City of Houston and were led by different coalitions. We developed and executed a strategic messaging and outreach plan for both of these matters designed to gather public attention in the media and build productive working relationships with the City.
Scope
The Houston Police Department (HPD) is the fifth-largest in the United States, with over 5,000 sworn officers and over 1,000 civilian personnel, serving what has been identified by demographers as the most diverse city in the nation. Outreach Strategists was hired by to design and conduct a TCOLE certified cultural intelligence training curriculum that would foster critical thinking skills and build on mutual respect and trust between HPD personnel and the diverse communities that they serve in order to increase Departmental-wide effectiveness.
Role
The training curriculum we designed combined scenario-based and role play exercises with after-action reviews to help HPD personnel cement learning and to build empathy. In designing course content, we conducted numerous meetings and collected extensive input from organizations that represent a broad cross-section of Houston’s diverse communities, including the NAACP, LULAC, and the Urban League, to ensure broad-based community support for the training program.
Curriculum placed HPD personnel in scenarios where the department confronted events that had created strain between law enforcement and one of the many subsets of the Greater Houston community. Some HPD personnel would be asked to represent law enforcement, but a larger number represented other segments of the community, such as members of an advocacy organization, family members of persons involved in an incident with law enforcement, elected officials navigating the concerns of their constituents, and members of the press. Through this training, we facilitated productive discussion and participation in these role-playing scenarios so that HPD personnel learned from not just our trainers, but from each other as well.
Outcome
Our training program was attended by HPD’s over 6,000 sworn, civilian, and command staff over a period of 18 months. As an integral part of this training module, Outreach Strategists conducted reviews with HPD personnel to assess the effectiveness of the course content and exercises. Based on these reviews, we made iterative refinements and improvements to the curriculum and exercise design that led to better results and more effective training experiences. Based on quantitative data from participant evaluation forms, nearly 90% of HPD personnel expressed a strong appreciation for the quality, usefulness, and timeliness of the training.
The training course was subsequently highlighted in a publication by the Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services. This article may be viewed online at: https://cops.usdoj.gov/html/dispatch/08-2017/training_experience_for_le.html