Here2Help DC: Multi-Agency Crisis Communications
CASE STUDIES · CRISIS COMMUNICATIONS · PUBLIC SECTOR MARKETING
CLIENT
DC Sustainable Energy Utility
ROLE
Marketing Program Manager
YEAR
Fall 2020
TYPE
Crisis Comms · Public Sector · Video Production
IMPACT AT A GLANCE
5
District agencies unified under one identity
1
Centralized public resource for all DC residents
Live
Here2HelpDC.dc.gov still publicly accessible
100%
Executed remotely across all agencies and production
SCOPE OF WORK
Campaign Website
Contributed content and messaging to the resident-facing digital hub
Video Production
Scripted, directed, and edited the multi-agency awareness video
Visual Identity
Developed the Here2HelpDC campaign logo and brand system
Cross-Agency Comms
Coordinated messaging alignment across five DC partner agencies
OVERVIEW
Five District agencies were communicating independently about overlapping utility relief programs, creating fragmented access and limiting uptake among the DC residents who needed help most. As part of the team behind Here2HelpDC, I led the campaign's creative and communications infrastructure: developing the visual identity, writing and producing the multi-agency awareness video, and coordinating cross-agency messaging across a shifting policy landscape. The campaign became DC's primary public-facing resource for utility relief throughout the pandemic.
Built fully remote across five District agencies
Built fully remote across five District agencies
"
One campaign. One identity. One destination.
CORE STRATEGIC PRINCIPLE -- HERE2HELPDC
THE WORK
The Challenge
Residents navigating financial stress and housing instability were being asked to navigate five separate agency communications to understand what help was available. Each agency operated on its own timeline, in its own voice, through its own channels. Coordinating five government entities under one campaign identity required alignment across multiple stakeholders with different approval processes and priorities, fully remote, with no existing playbook and rapid policy changes throughout.
Strategy
I prioritized brand unification as the strategic foundation, because a consistent identity is what makes a multi-agency effort feel coordinated rather than just co-branded. One campaign name, one visual system, one destination, regardless of which agency a resident found first. That decision reduced cognitive load for residents and built trust at a moment when institutional trust was the product.
Content on Here2HelpDC.dc.gov was organized around resident needs, not agency ownership. The video extended reach beyond residents regularly engaging with government websites by distributing across public service channels and digital platforms. DC311 amplified the campaign to residents who relied on direct government services rather than digital discovery. Each element was designed to remove a specific barrier between a resident and the information they needed.
EXECUTION
Developed the Here2HelpDC visual identity, including the campaign logo and brand system adopted across all five partner agencies
Developed standardized filming guidance to ensure consistency across independently recorded footage from five agencies
Contributed content and messaging structure to Here2HelpDC.dc.gov, organized around resident needs rather than agency structure
Wrote, directed, and edited a multi-agency awareness video under fully remote conditions
Distributed the final video across local public service channels and digital platforms
Coordinated cross-agency messaging alignment across multiple stakeholders as pandemic policies evolved
Developed the Here2HelpDC visual identity, including the campaign logo and brand system adopted across all five partner agencies
Multi-Agency Awareness Video
Scripted, directed, and edited fully remote across five DC agencies.
Here2HelpDC.dc.gov
Centralized resource hub organized around resident needs, not agency ownership.
Campaign Logo
Brand system applied across all five DC partner agencies.
Screenshot from video
Brand system applied across all five DC partner agencies.
CREATIVE ASSETS
KEY INSIGHTS
Clarity matters most in a crisis
When residents are stressed and overwhelmed, the most valuable thing a campaign can do is make the information impossible to miss, not just available.
Remote production deamnds more structure, not less
Scripting and filming guidance were not just logistical. They were the only way to make five independently recorded contributors sound and look like one coordinated effort.
A shared identity is a trust signal
When residents see the same logo and tone across every agency touchpoint, it tells them the city is working together on their behalf. That consistency is doing real communication work.
IMPACT
The campaign served as DC's primary public-facing resource for utility relief throughout the pandemic, reaching residents across multiple channels and reducing the barrier to understanding and accessing available programs. The communications infrastructure built for this campaign — a unified brand applied across five independent agencies under fully remote conditions — stands as documentation of what coordinated public-sector communications can look like at scale.