Empowering Youth Activism with 10For10
This is a Better to Speak Communications case study, to highlight our previous partnerships and projects with Black community leaders and organizations.
CONTENT STRATEGY – BRAND STORY COLLATERAL – CONTENT CREATION
photo by Nikki Rae photography
CIRCLE, the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning & Engagement based at Tufts University Tisch College of Civic Life, conducted a post-2020 election survey on youth civic engagement during the pandemic.
The survey found that roughly half of youth aged 18-29 said they were able to experience a higher sense of well-being despite being impacted by the pandemic, in part because they had access to opportunities to be engaged in community decision-making, organizing and community-building.
However, the survey also found that youth experienced disparities in that access and in the continuity of those opportunities to engage, as opposed to disparities in enthusiasm as is often the dominant narrative.
This is the basis for Better to Speak’s work – to reach young Black folks who are looking for ways to get involved and create sustainable pathways for them to do so. It’s exactly why when 10For10 – an organization led by BIPOC youth based in Denver, Colorado – approached BTS to help with their branding and social media, saying yes was a no-brainer.
During the fall of 2002, 10For10 hosted an in-house intensive in Washington, D.C. (think Revenge of the Dreamers III for youth organizing) for their team to develop the organization’s network and programming. Better to Speak was invited to help out with its communications, branding and marketing.
We learned pretty quickly that 10For10 has already made such an incredible impact. My role through Better to Speak was to identify and create ways to help them multiply that impact as they planned to establish their official non-profit status and expand to other cities in the U.S. including Washington, D.C.
Get to know 10For10!
The Challenge
The main challenge that we noticed in terms of their messaging and branding was that while 10For10 is known for the “Black Men Feed” initiative that rallied together young Black men at Howard University’s Drew Hall, in Denver and most recently in Houston, Texas – they had numerous other initiatives to share with their community, as well as potential partners and funders.
The Solution
Starting with a creative brief to outline my role with the 10For10 team, together we decided on the following:
High-level consultation on content strategy, as well as assistance with copywriting
Template Pack – including social media graphics, letterheads and a slide deck
Messaging Refresh – including updates to the about us, mission, vision and pillar statements
Brand Story Collateral – see below!
The Outcome
The months we spent with 10For10 were so much fun and such a great learning experience. Working with them set the foundation for the kind of relationships and experiences we hope to have with our clients and partners – one where it feels like family, leads to creative opportunities to be and become our best for ourselves and for our communities.
Here are some specific milestones the 10For10 team experienced on our journey together!
The 10For10 team received a $10,000 donation from the Colorado Health Foundation with a pitch deck they created using the presentation slide deck template Better to Speak created. They also used the social media graphic template to announce this amazing milestone on Instagram!
We later decided to do a website refresh – specifically to update the copy and page structure to highlight their programs, partnerships and accomplishments. Check out their site here.
A bonus milestone from this experience was a content partnership 10For10 asked me to do with Renee Millard-Chacon, Youth Program Director at Spirit of the Sun and co-founder of Womxn from the Mountain, about “ThanksTaking.” Check out the full conversation below!
