Role: Values definition, listening sessions, branding and full identity, data visualization, mapping, motion graphics, web design/development…
Collaborators: Chris Valdez (Laredo Street), Environmental Defense Fund, Air Alliance Houston, Public Citizen TX, Environmental Integrity Project, Environment Texas, Rice University
Creating an new vision for Houstonian’s to advocate for better air quality
The goal
In the summer of 2016 a partnership of organizations that advocated for better air quality was convened by the Houston Endowment to explore a working partnership to raise awareness and concern for air quality in the region. A recent Kinder Survey showed it had dropped on the list of Houstonian's concerns and the partnership sought to show the risks of bad air quality through more thorough media coverage.
Approach
I worked with Chris Valdez (of Laredo Street) to first define the values and vision of the partnership, and then to define a name and visual identity for the project that would come out of the exploratory stage. We conducted a series of listening sessions and workshops which served as the foundation for all the initial branding and identity development.
The collaboration was successful and I worked as part of the One Breath team until 2024. Over the years we refined our strategy of providing editorial content to support air quality and broader climate and environmental issues in the Gulf Coast region. We organized countless campaigns and partnerships with community organizations, produced documentary films, long-form editorial content, a monthly newsletter that grew to thousands of subscribers, circulated action alerts that generated significant feedback to local and state officials, and so much more.
Impact
This project was successful in its initial goal to return air quality to being a concern of Houstonians, and in bringing human-first media coverage to the issue. By amplifying and highlighting stories from community leaders we were able to support their growth and ability to share their stories directly with the media.
