As a result of the success and work on the LVT Revitalization plan, the city of Fort Worth engaged The Collaborative to develop a Communications and Public Relations template for Neighborhood Services staff to use on each NIP. To date, The Collaborative has launched three NIP programs across the city.

In 2023, The Collaborative developed and implemented the public engagement strategy for the Historic Main, Northside Fort Worth NIP. The plan included unique community events, partnering with other city Departments to promote the project, digital public meetings, surveys, value add events – bringing additional city and non-profit resources to events, among others. The team wrote, developed and promoted an online survey and conducted survey analysis with final deliverables presented during City Council Work session meetings on program progress. Upon conclusion of the most recent NIP (Historic Main), the team exceeded city expectation of community participation by 25 percent.

The Eastman Chemical Company had been informed of an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) review of regulatory standards potentially affecting its operations at the Longview, Texas facility. The Collaborative was engaged to manage the public meeting to include participation from EPA, elected officials, the local community and Eastman Chemical. As the EPA reviewed certain environmental standards, Eastman was required to present technical updates on its facility, methodology and process to adhere to safety standards and ultimately communicate information to stakeholders.

As mandated by the EPA, the meeting would be held virtually and required a Zoom friendly presentation. The Eastman team would have 10 minutes to present, followed by a 60-minute ‘Question and Answer’ segment. With only five weeks to prepare and execute, The Collaborative team got to work – developed messaging, all written materials, media materials, internal and external communications strategy and elected official briefings. The Collaborative team brought in strategic partners to support technology – building a temporary studio at the facility and designed an interactive layman’s presentation. Concurrently, The Collaborative developed and executed an internal and external communications strategy, providing employees and stakeholders with facts on the process, issues, timeline and next steps; developed the script and coached Eastman Executives with on-camera presence and presentation. To ensure a robust meeting with all sides represented, The Collaborative called on existing relationships in the Longview, TX community, provided briefings on the issue, ultimately securing supportive stakeholders’ attendance and participation during the meeting.

At the close of the short-term engagement, the Eastman team received confirmation from the EPA it was, in fact, adhering to all standards and would not be affected by any new regulations.

The Collaborative used the process to help Eastman (re)establish relationships in the community, begin new partnerships and deepen its ties to the community beyond its sprawling campus. The Eastman Chemical team shared that the Collaborative was paramount in guiding them through this process, guiding the entity to a successful outcome.

The Collaborative team has been engaged by TRWD under numerous contracts to support proactive communications efforts. To date, our work with TRWD has included: serving as agency of record for their communications and marketing departments, providing district wide media training for all forward-facing departments, crisis communications strategists and serving as liaison with city and county elected officials.

Most recently, The Collaborative was brought in to enhance TRWD’s recruiting and retention efforts. The Collaborative developed the “first of its kind” partnership with Tarrant County College to partner with TRWD in developing a training curriculum within the Community College. The program assures that TRWD has much needed seasonal work staff and assures the necessary training and education – free of charge to the employee– to parlay that into a career. The Collaborative developed the program entirely from inception to implementation and is entering into its second year of success.

The Collaborative was engaged by project lead, Interface Studios, to partner on this Neighborhood Revitalization program. After an intensive process, the Collaborative team was selected for the project. The project developed a strategic plan of investment in the community with our team leading the public involvement portion of the program.

The Collaborative launched an intelligence gathering effort with longtime residents, business owners, parents, as well as key community partners and stakeholders. Learning that an overwhelming mistrust existed from the community with the city of Fort Worth, city department staff, the Fort Worth Police Department and others, building trust became the top priority.

The Collaborative team identified and began reaching out to trusted leaders in the community to become ambassadors for the project. The team conducted more than two dozen meetings with community leaders, developing trusted relationships and ultimately became the trusted project ambassador with a multitude of partners. Additionally, our team developed a bilingual project survey which garnered significant and critical project input. To increase responses and community morale, the team organized a community block party with food, entertainment, games and survey stations to garner additional, in-depth feedback on the project.

The NTCOG conducted a Campus Mobility Study to better understand current mobility issues, options and feedback from campus stakeholders. To assure active involvement and participation, the Collaborative established an oversight committee and a project action committee (PAC) to oversee the plan development.

To secure program participation, the team designed, held and led multiple onsite events at six college campuses across North Texas, three Facebook Live events, and “piggybacked” on strategic partner events to engage key stakeholders. Upon conclusion of the public involvement activities, our team yielded one of the highest stakeholder feedback responses of recent NTCOG projects. Our final project deliverable was a report and presentation of the survey analysis and recommendations to the NTCOG.

The Collaborative was retained by Read Fort Worth to conceptualize and manage its first-ever virtual Read Fort Worth Stakeholder meeting during Covid-19. We coined the virtual event ‘Power in Partnerships’ and convened FWISD Superintendent Dr. Kent Scribner and Mayor Betsy Price together for a discussion on literacy and education.

The Collaborative recommended a digital event from a FWISD Library. Managing everything from invitation language to drafting Executive Director Elizabeth Brands’ remarks, interfacing with city and FWISD staff, managing the IT/AV on-site team, securing former U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, now of Texas 2036, to provide opening remarks, created the idea of, and implemented the Don Babers Reading Rewards Program, now permanently within the organization to donate books to high performing campuses.

Further, we conducted all media outreach, securing coverage in Fort Worth Business Press, Fort Worth Star-Telegram and Madeworthy, with more than 65 percent of stakeholders attending the program. The Read Fort Worth team reengaged The Collaborative to assist in organizing regional educational advocacy. We created a three-pronged strategy: secure influential support, engage legislators and educate the public. We assembled Mayor Price and Superintendent Scribner, as well as all 16 superintendents from Tarrant County for the first time ever. In a hybrid, virtual and in-person meeting at Fort Worth City Hall, the group discussed and agreed to next steps for regional success: a letter to the Tarrant County legislative delegation to be delivered on Tarrant County Legislative Day. Concurrently, we secured placement of the legislators’ letter in the Fort Worth Business Press, signed by most superintendents across Tarrant County.

Later, the Read Fort Worth team again engaged The Collaborative to manage and support its second Power in Partnerships virtual program in May 2021. We conceptualized new features for the May program, 1) The Literacy Accord – an agreement between Read Fort Worth, FWISD and the City of Fort Worth, to formalize their commitment to FWISD students and 2) creating/announcing an annual Read Fort Worth Literacy Champion and Education Innovator Award. Both are still going strong today.