Earlier this year I had a chance to ask our founder, Jim Desautel, if he ever imagined the agency he started in his basement in 1996 with a landline and personal printer would grow like it did in the last few years, especially in 2022.
“Absolutely,” he said without missing a beat, his iconic smirk creeping up. “Maybe just not this fast.”
How did DH grow in 2022? What sort of impact did we help clients make for communities they serve? Take a look by the numbers.
Strategic acquisition of a longtime partner based in Seattle, WA.
New DH team members. That’s 21 new full time positions in the last three years!
Fish thrown through the air every day a few steps from our new Seattle office.
Businesses and nonprofits funded through WA’s Small Business Flex Fund, totaling $71.2 million dollars in loans to historically excluded small businesses in the wake of the pandemic. We’ve been proud to develop and manage this campaign and another like it in Connecticut with our friends at National Development Council and partner agencies.
Organizations DH has volunteered or served on boards for this year, including Association of Washington Business, Global Neighborhood, Vote Safe America, Washington Trails Association, Spokane Parks Foundation, Seattle Metro Chamber, Boys and Girls Club, collegiate student mentoring programs, Seattle International Film Festival, North American Social Marketing Association, IPREX DEI Committee, and so many more!
$19.5M
Total investment.
$13.6M
Allocated to community partners from October 2020 to September 2022
$5.8M
Invested in partner capacity building including technical assistance.
Continents visited, including for the Annual Global Conference in Amsterdam with our IPREX partners to exchange best practices on global communications trends; a trade mission to Tokyo with business leaders across Washington state; and local conferences with PRSA, Croft Society and more.
Years serving Seattle’s hometown airline, Alaska Airlines, across a wide array of public relations initiatives to tell their story of caring for guests and serving the communities they call home.
Creative assets across 5 languages in our campaign to address mis- and disinformation for Washington’s Office of the Secretary of State, we described the process and security of elections in Washington. Through community media advertising and partnerships with community-based organizations, the campaign reached an estimated 822,000 Washingtonians.
Speaking gigs about social change marketing,
partnerships with trusted message carriers, research informed campaigns, and equity-centered methodologies including at PRSA International Conference, Washington State Public Health Association, Pacific Northwest Social Change Association and more.
∞
Love for our newest DH Partner, wedding cake baker, squirrel nurse, Articulator in Chief, impassioned champion for our team and overall swell person Nico Archer.
So, yeah — a busy year.
More than anything, we want to thank our clients, partners and friends (often one in the same) for trusting us to help solve tough issues through communications. Financial institutions, state agencies, health providers, community nonprofits and more — we’re incredibly proud to stand with you as you improve the health, safety and economic outcomes of communities, equitably.
Cheers to another year in the books, and bright things ahead!
We're here to help
If you need help working through communications strategy, media engagement or audience engagement during this time, give us a call. We’re happy to talk strategy and help.