Desautel Hege

A big thank you to the Communicator Awards, which honor excellence, effectiveness and innovation. DH was recognized with several awards at its 30th ceremony!

🏆 Native and Strong | Washington State Department of Health: Award of Excellence for the "Life is Transformation" video, in which Kalispel Tribe member Stephanie Stoops shares her healing journey.

🏆 For Our Lives | Washington State Health Care Authority: Award of Excellence for “Innovation & Strategic Achievement - Social Impact.”

🏆 Friends for Life | Washington State Health Care Authority: Award of Distinction for “Innovation & Strategic Achievement - Social Impact.”

🏆🏆 Spokane Shares the Road | Washington Traffic Safety Commission: Two awards for the campaign website and brand visual appeal.

This work represents our amazing clients, incredible community and campaign partners, talented DHers, and hundreds of hours of hard work.

👏 Major kudos to our teammates! 🙌

On this day in 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law. It was a crucial step toward making the places we live, work and gather accessible to everyone.

DH works to create accessible physical and digital spaces and to foster a sense of belonging for our colleagues, partners and audiences. Here are a just a few ways we do that.

As we celebrate the progress marked by today’s anniversary, we keep learning about accessibility and inclusion. Here are a few resources that have helped us. Please share others in the comments!

ADA.gov provides comprehensive information on the law and how to implement it.

ADA National Network offers resources like a guide on writing about people with disabilities. Disability Rights Washington provides resources for protecting the rights of Washington residents.

DHers joined over 4,500 attendees last week at the Bloomberg Green Festival at Seattle Center for conversations about climate resiliency, workshops with climate-minded peers, and climate-related films and performances. Check out what GeekWire highlighted from the four-day summit.

Election impact on climate efforts is top of mind at first-ever Bloomberg Green Festival in Seattle A free performance by Pattie Gonia, a drag queen, artist and environmentalist, was part of the line up at the Bloomberg Green Festival held at the Seattle

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Kim Rudd had us rapt last week as she shared insights from her 35-year career with DH's Paj Nandi and the rest of our team at our summer retreat. Kim is President and Senior Counselor at Rudd Resources LLC in Chicago, one of DH’s IPREX partners. Rudd Resources advances people, communities and ideas for civically engaged and equity-minded clients.

Thanks for making the trip, Kim! And big congrats on Rudd Resources’ 10th anniversary.

DH partnered with the University of Washington’s Center for an Informed Public this week for a conversation about artificial intelligence and how it’s shaping the future of information and communication. Jevin West, who co-founded the center, shared his take on the promises and pitfalls of AI.�

The integrity of information is vital to our work and values, and AI is creating new opportunity and challenges. We appreciate our friends and colleagues who joined the discussion and the center for continuing this work.

Talk about iconic. DH helped host the Bloomberg Green Festival preview and mixer earlier this month at The Spheres in Seattle. The event brought together community and Bloomberg partners and sponsors before the main event. The Bloomberg Green Festival, presented by Amazon, is happening July 10-13 in Seattle. It will bring together collaborators, activists and innovators working in sustainability, design, culture, food, tech, data, science, policy and entertainment. And all of Seattle is invited to free programming! We know we’re excited. Details: bloomberglive.com/greenfestival

Today is Juneteenth, a national holiday commemorating the emancipation of African Americans after the Civil War. Community celebrations in Spokane and Seattle are marking the day.

In Spokane, the Inland Northwest Juneteenth Coalition is hosting its 14th annual celebration in Grant Park from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Enjoy music and games, shop from Black-owned businesses and artists, and learn more about this important holiday. Details: inwjc.org

In Seattle, Africatown Community Land Trust and King County Equity Now are hosting the Summer of Soul, the city's largest Juneteenth celebration. It’s from noon to 8 p.m. at Jimi Hendrix Park. Over 100 Black-owned businesses plus musicians, guest speakers and food vendors will gather to learn, connect and celebrate. Details: summerofsoulseries.org/juneteenth

Juneteenth — ACLT Summer of Soul Series JUNETEENTH JUNETEENTH WHAT: Juneteenth WHEN: June 19, 2024WHERE: Jimi Hendrix ParkTIME: 12PM - 8PM “Community is the highest form of liberation. “ - unknown RSVP + GRAB YOUR SOS MERCH Join us as we to commemorate the liberation of our ancestors from chat...

Congratulations to all the Outstanding Voices honorees at the Puget Sound Business Journal and GSBA Business of Pride Celebration. We were moved by your stories, advice and joy. As leaders advancing equity in the business world and beyond, you are making a difference!

Catalynt Solutions, Inc. provides raw materials, ingredients and services to customers around the world. After 30 years in business, the company was ready for a new identity. Catalynt’s rebrand conveys its growth and depth of services, as well as the talent and commitment of its team. See more of our work with this Edmonds, Washington-based business at https://wearedh.com/project/catalynt/

Spokane's first Pride march was in 1992, and Spokane Pride has been working toward LGBTQIA2S+ visibility and inclusion for all ever since. As a sponsor this year, DH shared opioid-overdose prevention materials from the Washington State Health Care Authority Friends for Life and For Our Lives campaigns. And for those who wanted to make their own swag, we brought our button maker.

Seattle Pride in the Park event was a great way to start Pride Month for DHers Elena Coe Dahl, Megan Hatheway and Paj Nandi. They spent last Saturday connecting with event goers, and sharing overdose- and suicide-prevention materials from the Friends for Life, For Our Lives and Native and Strong campaigns. Thanks to our campaign partners at the Washington State Health Care Authority and the Washington State Department of Health for their work to connect with folks in communities.

Seattle and Detroit have a lot in common. Last week, DH Partner Christine Varela (third from right) joined the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce in a trip to the Motor City to discuss sustainability, public-private partnerships, economic development, downtown revival and more with local leaders. They also toured the new Joe Louis Greenway, an urban park unifying three cities through a reclaimed rail line.

As a downtown Seattle business, we know farmers are the heart of the Pike Place Market community. The Pike Place Market Foundation Farm Fund campaign will provide direct, continued support to farmers so they can keep selling their goods directly to the community. We're happy to play a role as a founding partner of the campaign, alongside our client CLIA - Cruise Lines International Association, a founding sponsor.

https://pikeplacemarketfoundation.org/get-involved/give/donate-today/farm-fund/

We feel seen. New photos by Amber Fouts of our team members and office in downtown Seattle are bringing life to our redesigned website. See more of her work (and us) at https://wearedh.com/

When the owners of Uwajimaya, Inc. learned about a proposed light-rail station in the Chinatown-International District (CID), they worried it would adversely affect their diverse neighborhood of family-owned businesses, cultural gathering spaces, and homes.

Through community engagement and other strategies, they successfully advocated for a new station location that would benefit the neighborhood and better aligned with the CID community’s vision. Read more about DH’s work with Uwajimaya:

Uwajimaya | Public relations - We Are DH This family-owned business worried a proposed light-rail station would adversely affect their historically marginalized neighborhood. We helped them advocate for a station that provides tangible benefits instead.

DH has a new website, and we’d love for you to see it. Start with the page dedicated to DH founder, Jim Desautel.

Jim brought joy, passion, humor and truth-telling to everything he did. We are who we are as an agency because of who he was, the beliefs he held, the vision he had, and how he brought it all to life.

Learn more about Jim’s extraordinary life and legacy–from his early years on the Colville Reservation to his decades in broadcast journalism to the founding of DH:

Remembering DH founder Jim Desautel. - We Are DH His vision, entrepreneurship and gifted storytelling laid our foundation as a social impact agency.

It’s National Prevention Week, dedicated to those working to prevent substance misuse and promote positive mental health.

When it comes to opioids like fentanyl, sharing information with young people is key to prevention. The Friends for Life fentanyl and naloxone education campaign includes prevention resources for middle and high school students, available to download anytime.

Learn more about Friends for Life, created with our clients Washington State Health Care Authority, and available resources at WAFriendsforLife.com.

Andrei Mylroie (left) and Marc Berger, two DH leaders, just got home from South Korea, where they were part of a trade delegation with Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Greater Seattle Partners.

Andrei and Marc found people and business partners in South Korea who were ambitious, gracious and inspiring. And they gained deeper perspective about the importance of Seattle’s business and governmental relationships there, along with South Korea’s place on the world stage. 🇺🇸🇰🇷

In a gathering at our Seattle office, we celebrated and learned from the hard work of Pacific Islander Community Association of WA, Oceania Northwest, Lōkejlat Leluwa Wotje Club, and Voice of South Pacific, our amazing friends and partners in the Washington State Department of Health Community-Driven Outreach initiative.

Thank you for sharing with us and for your leadership and work to keep Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities in Washington healthy and safe!

The 50th anniversary of Expo ’74 starts Saturday in Spokane!

Spokane dreamed big to make Expo ’74 happen, becoming the smallest city to host the World’s Fair. Now, it’s time to dream big again as we embark on a two-month-long jubilee. More than 100 community events will celebrate culture, history and the environment.

DH is among many partners supporting this milestone event, alongside Visit Spokane, Spokane Parks and Recreation, Riverfront Spokane, Downtown Spokane, City of Spokane - Municipal Government, Spokane County, Washington Trust Bank, Garco Construction, KHQ Local News and so many more. We loved getting to adapt Treatment's beautiful 50th anniversary brand into designed pieces for Riverfront Park.

Check out the event calendar:
https://www.visitspokane.com/expo-50/

Jim would have loved the serene setting on the beautiful Spokane River where family, friends and colleagues gathered at the Ruby River Inn to celebrate his life and reflect on his legacy.

The speakers who shared heartfelt stories and memories — Jeff Stafford, Barb Richey, Judy Cole, Joyce Cameron, Phil Haugen and Mark Rypien — painted a picture of Jim's wisdom, humor and generosity of spirit.

As we move forward, we will continue to hold close the lessons Jim taught us through the life he lived so well, lessons about dreaming big, working hard, and having fun with the people you care about.

Thank you to American Advertising Federation Spokane (AAF Spokane) for putting on the ! And thanks to the judges who honored several DH campaigns with awards last weekend. We’ll share them here this week, including some behind-the-scenes photos.�​

For Our Lives is a fentanyl-overdose prevention campaign created with Native people throughout Washington and funded by our client, the Washington State Health Care Authority. The campaign features tribal members telling their stories related to addiction, treatment, recovery and stigma. ��​
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These powerful storytellers share vital information about how to protect yourself and others against fentanyl. They include, in the video and first photo, Valarie Ogle and Salina Ramirez, members of the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe, along with videographer Ryan Abrahamson. In the second photo are Robert Coberly, a member of the Tulalip Tribes (center), and Andrea Coberly, of the Quileute Tribe, along with photographer Jack George. See their stories and others at ForNativeLives.org.​

More thanks (and congratulations!) to our creative partners Counting Coup Media and Jack George.