To see a full listing of CG&A's awards, visit here.
WFLD-TV's Robin Robinson (far left) and WGN-TV's Dean Richards (far right) present CG&A's Jeff Slutz and Scott Meis with the Edwin J. Shaughnessy Quality of Life Award for their work with Gift of Hope at the 2008 Publicity Club of Chicago Golden Trumpets ceremony.
Projects in the Works
CG&A Helps Rally Media for INCS' Lobby Day
CG&A successfully executed a statewide earned media plan for the Illinois Network of Charter Schools (INCS), as part of the organization’s Lobby Day rally at the State Capitol. More than 600 charter school advocates traveled to Springfield to urge their legislators to lift the cap on the number of charters available in Illinois. In addition to pitching reporters in target communities in advance of Lobby Day, CG&A produced press materials, key messages and talking points for participants.
To help put a human face on INCS’ legislative initiatives, CG&A also reached out to parents, principals, and leaders of communities across the state to identify the most compelling, community-specific charter school success stories to leverage in the media. We rounded off our media outreach efforts by drafting post-Lobby Day letters to the editor for key charter school advocates, further highlighting the issue in newspapers statewide. In the last year alone and since teaming up with CG&A, INCS has doubled its coverage in print, television and radio media outlets.
The Illinois Network of Charter Schools (INCS) presented Illinois State Senator Iris Martinez (D-Chicago) with its 2008 Trailblazer Award for her outstanding leadership in the development of Illinois charter public schools. Senator Martinez joined more than 600 advocates on Lobby Day to rally for a lifting of the statewide cap on charter public schools.
CG&A Teams Up With Heartland Alliance to Promote Events
The Heartland Alliance champions the human rights and improves the lives of men, women, and children who are threatened by poverty or danger. For more than 100 years they have been providing solutions—both through services and policy—that move individuals from crisis to stability and on to success.
CG&A Revamps Equal Justice Illinois Campaign Web site
Recently, CG&A managed the redesign of the Equal Justice Illinois Campaign (EJIC) Web site. The campaign is a bipartisan coalition of state leaders working to increase state funding for civil legal aid provided to Illinois residents. Working closely with the EJIC, CG&A updated the entire site, improved navigation and revamped the layout to make it more accessible for visitors and campaign supporters. The resulting site effectively communicates the goals of the campaign and provides supporters with updates on the latest campaign activities.
One important addition to the site is the “Call to Action” section that announces the latest campaign initiative to visitors of the site. The site leads supporters through a simple, step-by-step process that allows them to directly contact their elected officials and voice their support. The site also tracks users of the service, creating a network of supporters the EJIC can easily contact for help with their latest grassroots efforts. This allows the EJIC to disseminate information and conduct outreach in a more efficient and effective manner.
CG&A Produces "Mythbuster" Organ Donation Video Series for Gift of Hope
In conjunction with Gift of Hope Organ & Tissue Donor Network, CG&A recently produced a four-part video series addressing common myths and misconceptions about organ & tissue donation. The series debuted in April as part of Donate Life Illinois' National Donate Life Month outreach.
You can view part of the series below and visit Donate Life Illinois' YouTube channel here to view the subsequent parts.