We started without bricks and mortar but overnight cemented the foundation based on decades of experience in communications.
We started without bricks and mortar but overnight cemented the foundation based on decades of experience in communications.
Our crew of seasoned colleagues reflect enduring professional relationships with researchers, creatives, media/social media specialists and policy advocates who help contribute content and clarity to clients’ needs.
At theYucrew, we’re often operating virtually but you feel the energy. We provide passion. Innovate ideas. Build awareness. Incite advocacy. Catalyze communities.
In the process, we are not afraid to challenge or be challenged. Makes us think harder. Act smarter. Work harder. Maybe move a mountain or two. Usually in record time. On or under budget. We’re proud of our past. And we hope you’ll be part of our future. Trust us, we’ll jump through hoops for you.
Kicking Up Our Heels With Great News
- PRSA NCC, Induction into 2018 Hall of Fame
- PRSA MD, 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award
- 2016 PRSA Silver Anvil for Events and Observances Under Seven Days
- ASAE’s 2016 Gold Circle Merit Award for Media/Public Relations/Advocacy
- PRSA National Capital Chapter 2016 Thoth Certificate of Excellence for Events and Observances
- PRSA National Capital Chapter 2016 Thoth Award for Small Independent Firms’ Media Relations Programs and/or Campaigns
- 2015 PRSA Silver Anvil for Events and Observances Under Seven Days
- 2015 PRSA Award of Excellence for Public Service
- ASAE’s 2015 Overall Gold Circle Award
- ASAE’s 2015 Gold Circle Award for Integrated Communications Campaign
- ASAE’s 2015 Gold Circle Award for Media/Public Relations Campaign
- ASAE’s 2015 Gold Circle Merit Award
- Washington Women in Public Relations’
- 2015 Emerging Leaders
- PRSA MD, Best in Maryland 2015
- Public Service, World Thrombosis Day
- PRSA MD Best of Show 2015, World Thrombosis Day
- 2015 PR News’ Rising Stars 30 & Under
Kicking Up Our Heels With Great News
- PRSA NCC, Induction into 2018 Hall of Fame
- PRSA MD, 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award
- 2016 PRSA Silver Anvil for Events and Observances Under Seven Days
- ASAE’s 2016 Gold Circle Merit Award for Media/Public Relations/Advocacy
- PRSA National Capital Chapter 2016 Thoth Certificate of Excellence for Events and Observances
- PRSA National Capital Chapter 2016 Thoth Award for Small Independent Firms’ Media Relations Programs and/or Campaigns
- 2015 PRSA Silver Anvil for Events and Observances Under Seven Days
- 2015 PRSA Award of Excellence for Public Service
- ASAE’s 2015 Overall Gold Circle Award
- ASAE’s 2015 Gold Circle Award for Integrated Communications Campaign
- ASAE’s 2015 Gold Circle Award for Media/Public Relations Campaign
- ASAE’s 2015 Gold Circle Merit Award
- Washington Women in Public Relations’
- 2015 Emerging Leaders
- PRSA MD, Best in Maryland 2015
- Public Service, World Thrombosis Day
- PRSA MD Best of Show 2015, World Thrombosis Day
- 2015 PR News’ Rising Stars 30 & Under, Shannon Toher
Client Engagement
Communication Planning, Facilitation, Implementation
Building COVID Vaccine Confidence: Giving It Your Best Shot American Association of Colleges of Nursing
Underserved communities, often people of color or those in hard-to-reach geographic areas, have experienced higher rates of infection, hospitalization and death due to COVID-19. tYc provided communications training and counsel on message anchoring, the power of storytelling and social media to help colleges of nursing faculty, students and communities make vaccine confidence more visible.
Action Alliance’s Mental Health & Suicide Prevention National Response to COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic, economic uncertainty, social inequities, and fundamental gaps in the health care system created the perfect storm for a unified response to the mental health challenges and suicide risks posed by unprecedented times.
theYucrew and Urban Emu provided communications support, creating a messaging framework, toolkits, infographics, social shareable graphics, website, and video interviews in a compacted timeframe. The first and only public-private partnership formed specifically to unify national-level action around this issue, National Response was guided by a diverse Steering Committee driven by a common vision to emerge from this crisis with transformative change and lasting systems to ensure the mental health of all Americans.
Pfizer
Public affairs advocacy plan addressing the gap among Hispanics and access to care.
Budgeting for the Future
The federal government will spend over $60 TRILLION over the next decade. Does its priorities match yours? theYucrew provided stakeholder outreach support for the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget and launch of Budgeting for the Future. This suite of interactive digital tools helps educate and engage everyday citizens on how the federal budget is distributed and where resources go.
Northwest Health Foundation
Worked with keynoters Emilio Pardo (formerly AARP) and Michael Margolis (Get Storied) or Partners Investing in Nursing’s Future; provided photography and on-camera interviews with New Mexico backdrop for diversity-inspired conference.
IQ Solutions
Creative brainstorming and strategic plan development for proposals with special focus on reaching minorities and organizational stakeholders.
Ogilvy
Literature and stakeholder review to support research planning efforts for national federal health initiative.
Health Affairs
Conducted media impact analysis for leading monthly multidisciplinary, peer-reviewed journal at the intersection of health, health care, and policy.
The JED Foundation
Strategic planning for optimizing signature programs designed to reduce emotional distress and prevent suicide on nation’s campuses.
Legacy
tYc developed a daylong communications workshop for the collaboration and outreach team at Legacy, a foundation dedicated to building a world where young people reject tobacco and anyone can quit.
PAHO Foundation
Supported hagen inc. and Carousel30 with leadership interviews and public relations strategies for PAHO Foundation, an independent 501(c)3 that mobilizes private sector resources to improve the health and wellbeing of the people of the Americas.
New Careers in Nursing
Design and content support for Leadership and Legacy – A Celebration of Diversity and Inclusion. Creative conference support for icebreakers and breakout exercises for grantee of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation seeking to bolster student recruitment and retention.
The Names Project Foundation
Stakeholder and social media support for the 25th anniversary of The AIDS Memorial Quilt and the return of 48,000 panels to Washington, DC and Quilt in the Capital for the NAMES Project Foundation.
ISTH
Strategic organizational branding and communications counsel to ISTH, a global professional society of more than 3,000 researchers, educators and clinicians from more than 80 countries worldwide who focus on thrombosis, hemostasis and vascular biology.
National Guard Youth Foundation
tYc helped raise awareness of NGYF by spotlighting the high school drop out crisis and ChalleNGe as a driver of evidence-based solutions. Provided multiple year fundraising research, national and local market media/stakeholder outreach, gala support, toolkits, on site comm training.
American Forests
For American Forests, tYc handled national and local market media outreach on the Ten Best U.S. Cities for Urban Forests and the value that urban forests provide to communities, including economic, aesthetic, social and physical well-being. Have you hugged a tree today?
Shannon Toher
Former communications and digital strategist, Shannon was named one of Washington Women in Public Relations’ 2015 Emerging Leaders. Awardees were recognized for their leadership and achievements in communications and community work. Congrats to Shannon!
The Ruesch Center for the Cure of GI Cancers
GI cancers are among the most deadly of all cancers. tYc conducted a communications assets and Website review; internal stakeholder interviews; and helped draft messages/materials to elevate the Center that leads in “fighting a smarter war” against cancer.
Global Partnership on Output Based Aid
Teaming up with hagen inc. we created a message training workshop for the Global Partnership for Output-Based Aid within the World Bank. The half-day session guided staff on telling the trust fund’s powerful stories with emotion and evidence and communicating the “new” brand and its unique value to donors, development partners, and stakeholders.
Heart Failure Society of America
tYc conducted insights interviews with national health professional societies and patient advocates to better understand (mis)perceptions about the condition of heart failure that impacts nearly six million Americans. Interviews helped to shed light on challenges of and a message platform for a condition that is on the rise with upwards of 700,000 new cases diagnosed each year.
Casualty Actuary Society
The only actuarial organization in the world exclusively focused on property/ casualty risks, the Casualty Actuarial Society has been the unequaled gold standard of expertise, credibility and professional integrity for the P&C actuarial profession. Helped CAS in its centennial year launch a student membership program, CAS Student Central, supported by an online portal and collateral materials.
Photo credit: Larry Canner
All Points North Foundation
It’s Georgia on our minds as the communications team takes a break with APNF’s Executive Director Laura Staich (second from right) at its sixth annual Board Retreat in Savannah.
For eight years, tYc provided strategic communications for new philanthropy dedicated to fostering innovation in education and expanding the use of renewable energy sources as viable alternatives to fossil fuels.
World Thrombosis Day
Our launch of ISTH’s inaugural World Thrombosis Day not only mobilized some 200 partners worldwide to elevate the global conversation on blood clots but earned us national industry recognition:
PRSA Silver Anvil for Events and Observances Under Seven Days
PRSA Award of Excellence for Public Service
ASAE’s 2015 Overall Gold Circle Award
ASAE’s 2015 Gold Circle Award for Integrated Communications Campaign
SAE’s 2015 Gold Circle Award for Media/Public Relations Campaign
ASAE’s 2015 Gold Circle Merit Award
Dr. Bear and Pretty Little Liar’s Ian Harding get ready to race.
Race for Every Child
As part of the SLF Strategies PR team, tYc provided stakeholder and social media outreach for the inaugural Race for Every Child by Children’s National Health System. More than 150 leadership groups helped build awareness, participation and volunteers for a successful event.
Our second year outreach efforts supported Race for Every Child with messaging, media/social media, events logistics and helped surpass $1 million fundraising under the leadership of chair Carrie Marriott.
Staff Recruitment/Agency Reviews
Giving Back
It’s In Our DNA
2021 PRSA NCC Board of Directors
Silver Anvil Awards
Served as a national Silver Anvil Judge for 2021 DE&I Category.
Diverse Dialogue with AAPI Voices
Moderated second session of PRSA NCC’s Diverse Dialogue series with AAPI voices featuring AARP’s Daphne Kwok, Vice President of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion for AAPI Audience Strategy. Long admired as a “leader of leaders,” Daphne’s tireless work empowers AAPIs to choose how they live as they age.
Flying Solo
As part of a panel for Washington Women in Public Relations, tYc shared its take on demystifying freelance consulting, held at the Wing, DC’s first women-only co-working space and community.
Campus Commitment
University of Maryland Communications students shed the fears prior to their “mock” presentations to prospective employers. Panelist engagements and critiques at area universities to help power the next generation.
You Be the Judge
tYc judges awards like Excellence in Public Health Communication, PRSA NCC’s 2019 Thoth Awards, Hall of Fame, and most recently the 2020 Paragon Awards, Southeastern Wisconsin Chapter PRSA.
Pro Bono
Pro bono advisory committee for Pfizer’s ReACT, Respect A Caregiver’s Time, calling attention and action to alleviate the burden of employee caregivers.
Panel Facilitator
Moderator for Summit Health Institute for Research and Education’s panel on “Using Social and Other Media to Support Community Engagement.”
reMIND
Volunteer for the Bob Woodruff Foundation’s reMIND initiative, a national nonprofit that helps ensure our nation’s injured service members, veterans and their families transition back into their communities.
PRSA Central Michigan’s Pace Awards
At the invitation of PRSA Maryland, tYc assembled a panel of judges via Skype including Berry Brady and Bill Furmanski for PRSA’s Central Michigan Chapter’s PACE awards in public service, innovative tactics, and shoestring budgets, areas that the team knows a thing or two about.
Evaluating Capstones
Tapped to serve on a three-member 2018 panel of reviewers of the Morgan State University’s SCOM Senior Capstone Evaluations for the Department of Strategic Communication, School of Global Journalism under Professor and Chair, David Marshall, Ph.D.
Speed Mentoring: Finding “Ikigai”
tYc served as one of 20 mentors in Baltimore at PRSA-MD’s first-ever Speed Mentoring for students from area universities including Morgan State and Loyola and new professionals. While they may forget us in a few years, they are likely to remember our advice on finding “ikigai.”
2018 – present
Alumni Presenter, 2018 UMCP UCA and PRSSA Careers in Communications Roundtable
A Cause to Celebrate
Conducted “Cause to Celebrate – Communicating Success” workshops at the annual conference of the association representing 1,600 diverse nonprofit community members in Maryland.
Bright Beginnings:
Freeze Frame
The bitter cold couldn’t stop us from shooting the 5K fundraiser for this non profit which provides a nurturing environment for homeless children; Served up home cooked Asian meal and gratitude cards for Teachers Appreciation Week; provided photography support for Bright Beginnings and volunteers from DC Junior League.
Agency Life
Alliance Building, Diversity Outreach, & Mentoring
GYMR Public Relations
1998–2011
Launched Garrett Yu Hussein LLC; becomes GYMR Public Relations; ranked top 10 independent health-focused PR agency.
PR Woman of the Year/Minority Leader
1998
Named Washington Women in Public Relations Woman of the Year and Inside PR’s One of 10 minority agency leaders nationwide
A Heart for Health Fleishman-Hilard
1994
Recruited to Fleishman-Hillard International to build health care, association and consumer marketing practices.
Master Mentor
Porter Novelli
1994
Co-chair internship committee; Porter/Novelli; considers mentorship of students and young professionals never an afterthought but a priority.
Multicultural
1991–1993
Named multicultural projects director; corporate wide training coordinator, Porter/Novelli; diversity outreach and alliance building continue to be germaine to her client focus today.
Recognition
1991
Named SVP; Board of Managers Porter/Novelli; oversaw national public education programs, alliance building and diversity; launched travel and tourism practice earning national award for AMTRAK.
A First!
Porter/Novelli’s townhouse at 3240 Prospect Street in Georgetown.
1988
Youngest VP at Porter/Novelli nationwide.
Porter/Novelli
1983–1987
Recruited by its president as account executive, works her tail off and is promoted quickly to senior account executive and account supervisor.