Affordable housing scarcity has divided many major cities into populations of “haves” and “have-nots,” but the Atlanta philanthropy leadership community refuses to forfeit this critical issue in its region without a fight. The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta (CFGA), inspiring and leading its region toward equity and shared prosperity, stepped up to address this looming challenge and, along with major funders and government leaders, made history with a $300 million investment announcement. Funding includes a generous $100 million combined commitment from the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation and Joseph B. Whitehead Foundation, providing dollars to further leverage the proposed public support. Additionally, the CFGA partnered with the City of Atlanta and others to ensure deeper, long-term affordability for communities with a higher risk for displacement from encroaching development.
Cookerly helped tell this story of investment and impact aimed at business and philanthropy communities plus the diverse populations served by multicultural and mass market media.
After auditing the landscape of local and national reporters, and determining opportunities for coverage of this topic, CFGA and Cookerly devised an exclusive media strategy, a high-profile activation event and a local and national media outreach cadence. This comprehensive approach was designed to bring maximum attention to the affordable housing issue and encourage press to reach diverse stakeholders throughout the region with a message of hope.
The media relations program endeavored to penetrate the team’s local targets and select national outlets in the first month of the campaign to assure philanthropy circles and urban planners are informed.
Using a combination of a press conference for more than 100 VIPs and media, held on the site of an innovative, affordable housing program, with expert testimonials, a press release, supported by personal contacts, social media and email outreach, the effort surpassed all metrics in number of placements and total coverage value.
The team brokered an exclusive with The Saporta Report, the city’s publication for philanthropists and business leaders, with a dedicated breaking news email to its full circulation coinciding with the live announcement.
Coverage included more than 50 media placements that generated more than 10 million impressions. Positive stories were secured on local ABC and CBS television affiliates and in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Atlanta Business Chronicle, Atlanta Voice, Georgia Public Broadcasting and Georgia Trend. National placements included the two leading national philanthropy trade journals, Chronicle of Philanthropy and Philanthropy News, plus urban planning outlets Urbanize and Planetizen, multicultural outlet Black Enterprise and mass syndication on MSN and Yahoo! News. This initiative firmly established affordable housing as a priority for Atlanta and was honored as a “Best in Show” finalist at PRSA Georgia’s prestigious Phoenix Awards.
As design director at Cookerly, Tim serves as the creative lead in the development of branding campaigns, print collateral and digital media for clients across a broad range of industries, including consumer, professional services, healthcare and technology.
As a senior vice president at Cookerly, Mike Rieman is a strategic communications leader specializing in media relations and reputation management. With a proven track record of securing high-profile placements in top-tier outlets such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, CNN and USA Today, he excels at crafting compelling narratives that resonate across print, broadcast and digital platforms.
Mike Touhill is vice president at Cookerly Public Relations, where he helps lead traditional, social and digital media programs for B2B and B2C clients in packaging, telecommunications and technology, among other industries. As a communication leader, he develops and executes public relations strategy, provides proactive and reactive counsel to C-level executives and secures earned media coverage for client initiatives and product.
Andrew Agan is a vice president at Cookerly Public Relations, overseeing the agency’s internship program and leading media relations, content strategy and social media initiatives. He provides counsel and executes campaigns for clients across various sectors, including finance, healthcare, hospitality, technology, automotive and many others. Andrew excels at crafting compelling stories and building media relationships, resulting in clients being featured in notable outlets such as CNBC, Associated Press, Business Insider, Fox Business, HBO, Inc. Magazine, Sirius XM, The Wall Street Journal and USA Today, among others.
As vice president of Cookerly, Sheryl Sellaway uses her extensive corporate communications background to lead consumer PR efforts, deliver strategy for marketing programs and share expertise about community initiatives.