The most powerful thing you can create is change.

As the country’s largest online racial justice organization, Color of Change is a force for empowerment. Seven million members strong, this compelling community leverages its collective voice to push decision-makers in corporate and governmental sectors to create a world for Black Americans which prevents hostility and promotes justice.

Breaking through the constant noise of today’s online world is always an uphill battle, and Color of Change needed to do so in order to bring awareness to today’s biggest inequities in an impactful way. Color of Change enlisted heavy to create a series of videos that would inspire audiences to stand up and take meaningful action toward progress.

We worked in close partnership with Color of Change to ensure we were telling the most impactful stories with both reverence and sensitivity while engaging audiences in a way that would motivate them to enact positive change. Each video we created was given its own unique look and feel as we tasked our designers to create visuals that would cut through the clutter of social media and inspire viewers to increase sharing—further spreading awareness for issues that affect the lives of Americans every day.

The sheer number of people who have viewed and shared the videos we created is humbling. We are encouraged by those who have committed to affecting real change in our country. What’s more, our work has earned us the opportunity to continue to create content that sparks necessary action, all to improve the lives of those experiencing racial inequity and impacted by systems of oppression.

In 2021, the NCAA made over 1 billion dollars off college athletes' hard work, sweat, and dedication. What cut do the athletes, many of whom live under the national poverty line, make on their own? A whopping zero percent. Our Pay the Players campaign aimed to change that by bringing awareness to this disparity and petitioning for much-needed funds to be redirected into the pockets of deserving athletes.

Since its inception, the filibuster has held back legislation that would positively affect the lives of Black people all across America. Bipartisan legislation like universal background checks for gun purchases has fallen short of becoming law because lawmakers still lean on this archaic strategy. This video aimed to educate viewers about the origins of the filibuster, how it’s been used over the years to hold Black people down and inspire viewers to take the necessary steps to make sure our government is working in the best interest of all its citizens.

It’s more than just a problem in the United States; gun violence is an epidemic. An epidemic that affects Black people more than any other population. They experience nearly ten times the gun homicides, 15 times the gun assaults, and three times the fatal police shootings of white Americans. Our goal, in this case, was to inform the sympathetic and initiate action, and we did so in a three-video series. The first would introduce the genesis of the problem. The second would describe how the cycle continues. The third would present actionable solutions for curing this condition that kills so many people disproportionately year after year.

Color of Change’s Black Business Green Book is a directory inspired by Victor Hugo Green’s legendary travel guide, helping people find and support Black businesses wherever they are. First published in 1936, this colorful directory of hotels, restaurants, and gas stations helped Black people travel safely in the era of segregation while boosting support for Black businesses.

In support of Color of Change’s revival of the Black Business Green Book, we created short spots to introduce a new generation of consumers to Green’s legendary directory. Encouraging viewers to use the book supports Black businesses, invests in local economies, and brings people together.

The concept for Color of Change’s Black business directory is inspired by the original Black Business Green Book, created in 1936. With 44% of Black-owned businesses permanently closing their due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it seemed more important than ever to dive deeper into the history of the original book and outline why finding and supporting Black businesses is so impactful to the local community.

On the surface, it may seem like police foundations are raising funds to make our communities safer, but this couldn’t be farther from the truth. Instead, large corporations support violent policing through the back door funding of police foundations that target Black communities, increase surveillance, and exacerbate use of force by purchasing military-grade weapons. To shed light on this alarming reality, we created a video that exposes police foundations for what they are, how they prey on our most vulnerable, and what we need to do to divest from policing and reinvest back into marginalized communities.

Streaming on Twitch can be an excellent way for content creators across the globe to make connections, build a supportive network, and share their unique talents and ideas with a larger community. That is until streaming becomes incredibly dangerous. The #TwitchDoBetter movement calls on Twitch to better protect those most vulnerable to targeted hate raids and harassment online, incidents that have become increasingly frequent. Here, heavy captured raw stories from victims in their own words through two videos. The first expresses the severity of online harassment and the weight of its impact through the story of a young Black entrepreneur who was hate raided, doxxed, and swatted all after being featured on Twitch’s front page. The second is an anthem video featuring three streamers who, despite experiencing hate raids, are standing up against online discrimination and demanding Twitch improve their platform by protecting BIPOC creators and generating a space that fosters diversity with authenticity. Together, both videos remind us that events are taking place in virtual space can cause long-lasting trauma and damage offline. To ensure the safety of all users, the folks at Twitch need to do better.

The most powerful thing you can create is change.