Laurel Schwartz
Laurel Schwartz

Dear Dawn—

You’re looking for a visionary leader to harness creativity to advance the JED Foundation’s important mission.

I’ve spent the last decade working at the intersection of mental health and creativity; earning my chops at ad agencies (BerlinRosen + Leo Burnett), obtaining my Master’s of Social Work, speaking on the film festival circuit, and mobilizing 50,000+ volunteers as the Brand Director for Crisis Text Line.

let’s chat.

PS - I’m a Twin Cities native currently based in Brooklyn. I love meeting and collaborating with fellow Minnesotans!

An introduction.

Part social scientist, part artist, I use creativity to transform human behavior. For the last decade, that’s meant leveraging my ad agency chops and master’s in social work to build movements.

In my first quarter at Crisis Text Line, I produced a video that received the following comment: “I was searching for a video about how to tie a noose cause I was gonna kill myself but I saw the hotline text and call and went to your channel and watched this video and realized I just needed to talk to someone.”

I do this work because I believe that powerful stories in strategic places can change build a better world. Because stories told in the right way, at the right time can meet those in the gravest pain with safety, support, connection, and hope.

Making youth mental health a priority takes a team. Together, let’s change and save lives.

In summary, I’ve:

1. Worked in agencies (BerlinRosen + Leo Burnett) supporting Fortune 500 clients like McDonald’s, Esurance, Marshall’s, and Purina. And, more recently, I’ve built digital campaigns for companies and organizations that are leading the way to advance racial equity, increase healthcare access, promote liberal arts and sciences, and build coalitions to fight the climate crisis.

2. Built digital campaigns that have brought free mental health support to thousands of Frontline Workers, planned events about mental health and tech at the World Economic Forum, and strategized and executed digital activations mobilizing 50,000 volunteers to give their time and money during the holiday season.

3. Gained a deep knowledge of the youth mental health landscape, having been instrumental in collaborating with a broad swath of companies and organizations at the frontlines of mental health as the Brand Director at Crisis Text Line.

4. Produced and distributed a documentary that won film festivals and earned distribution at places like Google, Vimeo, and CitiBank.

5. Earned a spot on Forbes Marketing 30 Under 30 list for my work leveraging media to drive social movements

Still want to know more? Read on for more info about how we can work together.

one: I make things that move people

I began my career in advertising. As a producer for Leo Burnett, I was once asked to find a professional sloth to film on a green screen. Instead of responding with, “impossible,” I asked, “when do you need it?”

And, before everyone was “live” all the time, I produced the first-ever branded Facebook livestream. The 45-minute multi-camera show earned over 800,000 organic impressions and raised money for the Ronald McDonald House. This experience came full circle when just this last week in my current role at BerlinRosen, I produced a LinkedIn live for the Kellogg Foundation’s Expanding Equity program—a first for the decades-old organization.

As a producer, I loved building teams to put compelling creative work out in the world. This is what I brought to the non-profit sector: telling stories that manifest change.

two: powerful stories in strategic places can transform public health.

I believe we’re better when we work together. I believe in revolutionary solutions to the world’s biggest problems.

And, I don’t just believe it—I do it. After winning the ReelAbilities Film Festival, I began screening my self-produced film and hosting discussions about diversity and inclusion at companies like CitiBank, Google, and Barclays HQ.

At every talk, I ask: How are you? How are you doing? What's making you happy? And, also, what's making you sad? Let’s talk about it. Then, let’s help each other.

 

three: i’m a social scientist

A few years into my career as a producer, I decided to return to academia to earn my Master’s in Social Work and Social Entrepreneurship at Columbia University in order to orient my creative work squarely in social impact.

While earning my master’s, I focused my work on researching and building a theory that used media as a tool for community organizing and behavior change.

 
 

four:I’ve been in the trenches building an empathetic world where nobody feels alone

As the Brand Director at Crisis Text Line, I imagined what it would be like to live in a world where everyone had access to free, 24/7 mental health support at their fingertips. Then, I built campaigns that promote mental wellbeing for people wherever they are.

In practice, this means I’ve:
1. Led paid strategy for a campaign that provided thousands of frontline workers with free mental health support at the height of the pandemic.

2. Spearheaded a brand transformation that brought empathy to the world during the election.

3. Launched a back-to-school initiative to reach anxious teachers, parents, and students with free mental health support that earned placement in NPR, Newsweek, and brought mental health support to over 300 schools across the country.

4. Led and managed a team through a brand transformation that redefined the Crisis Text Line voice and brought racial equity to the center of our communications strategy

5. Served as direct liaison to executive team for all crisis communications, ensuring our resource was available and accessible in years with an onslaught of pain, trauma and suffering across the country.

6. Acted as marketing lead to steward and collaborate with corporate partners like Nike, Google, TikTok, and Harry’s.