Interstate Bridge Replacement Program: Educating, Engaging, and Connecting

A bi-state transportation mega project tasked with modernizing a critical crossing between Portland, OR, and Vancouver, WA. With a history of political gridlock, including a past failed attempt, this project requires careful alignment with interested parties, public trust-building, and clear communication. My goal? Make a technical, bureaucratic project feel human, relatable, and worth caring about.

Role
Creative Director, PointNorth

Clients
Washington State Department of Transportation, Oregon State Department of Transportation, WSP

Contributions & Strategy

As Creative Director, I lead the video and storytelling strategy and oversee execution to shift public perception and drive engagement, ensuring content is both technically accurate and emotionally resonant. I do this by ⬇️

  • Shaping the narrative – Crafting a content approach that made the project understandable and compelling for diverse audiences

  • Developing multi-format content for custom audiences – Creating video series tailored to different audiences, from technical deep dives for policymakers to engaging social content for the public

  • Building trust through transparency – Producing content like the Transparent Transportation video series to foster public trust and demystify the project’s process

  • Amplifying authentic voices – Centering storytelling around community perspectives, shifting the focus from agencies to the people impacted

  • Balancing diverse priorities – Navigating input from two state DOTs, transit agencies, policymakers, consultants, and the public to align messaging across audiences

  • Collaborating with high-level leadership – Partnering with C-suite executives, program leadership, and political and community leaders to shape messaging that addressed both strategic priorities and public concerns

  • Expanding digital engagement – Launching and growing TikTok and Instagram Reels to make transportation topics more relatable through humor and storytelling

  • Maximizing impact within public funding constraints – Producing high-impact, cost-effective content optimized for engaging the public and balancing direction from two states

Awards

  • 2023 PRSA Oregon Spotlight Award for Best Use of Social Media

  • 2022 PRSA Oregon Spotlight Award for Social Media Video Shorts

  • 2022 PRSA Oregon Merit Award for Video Program

The Impact

Through a multi-year content strategy, I support making a complex, technical project more accessible, engaging, and human-centered. Visual storytelling plays a key role in public engagement, policymaker education, and community trust-building. Highlights include⚡️

  • Driving visibility – During the 2024 Draft SEIS Comment Period, our advertising strategy, which I supported developing and executing, reached over 3.2 million people, ensuring broad public awareness

  • Shaping public perception – Policymakers and public officials have cited video content as a critical tool in making complex transportation policies easier to understand

  • Bringing underrepresented voices forward - Actively highlighted stories from community members, transit users, and equity-priority communities, using video as a platform for real, human-centered perspectives

  • Winning industry recognition – Our storytelling efforts earned public relations awards, reinforcing the project’s impact beyond traditional infrastructure communication

  • Humanizing a mega project – By balancing technical accuracy with emotional storytelling, our work helped build trust and engagement around a historically controversial initiative