If you aren’t already taking a sabbatical from the airline-based atrocities making their way across the internet, never fear.

#NuggsForCarter: The Art Of The Meal

If you aren’t already taking a sabbatical from the airline-based atrocities making their way across the internet, never fear. Once again, we’ve been blessed with a worthy cause: nuggets.

Condensed

Pepsi, Listen to the New Generation. Yours truly, Black Sheep.

We live in an incredibly raw time. Emotions are high, and there are a lot of social causes and movements catching people’s attention. Because of that, many brands are trying to figure out ways to participate. While some, like REI, thrive when it comes to speaking about issues like feminism, others are struggling to find that line between marketing and meaning.

Women across the world are making their mark.

International Womens Day | Ladies First

Women across the world are making their mark. Protesting in styles that fit their niche and voice, empowering themselves and their community. Some chose to protest and politely remove themselves from the workforce, allies wore red in solidarity and some (like us) decided to celebrate.

When Life Gives You Lemonade

So, Grammy Awards. While there was a long list of inspirational moments, two stuck out the most to me. For those of you who watched last night, let this serve as a chance to re-experience two big moments. And for those of you who haven’t, check it out because they gave me a new perspective on the work we do every day.

If you self-identify as a member of “Weird Twitter,” or even have a sense of what it is, you’re probably not too fond of the description—yet it’s probably the most realistic explanation of the phenomena.

An Aliebn Confuesed Abot Humamn Lamguage

This year we resolve to be feverishly focused on activating people around things that matter.

2017: Finding the internet’s backbone.

This year we resolve to be feverishly focused on activating people around things that matter. More on that later, but today we want to talk about how the internet landscape needs to be different in 2017—starting with social media and how free we let speech be.

Finally feeds are becoming less inundated with Millennial-focused strategy articles trying to pin down a generation taking up 20 percent of the population.

Gen Z: The Change You Wish to See

Finally feeds are becoming less inundated with Millennial-focused strategy articles trying to pin down a generation taking up 20 percent of the population. News flash—it can’t be done that easily—and frankly, if you’re still trying to figure out Millennials, you’ve got another thing coming: Gen Z is here, and like the younger sibling they are, they’re watching.

CareAll enabled our communities to make this season a memorable one for the kids and teens of Boys & Girls Harbor, and we’ve finally had a moment to stop and reflect on giving and our own families this holiday season.

Black Sheep Gift Guide

CareAll enabled our communities to make this season a memorable one for the kids and teens of Boys & Girls Harbor, and we’ve finally had a moment to stop and reflect on giving and our own families this holiday season.

Black Sheep Quarterly Jams List

Compressed

IS FACEBOOK TAKING OVER? THE ANSWER IS YES.

Hiya, everyone. We’re going to stay smiling and cheery and act as if Facebook isn’t slowly taking over our lives.

Hiya, everyone. We’re going to stay smiling and cheery and act as if Facebook isn’t slowly taking over our lives. From rolling out their latest Craiglist competitor, to three new features launched in the last month (see below) + a strikingly distracting CEO dressed as a VIKING—Facebook is on the up and up. But never fear, we stay updated so you don’t have to.

It seems like just yesterday the flock was wheels up and on our way to the White House.

One Year Down. #BetterMakeRoom For More.

It seems like just yesterday the flock was wheels up and on our way to the White House. We, an 11-person, Houston-based creative agency, joined Team USA to ignite change in the future of education in America, working side by side with Michelle Obama. It is just as surreal today as it was a year ago.

Creatures of HABIT: A Black Sheep Experiment (Part II)

This blog post is a part of a series—an experiment of sorts. You see, I’m reading a book about forming better habits, and I invited the entire agency to participate.

This blog post is a part of aseries—an experiment of sorts. You see, I’m reading a book about forming better habits, and I invited the entire agency to participate. I also invited YOU to play along—and it’s not too late. It’s never too late.This is the second post of the series. Read the first one here.

Y’all, Houston has placed NUMBER ONE in charity rankingsin the nation.

#52Causes: Houston’s On The Come Up

Y’all, Houston has placed NUMBER ONE incharity rankingsin the nation. With a city that’s relentless when it comes to getting shit done, Houston has firmly made a name for itself throughout the nation when it comes to charitable work.

Register to Vote Faster Than Leslie Knope

Voting is insanely important and yes—every vote definitely counts.

Voting is insanely important and yes—every vote definitely counts. But before you vote, you have to be registered. Today isNational Voter Registration Day and we are #blessed to be living in a world where we are always connected and where getting things done is easier than ever.

“WOKE UP AND FELT THE VIBE.” —Kanye West

GIF US YOUR BEST SHOT: A Challenge To Be The Next Black Sheep

So, you think you want to be a Black Sheep? Well, we can’t say that we blame you.

So, you think you want to be a Black Sheep? Well, we can’t say that we blame you. This is a pretty great place to work. We work hard, we play hard and we’ve built a culture that’s like no other you’ll find.

According to a 2016 report by Nonprofit HR, nonprofits of all sizes are expected to GROW—in people, purpose and impact this year, to help combat the rising demand in Houston for their services.

#52Causes: Thrive At Week 35

According to a 2016 report by Nonprofit HR, nonprofits of all sizes are expected to GROW—in people, purpose and impact this year, to help combat the rising demand in Houston for their services. Over half of nonprofits nationwide plan on creating new positions to help support the thousands of driven employees already working to make Houston a better place by dedicating their time and careers to the communities and people in this city.

Built on mud and created from gumption, heart and a can-do spirit, Houston was born 180 years ago TODAY.

Happy Birthday to HOU: H-Town Turns 180!

Built on mud and created from gumption, heart and a can-do spirit, Houston was born 180 years ago TODAY. (Not that it looks a day over 179…) Think about that: one hundred and eighty years. It seems like such a long, long time, but actually it’s a pretty short interval when you think about what we’ve accomplished as a city. 

Our National Park Service has a birthday today, and it’s a BIG ONE.

NPS: You Make 100 Look Good!

Our National Park Service has a birthday today, and it’s a BIG ONE. 

I’ll Snap To That: International Beer Day

Tomorrow is a day for merrymaking; a day to carouse, celebrate and conquer.

Tomorrow is a day for merrymaking; a day to carouse, celebrate and conquer. Tomorrow is International Beer Day. In honor of this crucial and clearly cherished holiday, we’re throwing a little something together for our friends.

There’s a particular kind of project that doesn’t feel like a project.

It feels like something else entirely. Over Black Sheep’s 16 years, we’ve learned to recognize these engagements — the ones where the stakes are real, where the mission is load-bearing, where getting the story right genuinely changes what’s possible for the people an organization serves. We’ve also learned that these are the projects we want to fill our days with.

Right now, our roster is full of them. I want to talk about that — not as a highlight reel, but as a reflection of what we believe this work is for. And if you’re leading one of these organizations right now and it feels heavy or uncertain or like your story isn’t keeping pace with your mission, this is for you too.


Some projects aren’t a single scope — they’re a relationship, built over time, through the kind of trust that only comes from doing hard things together.

Houston Arts Alliance is in one of the most pivotal moments in its history. A new CEO — the first woman and person of color to lead the organization — has stepped into a role that carries both enormous expectation and extraordinary possibility. We are building alongside them from the ground up: immediate messaging and leadership transition tools, a mission and vision refresh, a public education campaign, a community engagement process and a full brand foundation. Long, layered, listening-first work. Some of our favorite kind.

Houston Parks Board is marking its 50th anniversary at the start of an exciting new chapter — bold new leadership, a visionary strategic plan and a future that has been a century in the making. We’re evolving their brand to match the scale of that moment. Being trusted when the foundation is strong and the future is wide open is its own kind of honor.

Good Reason Houston is an organization we know well — we built their original brand in 2018, and they’ve called on us at several points of strategic inflection since. This is one of those moments. The world these leaders are navigating looks almost nothing like it did seven years ago, and our work together right now is about finding language that tells their story with clarity and confidence for where things are today.

Civic Builders finances and develops school facilities across the country, making excellent schools possible in communities where the need is greatest. We completed a full messaging and positioning strategy with them, and we’re now deep into their visual identity system — in genuine collaboration with their extraordinary internal team. This partnership is the kind we aspire to: the work belongs to all of us.

The Greater Houston Partnership is building an AI-powered tool to connect educators, employers and community partners in ways that expand workforce opportunity. We’re building the brand that makes it accessible and credible from day one.

Fervo Energy is redefining what clean energy looks like. We are their strategic design agency — giving visual and creative form to the complexity of what they’re building, because a breakthrough technology deserves a story told with equal craft.

The University of Nevada, Reno trusted us to direct a digital campaign for their Black Youth Mental Health Initiative — designed to reach young people at the right moment, in the right channels and keep them connected to support that can change the trajectory of their lives. This follows our branding and strategy work for their CDC-sponsored Safer Nights opioid overdose prevention campaign last year.

The Center for Civic and Tech Life is now publishing a magazine for local election officials — the people who make democracy function at the ground level. We named and developed the publication’s visual identity, because this community deserves tools that reflect the seriousness of their work.

In collaboration with January Advisors, we’re working with the League of Women Voters Houston on a set of core values and a strategic plan built for what comes next. The League has been doing this work longer than most organizations have existed. Helping them articulate where they’re headed is not something we take lightly.

Much of this work is happening in Houston — the city where Black Sheep was founded, where many of us live and where we feel the stakes of these institutions personally. When you’re a Houstonian working on Houston, it stops being a client list and starts being something else.

It takes something to make this call. The leaders we work with aren’t doing it because things are easy — they’re doing it because they’ve decided that a story that can’t carry the mission is a liability they can’t afford. That takes clarity about what’s actually at stake. It takes a willingness to look honestly at the gap between where you are and how you’re being perceived. And it takes the kind of courage that doesn’t always get named as courage — the quiet decision to invest in something foundational when there are a hundred urgent things competing for the same resources.

But the thread running through all of it — local and national — is the same: find the organizations doing the most necessary work, and make sure their story is strong enough to carry their mission forward.

If your organization is in a moment that demands more clarity, more confidence or a story that finally matches where you’re headed — we’d love to be in that room with you.

A reflection on 16 years of learning which projects are worth our days — and the mission-driven organizations we're building alongside right now.

The Work That Doesn't Feel Like Work | Black Sheep Agency

What it takes to build a story strong enough to carry a mission forward.

Regular

A reflection on the partnerships filling our roster right now — and what it takes for mission-driven organizations to build a story strong enough to carry their work forward.

The Black Sheep blog is turning up the volume on community engagement, social media strategy, Houston happenings and what it means to lead a purpose-driven life.

The Black Sheep Agency | Social impact and nonprofit blog

We like to type as much as we like to listen.

We're not shy.

The Work That Doesn’t Feel Like Work

#NuggsForCarter: The Art Of The Meal

Pepsi, Listen to the New Generation. Yours truly, Black Sheep.

International Womens Day | Ladies First

When Life Gives You Lemonade

An Aliebn Confuesed Abot Humamn Lamguage

2017: Finding the internet’s backbone.

Gen Z: The Change You Wish to See

Black Sheep Gift Guide

Black Sheep Quarterly Jams List

IS FACEBOOK TAKING OVER? THE ANSWER IS YES.

One Year Down. #BetterMakeRoom For More.

Creatures of HABIT: A Black Sheep Experiment (Part II)

#52Causes: Houston’s On The Come Up

Register to Vote Faster Than Leslie Knope

Black Sheep Quarterly Jams List

GIF US YOUR BEST SHOT: A Challenge To Be The Next Black Sheep

#52Causes: Thrive At Week 35

Happy Birthday to HOU: H-Town Turns 180!

NPS: You Make 100 Look Good!

I’ll Snap To That: International Beer Day