THEORY OF CHANGE

A Social Impact Advisory: Local to National Impact Strategy, Messaging & Media

TALMAGE COOLEY, FOUNDER/DIRECTOR
SOCIAL IMPACT PROGRAM & MESSAGING DESIGN, GO-TO-MARKET AND GROWTH CONSULTANT
- Recognized expert in impact program design & deployment
- Accomplished in scaling impact programming from inception to national scale.
- Strategic partnerships growth specialist
- Award-winning writer and filmmaker (narrative & documentary)
- Presidential commendation presented at White House ceremony for social change program innovation success
- References available upon request

I am a veteran social impact strategist, messaging and marketing expert, with a track record of successfully launching and scaling large-scale social impact programming. I’ve been fortunate to assemble and lead great teams that have created transformational impact initiatives from inception to national scale across multiple domains.

BACKGROUND

After graduating from the University of Virginia with a BA in Foreign Affairs and an MBA in Finance, Markets and Management, I began my career at Dominion Bank and Morgan Stanley in corporate finance and trading. I then shifted focus to national-scale social impact missions by co-founding PAX/The Center to Prevent Youth Violence, where we created the Asking Saves Kids (ASK) gun violence prevention campaign. The national Asking Saves Kids Campaign quickly scaled to become the largest and most successful gun violence prevention message campaign in US history. Studies by Harvard University and the US General Accounting Office found that Asking Saves Kids remains the only prevention message on gun violence that has ever been proven to be effective.

While attending the Harvard Kennedy School, I founded Democracy.com, a for-profit social network for social and political engagement that provided any candidate or activist with a simple-to-use, full-featured, organizing website at zero-cost-of-entry. After scaling to over a million users in all 50 states and winning major awards across the civic-tech space, Democracy.com was acquired by Mark Cuban in a private transaction.

THEORY OF CHANGE NYC

I launched Theory of Change NYC consulting in 2023 to advise clients on impact-focused projects ranging from innovation, strategic partnerships, social change messaging and branding, media and content development, growth, fundraising, and team building. Clients include US and international NGOs, universities, agencies, government offices and corporations. Projects have been located in the US, Europe, the Caribbean, Middle East, South America and Asia.

I support leaders in strengthening strategy, market positioning, stakeholder alignment, messaging and media development, team building and program execution across complex social change domains. I have advised on projects spanning portfolios exceeding $1B in annual spend and 500+ million person global reach, with emphasis on market-facing strategy, program and team development, rapid institutional growth, breakthrough outcomes and quantifiable outcomes.

Through my social impact consultancy, Theory of Change NYC, I have served clients for over twenty years as an advisor on innovation,  strategic partnerships, social change messaging and branding, growth strategies, fundraising, national-scale marketing and team design. Clients include US and international NGOs, universities, agencies, government offices and companies. I help leaders strengthen market positioning, stakeholder alignment, program execution and impact across complex social change domains.

Sample projects include:
• Strategic innovation advisor to New York University’s School of Global Public Health. Supported academic initiatives, communication strategy, and stakeholder growth engagement. Lectured on social innovation narrative and program design. Supported organization communications strategy during pandemic.
• Partnered with Beyond Conflict, an international nonprofit advancing depolarization, social justice and peacebuilding, on marketing strategy, message architecture, and campaign positioning to elevate brand visibility and mission alignment.
• Collaborated with UK ad agency Been There Done That to align public-sector, corporate, and media partners around national net-zero messaging campaigns - directing and managing multi-party commitments and creative deliverables for corporate and media stakeholders focused on inclusive social impact messaging campaigns.
• Advised Mercy Corps global innovation team on economic development in post-disaster environments. Served on projects in Haiti (in-country), Pakistan & Japan. Partnered with leadership to align strategy, program design and messaging, finance, operations, and evaluation to support institutional growth and success.

THE ASKING SAVE KIDS CAMPAIGN 

We launched PAX/The Center to Prevent Youth Violence at the Million Mom March in 2000, and it quickly became the largest non-lobbying US organization focused on gun violence prevention, based on the rapid success of our open-source Asking Saves Kids (ASK) Campaign. ASK urges parents to ask their neighbors about guns in the home before sending children over to play at someone’s home - Do you have guns in the home? Are all guns locked in a gun safe? Who has the keys? These simple questions could save your child’s life. ASK has been remarkably successful because it is all about being a good parent - not politics.

Asking Saves Kids was officially launched at the White House with the US President in conjunction with the Million Mom March, which was held on the National Mall in Washington DC. Over 1,250,000 Million Mom March participants at marches nationally immediately activated ASK across all 50 states. The open-source design of ASK enabled rapid adoption by parents, public officials, school systems, and local leaders concerned about gun violence. Twenty-six years later, Asking Saves Kids remains active in all 50 states and is the only gun violence prevention message ever proven to be effective according to studies by Harvard University and the US General Accounting Office. See www.AskAboutGuns.org

DEMOCRACY.COM

In 2012, I founded Democracy.com as part of a year-long MPA degree program at the Harvard Kennedy School. Democracy.com was a multiple award-winning social technology platform for civic and political engagement that gave every candidate, incumbent and civic organization a high-powered, professional-quality, organizing website at zero cost-of-entry. After scaling to over a million users, Democracy.com was acquired by Mark Cuban in 2019.

FILMMAKER, WRITER & DIRECTOR

My work as a writer/director/producer spans drama, comedy, commercial and documentary filmmaking. My films have premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and collectively won over 20 awards at 100+ festivals worldwide - including numerous Best Film, Jury Prize and Audience Awards, and include a shortlist honor (final ten) for the Academy Awards nomination. My films are held in the Sundance Film Collection at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and have also been exhibited at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles. Other awards include being named one of "Ten Most Innovative Talents" by RES Magazine and one of "10 Emerging Talents to Watch" by Screen International. Member Writers Guild of America and Directors Guild of America.

REFERENCES:
Reach us at:  talmage@talmagecooley.com
Website: www.theoryofchange.nyc
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1548627/
Theory of Change website:  www.TheoryofChange.nyc
Asking Saves Kids website:  www.AskAboutGuns.org

SAMPLE CREATIVE PROJECTS

Short Documentary: Dimmer

A documentary look into the lives of a semi-tough gang of blind teenage boys as they roam the worst neighborhoods of Buffalo, New York, looking for trouble and girlfriends. Music by Interpol. Premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Invited to over a hundred film festivals globally. Academy Awards Shortlist.

Directed by: Talmage Cooley
Produced by: Andy Spade, Anthony Sperduti & Talmage Cooley
Cinematography by: Jim Wall
Edited by: Crandall Miller
Music by: Interpol

FILM FESTIVAL AWARDS
Sundance Film Festival - Premiere
Academy Awards - Short Documentary Shortlist
Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences - Special Exhibition
Worldwide Short Film Festival (Toronto) - Best Film
RiverRun Festival - Best Documentary Short
NY Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) - Special Exhibition
NY Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) - Sundance Collection
Vila Do Cordo (Portugal) - Best Film
Hammer Museum LA - Special Exhibition
Aspen Film Festival - Silver Prize
Nashville Film Festival - Special Mention
Seattle One Reel Festival - Best Film
ResFest - Best Film
ResFest - Special Jury Prize

Short Narrative: Pol Pot’s Birthday

A comedic examination of the humbling of a ruthless tyrant, as the office staff of the Cambodian dictator Pol Pot attempts to throw a surprise birthday party for their boss. Premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Invited to over a hundred film festivals globally. Over 500,000 views on YouTube.

Directed by: Talmage Cooley
Written by: Talmage Cooley & Anthony Sperduti
Produced by: Talmage Cooley
Production Design by: Shane Valentino
Cinematography by: Todd Somodevilla
Edited by: Kirk Baxter & Akiko Iwakawa-Grieve

FILM FESTIVAL AWARDS
Sundance Film Festival - Premiere
Newport Beach Film Festival - Best Screenplay
NY Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) - Sundance Collection
Dubrovnik Film Festival (Croatia) - Best Film
Filmstock Festival (UK) - Best Concept
Filmstock Festival (UK) - Best Film
Grenada Film Festival (Spain) - Best Cinematography
Silverlake Film Festival - Festival Director’s Prize
St Louis Film Festival - Best Film
Asian American Film Festival - Best Film
ResFest - Special Jury Prize

The Creative Coalition - Schoolyard PSA

Written & Directed by: Talmage Cooley
Cinematography by: Glenn Mordeci
Voiceover by: Alec Baldwin

The Schoolyard public service announcement spot was a collaboration between The Creative Coalition and The Gun Violence Project, focused on the insight that over 100,000 children take a gun to school every day in America.

ASKING SAVES KIDS CAMPAIGN - PRINT

SPEAK UP - School Poster (Josh)

Strategy and Creative Direction: Talmage Cooley
Photography: Wyatt Troll
Designer: Ian Toombs/Pentagram Design

The Speak Up Campaign was created by the Center to Prevent Youth Violence/PAX and provided the first ever anonymous hotline for young people to report weapon threats in their schools and neighborhoods. Launched in 2002 and operated continuously until 2019, the Speak Up Hotline was promoted by over 400 national and local partners in all 50 states. The hotline received over 50,000 calls, many of which led to community and law enforcement intervention before tragedies could occur. The documentary-style television and internet spots for the Speak Up Campaign featured actual students who either experienced or prevented mass shootings at their school.

SPEAK UP - School Poster (Michelle)

Strategy and Creative Direction: Talmage Cooley
Photography: Wyatt Troll
Designer: Ian Toombs/Pentagram Design

PRESS

Screen International: Ten Short Filmmakers to Watch
American Cinematographer: An Uneasy Celebration
Variety: AMPAS Kisses Short Docs
Fader: Idea Man
Hotdog Magazine: Underground Shorts
RES Magazine: RES 10
IFC: Interview with Talmage Cooley
Create Magazine: RES Fest Announces Audience Choice and Jury Prize
Indiewire: Sundance Short Top Ten
BBC: RESFest at the Showroom
TechPresident: Democracy.com Shines Searchlight on Candidates and Elected Officials
CNN Politics: One Stop Shopping for Candidates Online
TechPresident: Democracy.com Hopes to Level Campaign Playing Field with Social Network for Politics
TechCrunch: Democracy.com Launches Plug-and-Play Website for Political Campaigns

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