Soaring into Q2 with a much-anticipated launch, new faces and so much more!

Hello again friends,

WOWZA, what a start to the year! We welcomed new faces to the team, celebrated

many professional and personal wins, flexed our bowling skills and learned helpful improv skills (Zip, Zap, Zop—those who know, know!).

Our 2024 highlight (thus far—the year is young!) has been the launch of our Advocacy Accelerator with its flagship offering, the Advocacy Academy. You can read the background here—Why we invested $100K+ to create the Advocacy Accelerator. The short answer: because it is our mission to transform health care and the best way we can accelerate change is to network and teach people to use strategic communications and public affairs to advance their advocacy goals. Advocacy Accelerator is the platform to do that.

It has been a labor of love for all of us. We are so thankful to all those who helped us along the way by giving us feedback and/or signing up as launch partners. After receiving great initial feedback, I’m even more excited about CURA’s next chapter. Continue scrolling to see what’s been cooking at CURA these past few months on this and more!

Cheers,

Advocacy Accelerator Now Launched!

We’ve been pleased with the positive response we’ve received so far since the official launch of Advocacy Accelerator on April 10, including articles in our industry’s top media outlets - PRWeek, PRovoke Media, O’Dwyer’s and Bulldog Reporter!

Thanks again to the launch partners of Advocacy Academy—Advocacy Accelerator’s flagship program—for helping us perfect the platform before launch: WomenHeart, Polycystic Kidney Disease Foundation, Travere Therapeutics, IgA Nephropathy Foundation, The Mended Hearts, Inc., Honor the Gift and Happy Health Caregiver.

Be sure to check out the site and share it with anyone you know who is interested in health care advocacy training and resources!

Check it out: https://advocacyaccelerator.us/

You're Invited!

Celebrate the launch of Advocacy Accelerator at our first community meet-up. The happy hour will be at Tiki TNT at the Wharf on May 22 @ 6pm. RSVP here! Hope to see you there.

Join the guest list

ACHA on the Hill

In February, the Congenital Heart Futures Reauthorization Act of 2024 (CHFRA) was introduced in Congress! A result of nearly two years of advocacy efforts, this flagship priority of the Adult Congenital Heart Association (ACHA) will require a report to Congress on a roadmap for addressing the labor shortages impacting adult congenital heart defect (ACHD) care.

CHFRA has already passed both the House Energy & Commerce Health Subcommittee and Full Committee unanimously! This legislation is close to our hearts here at CURA. Our very own Scott Leezer began his career in health policy when working for Senator Dick Durbin, one of CHFRA’s sponsors. Sadly, Senator Durbin’s eldest daughter passed away at 40 due to complications with a CHD. We’re thankful to Senator Durbin and the other bill cosponsors for their longstanding support for the ACHD community.

PKD Foundation Virtual Advocacy Day

On April 9, CURA supported the Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) Foundation’s Virtual Advocacy Day, bringing together 107 advocates from 29 states and Washington, D.C., for 121 congressional meetings—one of the largest and most successful advocacy events for the organization to date.

These efforts helped secure two new cosponsors for the Living Organ Donor Tax Credit Act and underscored the need for greater PKD funding through federal grant programs such as the Senate Department of Defense’s Peer-Reviewed Medical Research Program.

ACC.24

CURA proudly supported the press program for another American College of Cardiology Annual Scientific Session & Expo. This time the team traveled to Atlanta in early April to support media relations around the world’s largest cardiology conference. The coverage is still coming in, but some of the top hits this year so far include Good Morning America, TODAY, CNN and The Washington Post

The Leapfrog Group PR Training

On the heels of announcing the inaugural winners of a new designation—“Recognized Leader in Caring for People Living with Diabetes”—The Leapfrog Group invited CURA to present to their team on what public relations looks like today. It also helped us brush up on the latest stats. Did you know that social video generates 1,200% more shares than text and image content combined? We’d love to come to speak to your team too. Contact us!

We love welcoming new talent to the growing CURA team and were thrilled to bring the following two wonderful people into the fold this past quarter!

Matt Simmons

SVP of Public Affairs

Adrian Dripple

AVP of Digital Marketing

And shout out to team members celebrating CURAversaries!

Cheers to Thy (8 years), David (2 years), Claire (2 years) and Diana (2 years) for helping make CURA what it is today!

Thy-Ann Nguyen

Chief of Staff

David Morrell

Project Manager

Claire Grant

Vice President

Diana Pressey

Senior Acct. Exec.

2024 SABRE Awards North America Finalists

CURA and Mobilize Recovery’s Day of Service initiative is a finalist in the Not-for-Profit category at this year’s SABRE North America awards!

CURA Strategies hires Matthew Simmons as SVP of Public Affairs

The news of Matt Simmons joining our team in February was featured in a PRWeek article, as well as in PRovoke Media and POLITICO Influence!

O'Dwyer's 2024 Rankings

CURA joined O’Dwyer’s PR Rankings this year and came in at 92 among the top independent PR firms with major U.S. operations.

Zip. Zap. Zop.

In our first retreat of the year, we celebrated 2023 wins, set our 2024 goals and wrapped up with an enlightening session of group improv, facilitated by Shawn Westfall—a seasoned creative executive and improv teacher who brings the power of improv into the corporate setting to help teams work more effectively. We learned the power of “yes, and” and “checking your ego at the door” over a lot of belly laughing.

Employee Appreciation Day

In March, the CURA team celebrated Employee Appreciation Day with in-office chair massages, quality team time and bowling!

Have questions? Message us!

If you need communications or advocacy support, we are here for you! We’ll work with you to develop a strategy and choose the right tools to help you achieve your organization’s goals. Send us a message!