CURA Connections Headed into Q3

Hi friends,

CURA is all about connections (and not just the popular NYT game, although it was a pillar of our annual retreat's team building activity). I’ve always been inspired and motivated by relationship building because I believe it’s at the core of what we do—connecting our client partners to the right issues, stakeholders, reporters, staffers and positioning to improve health care. Connection is a catalyst for change, and this quarter was full of it!!

We hosted CURA’s first-ever Advocacy Accelerator networking event for professionals, paused our busy client work to connect with each other in person at our annual offsite retreat and flew 16 influencers living with autoimmune conditions to the West Coast for a patient summit to learn more about CAR T-cell therapy research and to collaborate on digital leadership among patient communities. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

If you’ve felt the CURAnection (I couldn’t help myself!), know that we’ve loved mobilizing your mission. And if you haven’t felt it yet, let’s connect over lunch, a call or via email! I’m grateful for a team that leads with the same philosophy. And the team continues to WOW me with their determination, creativity and results—keep reading for our biggest updates and see how connection is the fabric of who we are at CURA.

Cheers,

What a fun launch party!

I speak for the entire CURA team when I say that we were highly energized by the amazing health care advocates that attended our Advocacy Accelerator Launch Party. What started as a simple idea a few years back has now blossomed into a helpful communications and resource hub for advocacy and government relations professionals and advocates. Beyond the virtual course and tools, we know there is power in transformation-minded people coming together, which is why we added this “community” element—to foster encouragement and information sharing. Sign up for our Capitol Corner newsletters to stay informed about the next event!

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Launching Inaugural IMPACT 2024 Digital Leader Summit

#IMPACT2024, the inaugural digital leader summit hosted by Kyverna Therapeutics brought together 16 influencers in the autoimmune space and their caregivers. At the summit, digital leaders living with lupus, multiple sclerosis, scleroderma, myasthenia gravis and stiff person syndrome connected and learned about advancements in CAR T-cell therapy in the autoimmune space.

Highlights of the event included a dinner cruise under the Golden Gate Bridge, unique social media content creation opportunities and collaboration between patients, caregivers and the Kyverna Village to share powerful messages about the realities of living with their conditions.

For the event, CURA managed influencer relationships, developed event branding and swag and facilitated a collaborative workshop on increasing awareness for autoimmune diseases through social media. Working with Kyverna Therapeutics and the attending digital leaders was an honor for our team, and we are grateful to have been a part of IMPACT 2024.

Supporting the WomenHeart Gala

CURA sponsored the WomenHeart Wenger Awards Gala in celebration of women who have contributed to women’s heart health by advancing cutting-edge heart research, diversifying the field of heart health and expanding understanding of gender differences in heart disease. Such a beautiful event and a fun evening!

Mezzion Walks for CHD Awareness

We recently joined more than 600 participants at the 14^th Annual It’s My Heart New England Keep the Beat CHD Awareness Walk. The CURA team was proud to support event sponsor, Mezzion and the CHD Warriors to help raise awareness of ongoing Fontan research.

Headed to the Hill with Diabetes Patient Advocacy Coalition

Our team supported the Diabetes Leadership Council’s congressional briefing on diabetes to discuss the progress, potential and pitfalls of the policies impacting Americans with diabetes. The briefing kicked off a great Diabetes Patient Advocacy Coalition Hill Day, which gathered 50 advocates from across the country to push for better policies directly with legislators!

Generating Buzz in the Media

Our media relations rockstars have been putting in the work to generate media coverage in a landscape that makes it harder than ever to catch reporters’ attention. Below are just a few of the biggest pieces of coverage we've secured this quarter.

The Washington Post: More than one alcoholic drink a day raises heart disease risk for women

Promoting the latest research in cardiology to consumers, even if the research findings hurt a little.

New York Post: 8 NYC hospitals earn poor grades for patient safety in new report card

Educating the public on the importance of patient safety one regional article at a time. P.S. there’s 600 more where that came from!

STAT News: Supreme Court’s nondecision jeopardizes emergency abortion care

Securing thought leadership on the hottest maternity care topics of 2024.

In addition to generating media for our client partners, we were also pleased to be mentioned in a few articles ourselves this quarter (PRWeek, Politico, Rock River Current).

But enough about us. What you should absolutely read is our three-part series on the importance and specifics of building a robust issues management plan for crises beyond your business.

Part 1: Navigating Crises Beyond Your Business

Part 2: Three Steps to Establishing a Workflow

Part 3: The Importance of an Issue Response Workflow and Engaging the Right People

Congrats, Erin!

Erin Berst, VP, was recognized as the 2024 Washington Women in PR Emerging Leader in the Small Agency Category. Never a doubt!

Welcome back, Claire!

We welcomed back our beloved Claire Grant, VP, from maternity leave after she welcomed her first born—adorable George! We missed her so much!!

The Annual CURA Off-Site Retreat was "Amazing" 🏃🏁

One of the highlights of every year, CURA hosted our annual offsite retreat in Shenandoah, VA, in May and focused on Radical Candor (aka Caring Personally, while Challenging Directly, without being obnoxiously aggressive or insincere.)

We are collectively grateful for a guide that keeps us on our path to Best-in-Class client service, and I am impressed by the open conversation to better understand what motivates and drives each person. We are a stronger team because of it.

After exploring the Luray Caverns, we concluded our retreat in true CURA style with a masterfully created CURAmazing Race challenge: part scavenger hunt, part garden maze, part Connections (yes, The New York Times word puzzle game)—and 100% challenging (some of us barely made it out of the maze!).

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!