CASE STUDY
MEDIA RELATIONS & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT: OYATE GROUP
The Challenge
Oyate Group is a Bronx-based nonprofit organization with a mission to alleviate poverty and empower underserved communities across New York City. Launched to address resource gaps exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, Oyate Group’s work increased ICU bed capacity in the Bronx by 120%, provided over $200,000 in grants for small businesses, distributed food and direct financial assistance to those in need and created a scholarship for young Bronxites headed to college.
Despite this, the organization had received no media coverage and was largely unknown, even in its local community. The TASC Group was hired to help Oyate raise the organization’s visibility and profile among local political leaders, build trust and exposure for its programs in the community, raise additional financial support and develop its subject-matter expertise into an established thought leadership platform.
The Challenge
Oyate Group is a Bronx-based nonprofit organization with a mission to alleviate poverty and empower underserved communities across New York City. Launched to address resource gaps exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, Oyate Group’s work increased ICU bed capacity in the Bronx by 120%, provided over $200,000 in grants for small businesses, distributed food and direct financial assistance to those in need and created a scholarship for young Bronxites headed to college.
Despite this, the organization had received no media coverage and was largely unknown, even in its local community. The TASC Group was hired to help Oyate raise the organization’s visibility and profile among local political leaders, build trust and exposure for its programs in the community, raise additional financial support and develop its subject-matter expertise into an established thought leadership platform.
The Strategy
The TASC Group’s strategy involved working from the ground up to develop Oyate Group’s identity and introduce its programming to the communities it serves. TASC helped craft the organization’s brand and core messaging, develop its website, shape its social media identity and develop donor and partner materials.
TASC leveraged the organization’s early work of providing COVID-19 vaccines to overlooked New Yorkers in public housing. Across the Bronx, TASC introduced Oyate Group’s work to the community, local leaders and legislators through comprehensive media coverage in local, national, international and Spanish-language outlets. TASC then worked with Oyate Group to shape and launch numerous programs, including Beyond Rising, a paid internship program for undocumented youth, Community Capital, an incubator for small businesses and Rising Restaurateur, a relief program for local restaurants in partnership with Grubhub and the NYS Latino Restaurant, Bar & Lounge Association. TASC also helped amplify existing programs, like Oyate Group’s $20,000 college scholarship for Bronx high school students.
TASC aimed to establish Oyate Group’s thought leadership through op-eds and by inserting its leaders in stories concerning access
to healthcare, small business support and youth services, especially for undocumented and migrant youth.
The Results
Oyate Group is now one of the leading nonprofits in the Bronx and a go-to source for local partnerships and legislators looking to serve New York’s underserved and under-resourced communities.
TASC successfully secured more than 850 media placements for Oyate Group in local, national and international media outlets. The nonprofit and its leadership have been covered by publications like The New York Times, Vox, The Economist, Gothamist and Crain’s New York Business, as well as national cable shows such as Univision, Telemundo and ABC News. Its programmatic work is regularly featured in local outlets including WNYC, WCBS, PIX11, Univision NY, Bronx Times and BronxNet.
The organization and its leadership have won numerous awards and recognitions, including being listed on the City & State Nonprofit Power and Bronx Power lists, Crain’s New York Business’ Notable Black Leaders and Notable Hispanic Leaders lists and awards from the New York Yankees, the Dominican Bar Association and Adidas. The organization has built partnerships with the Major League Baseball Players Association, Columbia Teachers College, Fordham University, Lehman College, and Hostos Community College, as well as worked with local legislators to provide programming and resources to their communities.
MEDIA COVERAGE
