USDA-FNS

It's not enough to tell a child to eat more fruits and vegetables and expect the obesity rate among our nation's children to lower.

But engage children with classroom experiences where they can explore the source of fruits and vegetables, design their own gardens, and work as teams to research a variety of global cuisines - all the while learning important math, science and English language arts skills - and you will see immediate results.

After initial testing of the Dig In! program, 5th and 6th grade students were asking for kale and garbanzo beans to be served in their school cafeteria, and parents reported that their children eschewed potato chips in favor of broccoli.

For teachers, we created 10 classroom lessons that meet Common Core Standards and offer tweens interactive learning and tasting opportunities. For parents, we created a mini magazine that offers valuable tools (recipes, meal planners, cost and time-saving tips, and conversation starters with their kids) to help them in their efforts to provide healthier meals and snacks.

And for kids, we provided a lasting education experience and important life skills they will carry into adulthood.

Dove

Before social behavior experiments with forensic artists, or ads featuring non-model models, there was a 40-year-old campaign touting the benefits of a beauty bar made with moisturizing cream. We delved deeper and explored what 'softer skin' really means to women all over the country.

If these ads resonated so strongly with the target audience, it's because these were the sentiments shared by the many women we spoke with about beauty, aging, and feeling feminine.

USDA-APHIS

People don't think much about fruit flies unless they're buzzing around the banana bowl. But they are just one of a whole host of pests - or invasive species - that threaten crops, forests, and national parks, and cost the U.S. billions of dollars annually.

So the Department of Agriculture's Animal Plant Health Inspection Service employed Vin Vasive, a spokesbug, to help spread the word about ways people can help stop the spread of these hungry pests. From posters and collateral to a video and website, this important message got a lot of attention.

ExpandED Schools

Unequal childhoods lead to unequal adulthoods. And the stark reality is that kids growing up in poverty are likely to suffer a 6,000-hour learning gap by the time they reach 6th grade, compared with their middle-class peers.

This has little to do with time spent in the classroom, and much to do with the learning that happens beyond the traditional school day - summer camp, tutors, after-school activities.

ExpandED Schools works to close this gap by supporting partnerships between schools and community organizations in underserved neighborhoods to add more hours to the school day, bring more role models into the classroom, and infuse more joy into learning through enrichments in the arts, sports, STEM and leadership-building activities.

This short video shows what happens when you reimagine the school day.

Mass Mutual

How does a stodgy, corporate, financial firm find its way into people's hearts (and wallets)? Arresting photography and simple statements that express the poignancy of small moments ... and the necessity of protecting the people that make those moments so special.

Winning an award for this campaign was great. Spotting a mother using one of these magazine ads to tell a story to her young child on the crosstown bus was even better.

Breast Cancer Research Foundation

The goal of any advertisement for a non-profit is to raise awareness of that organization and to raise funds so it can it carry out its mission.

We measured the success of this campaign not only by the massive surge of donations received, but by the outpouring of personal stories and heartfelt letters sent in response to this ad.

FEMA

Preparing ahead of time for a disaster is a bit like writing a will - you know you're supposed to do it, but it's hard to get motivated.

FEMA found that kids are often the impetus for parents to be prepared. So the agency wanted to create a website and curriculum geared toward kids that would empower them to help their families get ready for an emergency.

FEMA's Ready.gov/kids site is about as far a departure from a typical government website as you could get. With three distinct sections for youth, parents and educators, it has everything families need for emergency preparation.

The highlight is the games, where players learn about disaster response as they advance through a comic book-like adventure in a quest to become Disaster Masters.

Ironically, much of this program was ideated while sitting in a house without power after Hurricane Sandy.