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Human Centric Media | A Strategic Narrative Agency

@humancentricmedia

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We design targeted, character-rich campaigns that elevate bold leadership, mobilize audiences and drive progressive change. See us in action 🔻

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“For whom and to what end?”

That was the question put forth to guests at BLD PNW 2026 by its keynote speaker, Article V Founder @jtflowersx, whose work has helped secure more than $850 million in direct investment for the Albina neighborhood that he grew up in.

His rousing address urged the mission-driven leaders in the room to imagine the world JT’s young son will inherit, and what they might choose to build together.

In this moment, leading with purpose isn’t just good business, it’s a generational responsibility.

This was @onpurposeoregon’s 10th annual BLD conference, and the first under its new name. Their expanded tent is an invitation. Regardless of their certification status, this is a movement for values-led organizations and entrepreneurs who support racial equity, climate justice and a more stakeholder-driven economy.

Hosted by @pdxbschool, the halls were buzzing with the community’s collective wisdom, responsibility and momentum.

“This was the best BLD ever,” said Sarah Holdeman, @onpurposeoregon board chair and co-founder of @theimpactcollectivepdx. “Our programming was absolutely top-notch.”

The day featured workshops and speakers including Claire Randall and Laura Ohm (@grandcentralbakery), Michael Jonas (@narwhallawandbizstrategy), Jessica Elkan (@james_beard_public_market), August Carneiro (@nossafamiliacoffee), Miho Hatanaka (@housenine.wellness) and many more.

‘Together on Purpose’ wasn’t just this year’s theme — it’s a vision for what becomes possible when we come together around our shared values and opportunities.

“It is naive to think that doing business in any other way is what matters,” Sarah said. “Tariffs and gas prices and all these things — it is naive to think that at the core of all of that isn’t business gone wrong.”

And the only way to do things right is to do them together.

There are big choices on the horizon: a mid-term election, artificial intelligence run amok. In the chaos is an opening: to revolutionize the way we work, and why. To treat people better this time.

To lead with purpose.

Tap through @humancentricmedia for more stories about purpose-driven leaders 🌸 taken in Portland State University School of Business by @humancentricmedia

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We’re celebrating our 11th birthday this year; we’re in our prime! To mark the occasion, we hosted a gathering at @urdanetapdx ahead of @oregonhumanities Consider This conversation with poet @naomishihabnye.

We were thrilled to uplift Oregon Humanities and their critical work across the state. Our founder and CEO Georgia proudly serves on the board, and we see supporting arts & culture orgs like OH as a responsibility to invest in our shared cultural institutions. As Georgia said in her remarks:

“If Oregon Humanities succeeds, then organizations and communities Modernist will never directly touch also succeed: rural libraries, emerging thinkers, civic conversations happening far outside Portland. When we support OH, we support the ecosystem that supports democracy and so our businesses can flourish.” 🌱

📸s by @humancentricmedia. Thanks for capturing the spirit of the evening so beautifully! by @humancentricmedia

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Far too often, event media is produced as proof-of-life: exhausting documentation of workshops, speeches no one wants to hear out of context, and the backs of people’s heads. It checks a very dull box.

When we returned to @reddonsalmon for Trans Town 2026, we wanted to spotlight the vibrancy of our genderqueer community, and the diversity of experience that makes it uniquely strong.

Event media is more effective when it focuses on impact: who your planning brings together, and the enrichment of those relationships.

Our campaign included a co-marketed video feature exploring insights from trans people @werqtogether had recently helped relocate — the life they left behind, and the new opportunities in front of them.

We promote events with a wraparound methodology — providing clients with compelling tools to sell tickets, attract sponsors and secure buy-in from community partners.

Focusing on emotional impact anchors guests in the moments they shared, and proves why your organization plans events in the first place: the connections they create between people.

Planning a conference, retreat or gala? We should talk: @humancentricmedia A person in a cropped yellow and blue checkered shirt over a Trans Town t-shirt smiles while leaning against a wood-paneled wall. A "They/Them" pronoun pin is visible on their shirt, and an event poster and long-sleeve merch shirt hang behind them. taken in Redd on Salmon Street by @humancentricmedia

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This year, the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA) returned to The Gem State for the 2026 Efficiency Exchange conference in Boise, Idaho.

Idaho’s reputation for natural beauty is certainly earned – the drive out was proof enough – and Boise is a city growing in population, opportunity and demand on the energy grid.

There were workshops, keynotes and booths from partners like @clearesult, @idahopower, @energytrustor, @seacitylight and @avistautilities. Heat pumps galore! Reports from the cutting edge.

Before I left, some of my queer community reached out to check: surely I’d read the stories? Heard quotes from politicians who are too preoccupied with which bathroom I use to do their job on behalf of Idahoans?

But I had a really lovely time. I stayed in a sweet neighborhood, surrounded by families with dogs. Booked an Airbnb with a hot tub (free business hack). The bagel shop around the corner had this killer open-faced chicken salad sandwich. The streets were lively and cute. People said hello to me.

And I never really felt that far from home – the Pacific Northwest shares ecological systems, an eye for adventure and generous people who care about the future.

After four years of telling NEEA’s story – at their conferences, award ceremonies and holiday parties – it felt like a family road trip. Returning to summer camp after a year away.

This year, watching them count wins and loses in preparation for our robot-inundated future, what stood out the most was the conviction of their focus:

They do this work to make an impact on people’s lives.

Lower energy bills, fewer power outages, systems that are more resilient to disaster. Keeping the lights on because people need those lights!

Maybe we’ve yet to see the true collective power, in our society, of people coming together to support one another. But there are pockets where it’s already happening! Against the grain and despite the odds.

Human Centric Media is obsessed with telling these stories because they’re the roots of a better future.

You just have to show up and follow the love.

Designed for Impact ⚡ @humancentricmedia Two people pose together smiling at the Efficiency Exchange 2026 conference. One wears a black dress with glasses, and the other wears a dark suit with a blue tie against a dark green backdrop. taken in Boise, Idaho by @humancentricmedia

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Community is how we find ourselves. Maloof Wines (@maloofwines) is proof.

Founders Bee and Ross Maloof started out without formal winemaking backgrounds. They immersed themselves at Day Camp in Dundee, a facility shared by seven other small, emerging wineries including Fossil & Fawn (@fossilandfawn). There they were surrounded by people with enology degrees, years of harvest experience, and completely different perspectives. The cross-pollination was transformative.

“There is no way that Maloof Wines would be where it is if we didn’t have that kind of community aspect in the beginning,” Bee says. “You can’t learn these things from a textbook.”

By their fifth vintage, they were ready for their own space. They took over a 70-acre property in Forest Grove with deep Oregon wine history and invited Fossil & Fawn and Monument Wine (@monumentwine) to move into the space as well. They named the shared property No Clos Radio (@ncrcafe) – deliberately nonsensical, open to interpretation, and belonging to no one person or winery.

“My hope is that it creates a moment in people’s lives,” Bee says. “That they remember who they were with, what they were feeling. Wine makes the world a smaller place.”

The same instinct shapes the experience at TASTE (@tasteforequity). It’s about appealing to different palates and different perspectives without sacrificing taste or values. When people come together around something made with care, they inevitably learn something new about themselves.

Growing up as a military kid, always moving, Bee became skilled at blending in quickly. What got lost was actually knowing herself. She became an aerospace materials engineer not from passion, though it satisfied her scientific mind – but because she was good at it and people kept telling her so. After a decade in a world of, as she puts it, “gray walls, gray ceiling, gray white men,” a harvest in Oregon cracked something open. She quit her job, sold her belongings, moved to Oregon, and didn’t look back.

Get to know Bee Maloof and the other talented chefs and winemakers who are part of this year’s TASTE event series 🍷 @tasteforequity taken in No Clos Radio by @humancentricmedia

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One of the best parts of living in Portland is the way people come together and provide for each other. That’s the real basis for lasting safety: knowing that the community has your back.

Human Centric Media’s friend and colleague, Jessica (@jesslynnheilman) at the Center for Women’s Leadership (@centerwomensleadership) first alerted us to Soup Night, a new event series produced by the delicious union of Chef Jami Cakes (@msjamicakes), Kitchen Table Magazine (@kitchentablemag), Hungry Heart Bakery (@hungryheartpdx) and the Northeast Portland event venue Che; (@che.pdx).

Together they deployed a winning recipe: local farmers provided fresh produce, Jami made two delicious soups (minestrone and cream of cauliflower), and guests were invited to dine together, with all the proceeds and excess soup being distributed throughout the community by the nonprofit Growing Gardens (@growinggardenspdx).

La Porteña (@laportenapdx) also provided delicious chimichurri to put on top.

There may be plenty of work left to do but all year I’ve seen glimpses of what this city can be in nights like this: warm-hearted people coming together with curiosity and mutual interest, creating a support system that didn’t exist before.

We broke bread, got to know each other and talked about our shared values, namely that ICE has no place in our community and that their organized terrorism is cruel and unamerican.

This wave will pass and our city will emerge stronger because no matter how much damage they cause, they cannot take away our compassion or our values.

I’m so glad that Human Centric Media got to document these gorgeous moments, shared between colleagues and neighbors, their bellies and hearts both full and glowing.

In the Future, No One Goes Hungry 🍲 humancentricmedia.com/events

#eventphotography #portland #communitycare #fuckICE A volunteer with braided hair and a blue illustrated apron smiles while grating fresh cheese over a bowl of hearty vegetable soup in the kitchen at Che during a community fundraiser. taken in NE Portland by @humancentricmedia

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Working with the Northwest Health Foundation to document their stewardship of the groundbreaking Justice Reinvestment Equity Program (JREP) has been the opportunity of a lifetime.

Human Centric Media is built on the belief that storytelling is a powerful tool for dismantling harmful power structures like white supremacy and misogyny, so this collaboration meant a great deal.

Unfortunately, we live in an age of vengeful austerity. The federal government is exerting maximum pressure to stifle programs like this, starve them of funding and threaten lawmakers and everyday citizens to abandon these principles.

While we certainly will not, this atmosphere pushed the Oregon legislature to suspend the $10mil in funding that was fueling JREP’s grants. A network of community-rooted and care-giving organizations now have to scramble to answer questions like: what do we do next? What will happen to our staff? How do we protect all the work we’ve already done?

What was tangibly clear at this event, the last convening (for now) of JREP’s grantees and partner organizations, is that they’ve all been here before. This isn’t the first time vindictive white supremacy has reared its ugly head, or the first time that local lawmakers have cut funding to protect their budgets.

The room was full of palpable wisdom – people who have been fighting this fight for years and decades. Young people who are following in those footsteps.

Collaborating with the Northwest Health Foundation is always special, and I was glad that for this event, they commissioned not just candid photos of the gathering but headshots for all of their grantees.

It allowed Human Centric Media to get to know these community workers on an individual level. We left feeling inspired and resolute.

This community is so incredibly strong. Full of ingenuity. We will emerge from this period even stronger. Our tactics will be refined. Our bonds will grow in number.

The future is so bright.

Event Photography that Follows its Ancestors’ Path ☮️ humancentricmedia.com/events

#eventphotography #headshots #portlandoregon A smiling group portrait of two JREP grantees posing outdoors at the Northwest Health Foundation convening event. taken in PSU Native American Student and Community Center by @humancentricmedia

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Every single person I encountered at Feast in the Garden 2025 was talking about the exact same thing — what a truly special place the @leachbotanicalgarden is. Over and over again, I heard them regard it as a gem in the heart of Southeast Portland, a place worth protecting and fawning over.

We are living in a time where the truly compassionate among us are anxious to come together and protect what’s most important to us. This is why we’ll emerge from this period stronger and more resilient. We’ll come together with our hearts, our dollars and our human ingenuity because that’s what this community is all about.

The @leachbotanicalgarden is an incredible partner for @humancentricmedia because of our shared values: inclusivity, harmony with the planet, and the importance of reflection and rest. From their pollinator garden to the aerial tree walk, they’ve crafted a space where Southeast Portlanders can reflect on the past and plan for the future; enjoy the sunshine, the autumn breeze and the changing of the seasons.

Their staff is also ridiculously sweet.

This 17-acre sanctuary was founded in 1936 by John and Lilla Leach, who lived in the manor house at the heart of the property for the rest of their years. Lilla was a botanist and John a pharmacist and civic leader, and they developed the property as their sanctuary, and eventually a gift to the city they loved so dearly.

In their will, they specifically stated that the property be gifted to the city and developed as a botanical garden and museum. In the 1980s, with the city about to relinquish control of the property, Commissioner of Parks Charles Jordan decided to visit the grounds himself before signing the paperwork.

It’s reported that upon visiting, he called the garden a “little jewel” and decided “we can’t let it go.”

It’s a testament to the fact that if one tries, they can have a lasting and meaningful impact on their community.

Event Photography Designed to Grow Alongside You 🌱 humancentricmedia.com/events

#eventphotograpy #portland #garden #fundraising #gala #events #party A smiling couple stands with their arms around each other, holding a glass of wine. The pair radiates genuine happiness and connection while posing for a photo at the Feast in the Garden event in SE Portland. taken in Leach Botanical Garden by @humancentricmedia

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Chief Medical Operating Officer Dr. Kate Shaw emphasized the vital nature of these services. Medicaid cuts and rising healthcare costs mean that for many people, @planned_parenthood_cw provides their only access to vital, often life-saving support. And that demand is only rising.

The team consistently shared this concern for patients, and a commitment to greeting them with love and understanding. “A place where they feel included .. where they can come and trust that they’re going to get the best care, without judgement .. and they can bring their whole selves,” Dr. Shaw said.

Videos that Care About the People in Them ❤️‍🩹 @humancentricmedia

#advocacy #healthcare #pnw taken in Portland, Oregon by @humancentricmedia

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