UPLIFT
Tell Your Story. Change Your Future.
UPLIFT offers annual pro bono support to help one Canadian non-profit or NGO share its story. From branding and narrative to content and PR, we deliver tailored strategy and content—at no cost.
Because every powerful story deserves to be heard. Is yours next?
"We are so grateful to have been chosen as the Curious Public UPLIFT client. They listened carefully, consulted with various members of our team, and came up with a wonderful narrative on our messaging."
"We are so grateful to have been chosen as the Curious Public UPLIFT client. They listened carefully, consulted with various members of our team, and came up with a wonderful narrative on our messaging."
-Lynda Kosowan, Executive Director, Scarborough Women's Centre
What You'll Get
Every UPLIFT partnership is custom-built. We tailor our work to your goals — but here’s what you can typically expect:
- A personalized workplan
- A revised narrative that reflects your mission and vision
- Strategic support to help your narrative drive your goals
- Customized content (e.g., blogs, op-eds, web copy, social posts, and more)
- NEW this year: a customized fundraising merchandise strategy
Together, it’s the equivalent of a 3-month engagement with our agency — delivered pro bono.
Who Qualifies
To be eligible for UPLIFT, your organization must:
- Be a Canadian non-profit or NGO
- Focus on creating local or regional impact (national organizations not eligible)
- Have limited in-house communications/marketing resources
How to Apply
Applying is easy!
Fill out our online application Hit submit Get our confirmation email
We review all submissions and select our recipient in Winter 2025.
Past UPLIFT Recipients
2024-2025Ernestine's Women's Shelter
For forty years, Ernestine’s Women’s Shelter has been a life-saving and life-changing pillar of community care, helping survivors of gender-based violence give themselves and their children stability, healing and a path out of violence.
Curious Public is actively working with Ernestine’s to drive its visibility with donors and decision-makers through strategic communications for fundraising, PR and media.
2023-2024Summer Music Society
Summer Music Society delivers high-quality music education for people of all ages and musical skill levels. Summer Music’s inclusive programs benefit children, adults, and seniors, creating a supportive environment where participants can learn, grow, and connect through the power of music.
Curious Public worked with Summer Music Society to create a refreshed logo, a narrative, a new website and supporting communications collateral.
2022-2023Hospice Mississauga
Hospice Mississauga (formerly Heart House Hospice) has been making a meaningful difference for clients and their families navigating end-of-life care and grief in Mississauga and Brampton since 1985. Its team of compassionate professionals deliver on their promise to ensure that people live their final days with grace and dignity while offering support and services to families and caregivers.
Curious Public worked with Hospice Mississauga to revise its core narrative and social media content and develop a suite of new fundraising materials.
2021-2022Learning for a Sustainable Future
Learning for a Sustainable Future’s (LSF) mission is to empower Canadian kids to change the world by supplying teachers and students with climate change resources and learning opportunities.
Curious Public (then LRC) worked with LSF to give them a new narrative and communications strategy to increase brand awareness.
2020-2021Scarborough Women's Centre
Scarborough Women’s Centre (SWC) is a non-profit organization that gives support, information, resources, counselling and workshops to women in the community.
Curious Public worked with SWC to refresh its narrative, update communications materials and better connect the centre with its audiences, including donors. SWC awarded Curious Public (then LRC) with the centre’s “Volunteer of the Year Award.”
2019-2020Urban Alliance on Race Relations
Urban Alliance on Race Relations (UARR) was founded in 1975 by Torontonians who were concerned about the rise in hate crimes. The organization was a leading voice for more than 40 years, but felt its brand was out-of-date and missing opportunities to connect allied groups to fight for change.
Curious Public (then LRC) worked with the UARR to strengthen its digital and brand communications.
"UPLIFT is about helping deserving organizations get a share of voice out in their communities so they can make a greater impact and connect with more supporters and champions."
-Lloyd Rang, President, Curious Public
"We remain inspired by the quote from Bishop Desmond Tutu: 'Do your little bit of good where you are; it's those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.' That's UPLIFT's motto."
-Tracey Sobers, Chief Operations Officer, Curious Public
Our Services
Content and Insights
We help good people tell great stories.
We'll find out what makes you unique, learn what you have to offer, and figure out how to say it best using our signature narrative process.
We'll give you a better version of your story and use that story as a jumping-off point to create content and a strategy that gets people talking - for all the right reasons.
No jargon. No marketing-speak. Just fresh ideas and trusted insights - every time.
Narrative Development and Communications Strategy
We do a deep dive into your organization and work with you to tell your story. We’ll uncover it, write or re-imagine it, refine it – and create a step-by-step plan to help you share it.
Services:
Product narrative
Company narrative
Communications strategy
Fundraising campaign
Executive Reputation Management and Thought Leadership
We can help you build or polish a reputation as a leader in almost any area of expertise. We’ll work with you to create your leadership narrative – identifying topic areas you can explore and developing a strategy and content to share your expertise, advice and opinions with your audience.
Services:
Personal narrative
Speechwriting
Fundraising campaign
Speechwriting
We work with you to make you sound like you – only better. We’ve earned a reputation as some of the best speechwriters in Canada – which is why we’ve worked with politicians, CEOs, and celebrities all over the world.
Content Creation and Editing
We create thought-provoking articles, blog posts, releases, web copy – on any topic, no matter how complicated. We help start-ups, Fortune 500 companies, universities, hospitals and others get noticed. And our editing services will make your documents clear and readable.
Services:
News releases
Report writing
Briefing note creation
Contributed articles
Op-eds
Blog posts
Q&A doc
Podcast support
Video script writing
Shot lists
Issues Management
The best way to deal with issues is to learn to avoid them (see our training courses). But if you can’t, we can help you deal with a problem and make it go away as fast as possible.
Public Relations and Media Support
Choose from our complete menu of public relations services to help you manage your external communications, enhance your reputation, reach and build trust with your audiences/journalists, and increase your visibility.
Services:
Deliver spokesperson workshops
Create and execute media strategy
Develop targeted media lists
Craft media pitches and responses
Monitor and analyze coverage
Digital Communications and Website Development
We use digital audits, social listening and raw data to identify and evaluate your digital storytelling opportunities. We create content and influencer strategies. We can build your website. And you can trust us with the details – our team can design, develop, and manage your social campaigns, platforms or analytics for you.
Services:
Digital communications strategy
Website design
Social media copywriting
Digital advertising
Graphic design
Organization Effectiveness and Systems Analysis
Today’s business landscape is global, turbulent, and fiercely competitive. How your organization is designed and structured can be the difference between successfully driving results or perpetually putting out fires. That’s why evaluating your organization’s structural health is critical to ensure you’re set up for optimized performance. That’s where we can help.
Our organizational behaviour and human resources management specialist gives companies the recipe for success with unique, fluid, and customized recommendations that serve your organization’s exact needs and drive results.
Our signature narrative process is at the heart of everything we do:
FIRST...
We ask a lot of questions and analyze your organization to find out what makes it tick.
NEXT...
We write your core story – your narrative – that connects what you do to the people you’re trying to reach.
FINALLY...
We use your narrative to create the customized strategies, content, or training that helps you realize your goal.
Clear Writing Workshop
Course Outline
Curious Public’s Clear Writing Workshop
A hands-on course that helps you turn complex writing into clear writing that educates, engages and activates audiences.
Part One: Preparing for clarity
- Defining clear writing/unclear Writing
- Understanding your Audience
- Clarifying your purpose/organizing your Approach
Part Two: Writing for Clarity
- Grammar: knowing why something is wrong
- Ways to spot unclear writing
- Quick fixes to common problems
Part Three: Editing for Clarity
- Creating good habits – how to approach writing
- Passing along clear writing guides and resources
- Story basics – inverted pyramid writing, choosing relevant detail
- Activity: editing a document (submitted for feedback after the course)
Training
Media Training for Executives and Spokespeople
The communications landscape has changed a lot, but media is still the best way to get your story out there. Whether you’re showing thought leadership, introducing a new product or service, or defending your point of view, navigating media is tricky—especially when you’re trying to deliver a 20-second sound bite. That’s where we come in.
Crisis Communications Simulation and Playbook Development
Don’t wait until a crisis hits to figure out your response. This immersive workshop, designed for senior leaders and communications teams, features a realistic, industry-specific simulation and guides you in building a customized crisis communications playbook so you’re ready to lead under pressure and protect your reputation when it counts.
Cybersecurity Crisis Communications Simulation and Playbook Development
A cyber breach is more than an IT issue—it’s a reputational threat. This hands-on workshop prepares your leadership, communications and PR teams, and IT leaders to navigate the high-stakes world of cybersecurity crises with clarity and confidence. Through a tailored simulation and guided playbook development, you’ll be ready to respond when it matters most.
Storytelling
The best story wins. It wins attention, it wins investment and it wins media coverage. Curious Public’s Storytelling Workshop helps you understand how the principles of good storytelling can help you stand out. We get you working with each other to practice storytelling. And then we help you apply those lessons to your work.
Clear Writing
Curious Public’s Clear Writing Workshop is a hands-on course that helps you turn complex writing into clear writing that educates, engages and activates audiences. You’ll learn the principles of clear writing, how to identify unclear writing and how to overcome bad habits. Along the way, we’ll also touch on the basics of good storytelling and the secret to writing with purpose. The course includes a take-home editing assignment.
AI Best Practices for Communicators
This 3-hour workshop is designed to give communicators a comprehensive overview of artificial intelligence (AI) and its practical applications in communications. The workshop will cover AI fundamentals, best practices for integrating AI into your work as well as a hands-on exercise using AI tools for content creation. By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to effectively use AI to support their communications activities.
Integrating AI Into Your Workflow
Building on our AI Best Practices for Communicators workshop, we are excited to present our “Integrating AI into Your Workflow” workshop. This advanced session dives deep into how you can use artificial intelligence (AI) to boost your team’s productivity. Learn to measure and maximize AI’s impact across your team’s research, content creation, editing, and other operations. Our hands-on approach ensures you’ll walk away with real insights and skills to upgrade your operations with AI.
The Art of Presenting
In this 3-hour workshop, participants will learn the strategies and skills needed to craft and deliver a memorable presentation. This interactive session gives participants a chance to work collaboratively and creatively while putting into practice storytelling and public speaking.
Communications Planning
In the sage words of Yogi Berra, if you don’t know where you’re going, then you’ll end up someplace else. You could have the most powerful story in the world, but how do you know it’s going to take your organization where you want it to go? Curious Public’s Communications Planning Workshop gives you a way to think structurally about any communications activity you can think of—from a simple social media post to a full-blown campaign.
Our Other Courses
- Speechwriting
- Digital Storytelling for Startups
- Crisis Communications Planning and Training
- Leadership Coaching
- How to Talk to Government
We can also design and deliver a customized training workshop tailored to your communications needs.