City of Dallas
Current communications strategy, public engagement, content, and experience design for a complex public process.
View City of Dallas work →Public Trust Sprint
By the time the press release goes out, trust has already been taking shape.
The Public Trust Sprint is a three-week engagement for institutions heading into a consequential public moment. We look for the places where expectations, process, listening, and language are working against you, then help leadership decide what needs to change before the moment gets louder.
When this work becomes urgent
You can feel the risk before you can fully name it.
The Sprint is built for moments when something important is about to become public and leadership needs a sharper read on where trust may fracture.
- A high-stakes launch or announcement
- A public hearing or policy change
- A service disruption or operational change
- A controversy with stakeholder attention
- Visible or emerging stakeholder resistance
- A decision that will affect people who were not in the room when it was made
And the friction is rarely sitting in the copy alone. These moments expose unclear ownership, shaky expectations, thin listening, uneven information flow, and decisions people are being asked to live with after they were made.
Our point of view
People are already skeptical of institutions.
They pay attention to how decisions are made, whether anyone listened, what they were told to expect, and whether the institution follows through. Those experiences shape how people respond when the next announcement, hearing, or public meeting comes.
- Ownership
- Process
- Decision
- Expectations
- Distribution
- Listening
- Repair
The Sprint
Three weeks to get clear on the risk and the response.
We focus on one issue. The work combines executive framing, stakeholder listening, message and process analysis, response planning, and a leadership tabletop.
- 3 weeks
- Up to 12 stakeholder interviews
- One defined issue
- $25,000
How the three weeks work
Move quickly without missing what the issue is telling us.
Frame the issue
Clarify the decision, desired behavior, public moment, known risk, and leadership assumptions.
Listen
Conduct up to 12 stakeholder interviews and review relevant communications and process materials.
Map the friction
Identify where language, expectations, ownership, process, distribution, listening, or experience are creating trust risk.
Build the response architecture
Develop the narrative architecture, response playbook, roles, and priority moves.
Tabletop + 30-day action
Pressure-test the response with leadership and leave the team with a prioritized 30-day action brief.
What you leave with
You leave with a clear risk assessment and a usable response plan.
- Issue framing
- Up to 12 stakeholder interviews
- Message + process friction map
- Narrative architecture
- Response playbook
- Executive tabletop
- 30-day action brief
What this can change
Leadership leaves clearer on the problem, the choices, and the next 30 days.
- Leadership agrees on where trust is most at risk.
- Communications and operations can see where process or expectations are undermining the message.
- The organization has a clearer narrative and response plan for the public moment.
- Listening, repair, reinforcement, and follow-up are assigned instead of improvised.
- The team leaves with a 30-day action plan.
Built from institutional practice
The Sprint grows out of public-facing work we already know well.
Across public-facing work, the pattern is consistent: understand what people are experiencing before deciding what communications should do next.
Cedar Hill EDC + Chamber
A multi-institution communications and behavior-change system connecting public funding, business-building participation, Chamber membership, education, and visibility.
$780K distributed · 69 businesses funded · 35 became Chamber members
View Cedar Hill work →Dallas County Inland Port
Strategic counsel, regional communications, and stakeholder engagement across transportation, workforce, infrastructure, and economic development.
View Inland Port work →Investment
$25,000 for the standard three-week Sprint.
If the timing truly cannot wait, a 10-business-day rapid-response Sprint is available at $35,000.
Included
- One defined issue
- Up to 12 stakeholder interviews
- The seven listed deliverables
Outside the Sprint
- 24/7 crisis retainer
- Litigation communications
- Polling
- Full implementation
Implementation can be scoped separately once we know what the work actually requires.
Questions we hear
A few practical questions before we start.
Is this crisis communications?
It can support issue readiness and a high-stakes public moment. The Sprint is a focused diagnostic and response-planning engagement around one defined issue. It does not include 24/7 crisis or litigation communications.
Do we need to be in a controversy already?
No. The Sprint is often most useful before the public moment, while there is still room to find expectation, process, listening, or message risk early.
What kind of research is included?
Up to 12 qualitative stakeholder interviews plus review of relevant communications and process materials. Polling is outside the Sprint.
Who needs to be involved on our side?
An executive sponsor, a communications lead, access to relevant decision-makers and materials, and help identifying the stakeholders whose experience matters most to the issue.
Can Zoe Comm help implement the recommendations?
Yes. We can scope implementation separately once the 30-day action brief makes the next moves clear.
What if we need the work faster?
A 10-business-day rapid-response version is available at $35,000 when the timing and access needed to do the work well are realistic.
Next step
If leadership sees risk but cannot yet define it, that is the place to start.
Bring us the issue, the timeline, and what feels unsettled. We will tell you quickly whether the Public Trust Sprint fits.