Hawthorne Advertising’s CEO Jessica Hawthorne-Castro has been a highly impactful leader with DignityMoves, working to end unsheltered street homelessness in our communities by building Interim Supportive Housing with rapid, cost-effective scalable solutions.

Hawthorne’s marketing team has been instrumental in public relations efforts for DignityMoves, including the March 2022 announcement of three inaugural DignityMoves communities in San Francisco, Santa Barbara and Rohnert Park.

DignityMoves was founded by a group of business leaders from the Young Presidents Organization (YPO), including Hawthorne-Castro, who came together to apply their business skills and resources to end unsheltered street homelessness in our communities by building Interim Supportive Housing with rapid, cost-effective, scalable solutions. Focused initially on California, the organization plans to expand nationally. For more information, please visit www.dignitymoves.org.

Hawthorne-Castro is an active participant on the LA Chamber’s newly formed CEO Council. Nearly 100 executives are focused on recovery of businesses impacted by the Covid pandemic and business lockdowns. The council had been meeting informally for several months and now has ramped up in size. The goal is unification of the business community from the CEO level. The council is establishing policies to empower the region’s economy and community to not only rebound, but thrive.

Hawthorne’s founding office in Fairfield, Iowa, has volunteered via local organizations packaging hundreds of meals for the hungry. The company also has covered all associated costs for the food and delivery.

The company has annually provided holiday meals for the hungry local to the communities of Jefferson County, Iowa, during the holidays through the Lord’s Cupboard.

Thanks to unlimited vacation hours, our VP of Marketing is empowered to volunteer each summer, alongside with her teenage daughter, making sack lunches for the impoverished youth in their community.  They also work together with a volunteer group collecting food donations, preparing and serving holiday meals to the community in Southeast Iowa.

Hawthorne has established an internal communication “slack” channel dedicated to sharing kudos in the form of taco emojis. Each employee is allowed to share five taco emojis per week with employees they want to thank or recognize for excellence.  Once an employee has amassed a certain amount of taco emojis they may exchange those for actual tacos, a gift or they may volunteer at a nonprofit organization that aligns with their own passions and personal mission. One recent employee enjoyed eight paid hours, volunteering at the ASPCA Los Angeles.

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CEO Jessica Hawthorne-Castro is a member of Young Presidents’ Organization, Los Angeles Chapter as well. The YPO is the global platform for chief executives to engage, learn and grow, empowering more than 25,000 members in more than 130 countries. As part of the LA chapter, she has helped organize events dedicated to the difficult subjects of cyberbullying, social media, the shifting online voice and the positioning of women in media.

Hawthorne has been known for award-winning pro-bono work delivered for WorldTeach, a nonprofit organization providing teachers to developing countries. Hawthorne was responsible for traveling to four countries, filming and editing an hour-long video for WorldTeach’s recruitment of teachers and seeking of donations to continue the placement of 300 teachers annually.    Most recently Hawthorne provided agency creative and production services for ALMO by Autism Life Management.  Hawthorne’s ALMO creative work (featuring Nicholas Gonzalez from “The Good Doctor”) was targeted to parents and providers follows:  https://simian.me/gteux  Hawthorne was proud to provide gratis services to ALMO, to support the growing community of parents and caretakers of autistic children with ALMO’s instant support, empowerment and advice.

Hawthorne believes in valuing the quality of life for each employee, as well as the livelihoods, of employees and exhibits this in Hawthorne Advertising’s Company Culture mission. Hawthorne fosters a commitment to both the work and personal lives of employees by supporting flexible work schedules, empowering employees to operate from remote offices, ensuring unlimited vacation offerings, and regularly sharing additional paid holidays and volunteer days with the team.

Hawthorne will pay half of all associated costs for employees interested in enrolling in a supervised and instructional transcendental meditation program. Hawthorne employs social equity, gender balance, human rights, good governance and anti-corruption measures throughout its business and HR functions. Hawthorne is committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace and our world. Hawthorne empowers all employees, and in doing so, fosters a work environment that is equitable and productive for all. Hawthorne encourages women, LGBTQ and those of all races and ethnicities, including those often underrepresented in leadership roles to become leaders at Hawthorne and our communities.  Hawthorne’s executive team includes many women in director and vice president positions, as well as leaders of varied races and ethnicities.

Hawthorne Advertising provides marketing and public relations internship opportunities to three to five college and/or university students annually.  Further, Hawthorne’s CEO and VP of Marketing actively mentor young women on the Hawthorne team, and continue that support even if/when mentees move on.

Hawthorne sponsors 1-2 college/university scholarships annually for a qualifying aspiring art/advertising/communications student.  

Hawthorne not only provides the full spectrum of traditional benefits, like quality health insurance, but also a range of innovative, forward-leaning perks that promote workplace happiness, healthiness and productivity. For example, Hawthorne offers abundant opportunities to grow professionally so employees continue to be intellectually stimulated and challenged. All employees receive frequent training and learning opportunities through seminars, conferences and other similar experiences.

The Hawthorne University offers twice monthly lunch and learns. Hawthorne University gives employees the chance to learn about a wide variety of topics. These courses offer a way to develop a new skill set, hone or expand an existing skill set or improve softer workplace skills and lifestyle. Sample topics include: Analytics 101, Broadcast Media 101, Building Client Relationships, General Accounting, Social Media and Sleep Study.

Further, CEO Jessica Hawthorne-Castro serves as a Climate Change Reality Ambassador.  She regularly updates all Hawthorne staffers on her learnings and activities during lunch and learns. This impact is far reaching.  

All staffers may enroll in an unlimited Master Class subscription. Employees may engage in learning that supports their personal and/or professional development. Some staffers have reported they’ve enjoyed cooking classes with Wolfgang Puck.  Others have shared about new painting techniques they have acquired.

Still others have gained interpersonal communication skills they are now applying daily internally as well as externally.

Hawthorne Advertising established the Hawthorne Mentoring Program in 2018.  The program is self-guided. Each employee is eligible for 16 hours per year for a mentorship and is encouraged to rotate yearly for a diversified experience in one of Hawthorne’s nine departments in its full service, media, creative and data analytics agency.  Mentees may select their annual mentor from a pool of volunteer mentors.  As CEO, Jessica Hawthorne-Castro is committed to mentoring, inclusive of reverse mentoring, always with a focus on supporting Hawthorne’s diverse employee base and aspiring female leaders.  

Hawthorne enrolls all Executive Team members and managers in leadership training programs. This ensures the building of the right team, execution of company visions, encourages excellence and provides models for personal growth.

Hawthorne Advertising is dedicated to giving back and getting back for the benefit of employee health and well-being. Hawthorne’s Los Angeles, California, based employees have volunteered various times with beach cleanup days. Most recently, the Los Angeles office volunteered with Surfrider Foundation for a half day event at Venice Beach. Hawthorne’s Fairfield, Iowa, based employees have chosen to engage in park beautification at Chautauqua Park in Fairfield, Iowa. They have also been responsible for picking up garbage and park shelter painting at Heritage Park.  Hawthorne teams have worked with Tree People both planting Hawthorne’s donated trees and cleaning up the Tree People Park. Hawthorne staffers were so inspired they to donate more trees they found https://onetreeplanted.org  and secured funds from Hawthorne that allowed 5,000 trees to be planted in the Amazon.

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The Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles (CHLA) approached Hawthorne after charitable giving had drastically dropped. Hawthorne initially created a two-pronged campaign to focus on both creative and media. The creative was emotionally driven and fully integrated into the end-of-year fundraising campaign. It profiled six courageous kids who defied the odds and the messages were of hope and healing. Talent featured included Jimmy Kimmel and Vin Scully.  The media campaign was omnichannel and included TV, radio, OOH, print and social. Thanks to the campaign, CHLA achieved significant growth with their end-of-year fundraising campaign. It experienced a 16% increase in the number of average year-over-year donations and a 74% increase in the average year-over-year ROAS.

Hawthorne staffers have since volunteered annually participating in CHLA’s “Walk and Play L.A.”  When Covid concerns impacted the event, staffers volunteered virtually. This event is a fundraiser that celebrates and promotes the well-being of children, creating hope and building healthier futures.

Karen O’Neill, assistant vice president, direct marketing for CHLA said, "Thank you to the Hawthorne team for their services in support of CHLA’s continued direct response and brand growth. With Hawthorne’s collaboration we have been able to significantly increase our donor base and efficacy of donor acquisition. This empowers CHLA to help more children and families. It’s an honor to know and work with all of you—thank you for being such an incredible partner and supporter of CHLA.”

Hawthorne also prioritizes giving back to the community. Through Hawthorne’s Community Causes Committee initiative, teams gather in each of the company's office locations to determine the specific causes that will receive Hawthorne employees' time and/or company funds. All employees are encouraged to volunteer and compensated for doing so annually with the cause of their choice. The agency is also rigorously focused on the environment and sustainability and regularly participates in outdoor team building activities that range from cleaning up beaches and trails to planting trees in parks.

Hawthorne is an advertising visionary and leader, in combining creative brand messaging with data analytics and neuroscience. The agency plays a significant role in influencing the entire direct response television sector by evolving industry needs to provide greater advertising accountability. This approach continues to succeed with Hawthorne yielding client growth and overall success at an average of 20-30% YOY. The agency is widely recognized for its creative work, industry contributions, and corporate culture. Hawthorne’s executive team actively contributes to publications, conferences and panels on key issues facing the ad industry and receive awards for their leadership. Its employees rate the agency extremely highly, which enables Hawthorne to stand out with recruitment and retention.

As a leading analytics and data driven, accountable brand advertising agency, Hawthorne specializes in integrated campaign solutions. The company offers a full suite of integrated solutions with creative, media, digital and mobile services. Hawthorne maintains brand integrity and metrics to efficiently and effectively optimize the results of its clients' integrated media budgets via leading edge and proven data analytics. To date, Hawthorne has developed successful award-winning campaigns for countless Fortune 500 brands, garnering billions in sales and winning 450+ creative awards.

Hawthorne earned a Communitas Award for leadership and excellence in community service and corporate social responsibility, a Stevie Award for Great Employers, named Agency of the Year by the Business Intelligence Group and has been named a finalist for the 2019 Digiday Worklife Awards.