PHOTO | ALVIN JACOBS JR.

Christine Edwards is founder of Civility Localized, a civics consulting company that conducts outreach and engagement in underserved communities.

A minority-owned consulting firm based in Charlotte has rebranded and gone national.

Civility Localized, the former Amplify Consulting, was founded in 2018 by civic innovator and former local government professional Christine Edwards to uplift the voices of underserved communities. The firm worked with governments and nonprofit organizations in Charlotte to increase community engagement and awareness for public projects in mostly minority neighborhoods, doing so with events such as public meetings and workshops.

After much growth and progress, Amplify rebranded as Civility Localized, a national provider of those services. What prompted the move was an eventful 2020, in which three national events brought a need for the transition.

At the height of COVID-19, many people were skeptical of information from government agencies about infection numbers, preventative measures, and seriousness of the pandemic. Especially when then-President Donald Trump claimed to have the virus “totally under control,” yet it caused great damage and loss of life across the nation.

“(The pandemic) created an environment where the government needed help getting the word out, and the government needed help building back trust,” Edwards said. “We worked on several communication and outreach campaigns to help the government rebuild trust, and help people understand what’s going on with the pandemic and getting access to resources.”

The second event was the 2020 election, in which high voter turnout pushed Amplify Consulting’s services outside of Charlotte.

“Even in the midst of a pandemic, even in the midst of this really dangerous situation, people still went out and voted, so we had several opportunities to work,” Edwards said. “We worked with the city of Las Vegas to do a voter engagement forum; we were working with the city of Charlotte. …We were working with so many different agencies talking about voter engagement. So, I was thinking, wow, this is really needed across the country, not just in Charlotte.”

The third event was George Floyd’s murder in Minneapolis, Minn., which prompted a wave of nationwide protests and calls to defund police departments. This time, agency worked with the city of Asheville to do community engagement and listening sessions about reimagining public safety, and the result influenced other cities to do the same.

“After we did our community engagement, the city of Asheville reallocated $800,000 from their police department into other areas that would increase community engagement, increase public health, (and) increase public safety in other ways that don’t have to do with policing and making criminals out of everyday citizens,” Edwards said. “That was huge, because other cities across the country and in North Carolina then started to look at policing as well. We ended up getting three of those contracts.”

With those impactful projects, Amplify Consulting won the 2020 Crowns of Enterprise Minority Business Enterprise of the Year award. Edwards spent the next year crafting a hiring plan and evolving the firm so that it could officially serve the nation on a larger scale — leading to the addition of a project manager, content specialist, and bilingual engagement specialist to the team.

By 2022, Civility Localized was born.

“It felt natural to do the rebrand,” Edwards said. “I talked with the team, talked to our current clients, and we came up with the idea of civility localized. The reason that we went with civility is because it’s one of those words that really gets you to think…It really gets you to think about whether what’s really been going on is actually civil at all, and it’s not. So, we want to turn that definition on its head, and we want people to question everything. We want to be able to provide those resources in your local community.”

Enovia Bedford, CEO of marketing partner Vett Deck, described Edwards as a “great partner over the years” and recognized her success at reaching overlooked communities.

“I’m super excited about the rebranding and the growth and all of the things that she’s done this year and going forward,” Bedford said. “It’s always a pleasure to work.”

Comments