Accompany Creative Comes to the Defense of LGBTQ+ Community via Lambda Legal Campaign
November 4, 2025
by Christine Champagne
'All Rise' tells stories through portraiture
Accompany Creative is behind “All Rise,” a fundraising campaign supporting Lambda Legal. The advocacy organization has been battling the Trump administration in court over its anti-LGBTQ+ policies and executive actions.
The launch video for the digital/social effort was directed by Lucio Castro, a filmmaker known for End of the Century and more. The PSA features members of the LGBTQ+ community, including trans military members, people living with HIV and LGBTQ+ families, whose lives and livelihoods are under threat, as well as Lambda attorneys fighting on their behalf.
“‘All Rise’ emphasizes that the fight for justice is personal, powerful and not just politics,” says Accompany Creative founder Jason Keehn.
Here, Keehn goes into more detail about the campaign and the broader issue of how agencies can convince brands to support nonprofits through mission-driven initiatives:
MUSE: Why was it important for your agency to step up with this campaign?
Jason Keehn: Accompany Creative is committed to helping nonprofit brands harness the emotional power of their causes to galvanize communities into action. Lambda Legal specifically, and the LGBTQ+ community, are particularly dear to us as a 100 percent LGBTQ+ owned business. And the reason to throw our talent and time behind their organization is more compelling than ever in today’s socio-political landscape.
Why did you bring director Lucio Castro onboard to direct?
We felt it crucial to partner with an up-and-coming queer film director when approaching how to bring to life the Lambda Legal brand, mission and community. The campaign is telling stories of people via portraiture. And Lucio is talented at that kind of narrative. It’s different from shooting a commercial project. This was about achieving a level of intimacy with the subjects that could translate digitally.
Every time our community makes progress, there is the inevitable backlash. How are you staying motivated as LGBTQ+ rights are under attack from the government?
It feels natural to come to the defense of any vulnerable community, even more so one that you’re proudly a part of. It is certainly exhausting to witness the backlash and feel viscerally the hatred and disdain being thrown at our community. But it can be equally inspiring to remember how far we’ve come over the course of history and that the future still can be bright. LGBTQ+ individuals and stories have been recorded since the beginning of history. We’re not going anywhere, no matter who tries to erase us. Love, compassion and kindness will always be more powerful than fear and hatred. At least over the long term.
There are so many creative people at agencies and brands who want to show support for the communities being attacked. But there is little interest among the higher-ups in doing so. Is it up to smaller agencies like yours to lead the charge?
Independent boutiques have the flexibility to be scrappy and nimble, to stand behind our convictions and authentically follow our heart and to champion culturally urgent work. But it takes more than a moral compass. It requires a laser focus on results to make the case over and over that this work is not just important, but effective.
Your question asks specifically about corporations taking action. And the current social-political climate has indeed created a bit of a freeze on mission-led, nonprofit partnership. At least in a highly visible brand marketing context, despite their employees and agencies caring deeply about social causes.
The way forward lies in proving the marketing impact and financial value that a mission-driven campaign can have for a corporation. Brands can support nonprofits in a way that accelerates the corporation’s growth metrics, always tethering purpose to performance. I know this because we have case studies to prove it.
Specifically, we’ve shown how an LGBTQ+ nonprofit partnership with Nespresso drove short-term results like product sales, retail traffic and content engagement and long-term health metrics like brand affinity and employee sentiment.
If you can show a corporate higher-up that a philanthropy integration, when done correctly, can drive their financial goals, it begins to change the conversation. But achieving this is easier said than done. It takes a nuanced balance of often divisive cultural topics and an insight-based, skilled messaging approach. Doing the work incorrectly risks a range of complications.