Our Story

Progress Built Here started with a community garden. Our co-founder Kennedy Cooper helped set up Dig In! in North Carolina, which provided real locally grown farm fresh food to people free of charge. That was the beginning of understanding how to build something that actually serves a community instead of just talking about it.

A few years later, around 2016-2017, Kennedy got into political podcasting and media, building a following on twitter first, before later switching to bluesky where they have 24k followers. That foundation in digital organizing and storytelling became the core of what we do now.

Our co-founder Andrew Curtis Shaum (who works professionally as Andy Ray Bridges) brought 15+ years of experience in video production, event coordination, and operational strategy. Andy's background includes managing 60+ theatrical productions, and producing 80+ additional live events across his career. His expertise in video content creation, audio engineering, and systems-level thinking transformed how we approach recognition campaigns and digital media strategy.

Together, our team has consulted with campaigns and organizations on video content, project development, recognition campaigns, donor retention, listbuilding, and event production. We've raised tens of thousands of dollars for causes and candidates. We've created election recognition campaigns that were seen by millions of people at polling locations. We've built organizing infrastructure that activates thousands of people.

Kennedy already owned a video marketing firm, but the political and nonprofit work kept calling. Andy brought deep expertise in creating authentic, community-centered video content and managing complex production workflows that make bold storytelling possible. Everyone on our team has deep roots in organizing, data, media, and movement building. Progress Built Here brought that collective experience together, focusing on the work that actually matters: helping tell the stories of campaigns and causes that deserve to be heard.

We start by figuring out where recognition for your best work is falling short, and identifying the bottlenecks, habits, and processes that are quietly holding you back. From there, we build a clear plan and production schedule for new content—typically multiple video shoots and a sustained stream of finished pieces that actually move people.

We're intentionally selective about who we work with. If we don't genuinely believe in your story, we can't tell it well—and if we can't tell it well, we won't take the project.

We use frameworks like Future Over Fear, narrative-first discipline, prebunking misinformation, and values-based messaging, with a strong focus on concrete wins and real people. We lean on race-class narrative and similar tools, blending digital-first organizing with integrated voter contact so that online energy turns into real-world action. The clients who are willing to take bold risks with us see results they’ve never seen before.

Our Philosophy

We're rooted in New Mexico and deeply understand the communities we serve here. But we work with organizations and campaigns nationwide who share our values and are brave enough to try new things.