🇺🇸 Wounded Warrior Project “Warriors On Board” 🇺🇸

11 Veterans + 11 Skateboards To Express Their Mental Health Journey Through Art
A Month Long Campaign, Launched on Veteran’s Day (11/11)

🏆🥇 2025 MediaPost Awards WINNER — Branded Entertainment: Contests/Events/Experiential🥇🏆
🏆2025 mediapost AWARDS x2 FINALIST — Influencer marketing | Social Media🏆
🏆 2025 Shorty AWARDS x3 Finalist — Social Good Campaign | Social Activism | Instagram Partnership 🏆
🏆 2025 WEBBY AWARDS HONOREE — Public Service, Social Impact, & Activism 🏆

Background: While Veterans comprised 18% of the U.S. population in 1980, today they represent only 6%, and with that decline, comes a decrease in support.
For Gen Z, the empathy gap is even larger because they didn't witness 9/11 and lack the strong emotional bond that most Americans feel for Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Objective: Reshape how younger Americans see and value Veterans to ensure Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) fulfills its mission that “Veterans are not forgotten.”

Idea: To bridge the generational empathy gap, we focused on shared topics of interest for both Gen Z and Veterans: mental health, art therapy, and skateboarding.
We gave WWP Veterans a skateboard as a canvas as part of their art therapy program, so they could express their mental health journey and connect with Gen Z.

Veteran Stories

Art therapy works because experiences like trauma, depression, and PTSD are incredibly difficult to articulate into words.
We met with 5 of the 11 Veteran Artists to talk in depth about how art helped them heal.

These videos were also a huge production feat.
We shot remotely over Zoom with DPs on the ground in Georgia, Alaska, Pennsylvania, Iowa, and California.
In a span of 2.5 weeks, all of the videos were shot, edited, and exported in :60s, :30s, :15s + resizes for Meta and YouTube.

Sweepstakes

Hundreds of veteran-designed skateboards were given away during the Warriors On Board Sweepstakes.
Winners had an instant connection to veteran stories through the art on each skateboard.

Creator + Influencer Push

We collabed with creators who have large Gen Z followings in the skate, art, and mental health communities.
They talked about the importance of mental health, displayed warrior artwork in their feeds, and encouraged followers to enter the Warriors On Board sweepstakes
— introducing new audiences to campaign and a new generation to Wounded Warrior Project.

WarriorsOnBoard.org

All of the veteran-designed skateboards and their stories were posted on a campaign microsite with photos, bios, info about their time in the service,
and an artist statement to explain their inspiration — giving people a way to instantly connect to each Veteran and their skateboard.

🥹 Telling Veterans’ stories and building their individual pages with them is one of the most emotional, special, and fulfilling things I’ve ever done in my life (much less in advertising) 🥹

The Campaign Branding

Because mental health often leaves us feeling in distress, the art direction used hand curated, layered collages which also give a nod toward skateboard mag aesthetics from the 90’s.
We chose a more unexpected color palette that appealed to a broader audience than the overused red, white, and blue used by most campaigns associated with U.S. Veterans.

The Results

👇 ❤️‍🩹 The campaign stats + a collection of personal notes from the Veterans and Creators which were sent to the agency, expressing how much the campaign meant to them. ❤️‍🩹👇

 A Final Note…

To the Veterans who opened their hearts and homes to let us share their stories, thank you for your bravery and grace.
Please go to Wounded Warrior Project to learn more about Veteran programs and how you can support today.
Or hear from U.S. Army & Air Force Veteran Yoland Jones about why you should donate to Wounded Warrior Project.

The Team

Agency: The Many
Head of Creative: Josh Paialii
Creative Director, AD: Aimee Brodbeck | Creative Director, CW: Nate Totten
Motion & Branding Designer: Mia Bawale | Web Designer: Jay Hurst | Art Director: Michael Chesler
Managing Director: Maggie Cadigan | Managing Director, Connections: Davis Jones
Senior Brand Director: Kate DeMallie
Assc. Director of Project Management: Hayley Gubala | Project Manager: Jon Menager
Director of Production Operations: Ayanna Hart | Senior Producer (+Director of Launch Video): Adam McGinnis
Producer: Beth Lyden, Red Boots Productions, LLC
Group Strategy Director: Reza Rostampisheh | Social Strategist: Colette Ussery
Group Director, Creator Management: Kalei Mahi
Group Media Director: Crystal Chou
Director of Media Strategy & Planning: Jacquie Alves | Media Supervisor: Carly Austein
Digital Director: Alex Huang | Digital Media Supervisor: Bryan Ahir | Digital Specialist: Ailyn Ventura

Client: Wounded Warrior Project
Chief Marketing & Communications Office: Vilma Consuegra
VP, Communications: April Kerlew | VP, Marketing: Tommy Upton
Marketing & Social Media Director: Dave Sonsky
Marketing Operations Director: Sheri Gallagher | Social Media Manager: Judith Edwards
Multimedia Manager: Judith Edwards | Senior PR Specialist: Rob Louis

Production Partners:
Photographer: Anthony Acosta | DP (Launch Vid): Ira Ingram
Sound & Lighting (Launch Vid): Young Productions
DP, Daniel Wright Vet Story, PA: Don Chon | DP (Jeff Scott Vet Story, IA: Kristian Day
DP, Laura Bozeman Vet Story, AK: Thomas Trainor | DP, Yolanda Jones Vet Story, GA: Branson Cusack
DP, Mark Ellis Vet Story, CA: Matthew Moraski
Post Production: Press Digital Media, Los Angeles
Editor: Tom Carter | Assistant Editor: Martin Reigel
Custom Skateboard Production: Point Distribution | Production Coordinator: Ambra Barber, Point Distribution
Website Production: 14FOUR | Sweepstakes Vendor: Real Time Media

Bonus PR Images