Vera Institute of Justice

Creative Strategy and Copy: Samie Detzer
Design: Katie Fielding, Joy Nelson
Agency: Blue State
Client: Vera Institute of Justice

As Lead Copywriter at the Vera Institute of Justice, I helped build nimble, real-time strategies to meet audiences in the moment — clear, urgent, and culturally fluent. I pushed Vera to be bolder and sharper: speaking with authority, embracing a contemporary edge, and refusing the cautious, institutional tone that too often flattens criminal justice advocacy.

For end-of-year paid fundraising, I led a creative approach that held two realities at once: the devastating human cost of mass incarceration, and the concrete, hopeful future Vera is actively building.

I developed the “Is That Ok With You” paid media campaign to make the systemic feel personal — turning abstract policy failures into a direct, provocative question that implicated the audience and demanded a response.

Vera Institute of Justice

For end-of-year paid fundraising, I led a creative approach that held two realities at once: the devastating human cost of mass incarceration, and the concrete, hopeful future Vera is actively building.

I developed the “Is That Ok With You” paid media campaign to make the systemic feel personal — turning abstract policy failures into a direct, provocative question that implicated the audience and demanded a response.

Fountain House

Climate Power

Samie Detzer