To gain insight, we interviewed high school and community college students, guidance counselors, financial aid directors, policy researchers and non-profit founders across the country. Our research discovered that school is often not the central responsibility for community college students, who juggle classes with family roles and jobs to pay their way through school. Sitting at the intersection of higher education and the local workforce, these institutions create stronger communities and are ready to be taken more seriously.

The research inspired us to flip the traditional talking head PSA on its head and let real hardworking students and graduates tell their stories, and cast President Obama, Dr. Jill Biden, and conscious celebrities like Louis C.K., Chris Rock, Uzo Aduba, Kal Penn and Amanda Stenberg in supporting roles.

We developed a 360-degree campaign that featured an unconventional PSA giving real community college students the spotlight.

A fully responsive campaign site serves as the hub for all pledges, sharing illustrated facts on college accessibility and affordability for those who selected to “maybe” support the proposal.

Everyone who takes the pledge is motivated to share their involvement on social channels, which also helps them to stay connected to the movement as it progresses.

Celebrity support and innovative media partnerships emboldened us to spread the word without any paid media.

A community organizer toolkit allowed student leaders to mobilize classmates on a local level, increasing engagement.

We generated over 1.4 million views of our PSA on Facebook in less than one week. 200,000 Americans have pledged their support through our site and we’ve earned over 276 million social impressions on Twitter alone.

Community college students have taken matters into their own hands, posting their own community college stories and dreams as well creative takes on the Heads Up logo, on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Honorary chair Dr. Jill Biden’s media tour brought Heads Up to outstanding campuses in NY, Tennessee and California. A Late Night with Seth Meyers appearance and national media coverage ultimately resulted in an additional 106MM media impressions.

On a policy level, the College Promise is gaining ground. Minnesota, Oregon and Tennessee are offering free programs, and 11 more states have introduced legislation last year to start similar initiatives.