About

Twenty-five years of communications expertise channeled for mission-driven impact

Story

Helix River is back — with a renewed focus.

I launched Helix River in 2008 as a digital media business, but closed it down in 2015 to pursue a master's degree in environmental conservation. That decision led me into a decade of work with organizations like USAID, Rainforest Alliance, and other nonprofits focused on conservation and international development.

As the fields of conservation and development continue to undergo seismic shifts, I decided my best impact would be to revive Helix River. I love working with diverse groups of people tackling different environmental and social challenges. It's an honor to apply the skills I've gained over 25+ years to help these organizations achieve their goals.

At the moment, Helix River is just me, Ryan Thompson. However, I have an extensive network of communications professionals I can engage to support larger projects.

I look forward to collaborating with you to amplify your impact.

Ryan Thompson, Helix River's Founder and Communications Strategist

Mission

Help mission-driven organizations demonstrate their impact to their supporters

Values

I fulfill this mission by embedding these values into everything I do:

Starting with a deep understanding of audience needs and organizational challenges before proposing solutions.

Approach

I employ principles from human-centered design, psychology, and user experience to create communications that get to the heart of issues and connect with target audiences.

My typical process:

Seek first to understand

Conduct research and interviews to gain solid understanding of the problem, audience, collaborators, and project needs.

Ideate and experiment

Sketch ideas and see what works. Tweak, refine, throw away, create, and recreate. Pressure test with short user experience tests.

Create something valuable

Build from experiments to create refined products. Continuously improve, add, subtract, and adjust until it feels right.

Launch and measure

Get products into the hands of your audience. Observe reactions, measure results, and continue improving for the next iteration.

Get in touch

Ready to amplify your impact? I'd love to hear about your communications challenges and explore how I can help. Reach out for a free, no-obligation consultation call.

Let's talk