John Coghlan
 

A digital strategist and visual storyteller who designs and manages strategic communications and marketing plans for issue advocacy, public information, and electoral campaigns.

 

A 30-second video ad I produced for the City of Portland Children’s Levy

John combines an eye for effective creative with incredible production chops to conjure up that rare person who can create highly effective content, at scale, under unreasonable pressure and unpredictable circumstances. But this is only one side of John. He is also a seasoned agency professional, with real-world experience helping to build and manage all aspects of a successful media company.
— Jeff Lennan, Co-Founder, Winning Mark
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About Me

Prior to becoming the Communications Director at the Portland Children’s Levy, I led a team in the planning and implementation of strategic digital communications and marketing programs as Digital Director of a political media agency, Winning Mark.

As a creative communications strategist and marketing professional with a focus on activism and advocacy, I have gained more than 15 years of media production experience. Early in my career, I worked as a camera operator, video editor, and sound recordist on news, documentaries, and commercials.

I’m incredibly proud to have worked for dozens of progressive organizations such as the AFL-CIO Oregon, Washington Education Association, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Oregon, and AFSCME Oregon.

My work has been featured on Huffington Post, Gawker, NPR, OPB, Other98%, SiriusXM, Portland Mercury, The Stranger, A.V Club, Noisey, Flood, and Daily Kos.

 

Testimonials

One of the great things about John is that whatever you hire him for, you get so much more. He is a smart strategist who understands the world and how to move it. He is a skilled producer and director with a keen visual sense and an ability to tell a story. He can deliver that story through all the different digital and non-digital platforms, so the right people take it in the right way and at the right time. And he cares about your project while being a pleasure to work with.
— Mark Wiener, Co-Founder, Winning Mark
I’ve been working closely with John Coghlan and have become deeply reliant on his social media wizardry. Besides being a damn good graphic designer his skill with Facebook ads are unparalleled, both with regards to email acquisition and online fundraising. If you want to weaponize Facebook’s backend tools to reach your targets, move them to action, and win your campaign then John’s your man.
— John Sellers, Executive Director and cofounder, Other98%
I’ve had the pleasure of working with John on two major projects, and I recommend him without reservation. John’s work was critical to our success and reflected his passion, creativity and overall commitment to public education. I have tremendous respect for John’s intellect, work ethic and ability to achieve results. He has my highest recommendation.”
— Charles Hasse, Organizational Specialist, National Education Association