BT Foundry

In 2021, BT Foundry became a 501c, fully realizing the vision of Brass Tacks Collective. With years of experience in marketing and advertising, our founder saw two big problems: we had brilliant creatives struggling to break into the industry, frustrated by their lack of professional experience. And we had nonprofits and small businesses that needed work that was just as high-quality as major brands, but that didn’t always have a major-brand budget. And we realized: these two problems might just be each other’s solutions.

In 2015, we launched an agency that combined experienced leadership with up-and-coming creatives and clients that needed high-quality work on a budget. In June of 2017, we formalized the process with the first class of our Apprenticeship program. In that first year, seven apprentices served 67 clients, most of which were nonprofits and startups. Since then, we’ve upgraded from one-year cycles to two-years, taken 22 apprentices through our program, and served over 150 clients.

We decided in 2020 that our model made the most sense in two parts—the nonprofit Foundry, focusing on education, and the for-profit Collective. This two-part structure allows us to work with talent at all levels of experience, and clients of all budgetary needs. It’s all helping us achieve the mission we had from the beginning:

“We envision a world where equitable representation IS the status quo. Where established and aspiring talent collaborate with forward-thinking clients to diversify the workforce, create economic growth, and re-invent the industry. We are and will continue to be intentionally inclusive, deliberately daring, and constantly curious.”

As you explore the site, you’ll learn all about how and what we do—but this is our why. Thanks for reading about it. We kind of love it.