What happens when you find a lost key? You try to return it.

This guerrilla campaign turned 500+ yellow keys into a storytelling device for hostage diplomacy and wrongful detention—each one tied to a real person still waiting to come home. Designed to spark curiosity and action, the campaign led participants to a live activation in Washington, DC, in collaboration with the nationally recognized James W. Foley Foundation and Bring Our Families Home campaign.

As project manager, I co-executed the campaign with Maren Fullerton, leading design, production, and logistics while coordinating with impacted families and partner organizations. Each key—tagged with a detained individual’s name and a QR code to their story—invited the public to “return it home.”

The project drove meaningful engagement, partnered with national nonprofits, earned recognition from advocacy leaders and major media, and received the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication’s Just Do It Award—honoring student work that goes beyond the classroom to create real-world impact.