Hillcrest Advisory was founded and is led by Andy Krackov, who, over the last 20+ years, has fine-tuned an understanding of what works to achieve impact in communicating with data, thanks to his background in journalism, philanthropy, and the civic startup sector.
At graduate school at Stanford, Andy studied how people process media and how mass communication can affect us all. These are perspectives Andy brings to all his client engagements, particularly by helping clients focusing on audiences they need to reach and actions they want these audiences need to take.
Experience
In Andy’s Words
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From my professional start as a journalist at a news magazine in Washington DC and then studying how people process media during graduate school at Stanford, I’ve been motivated by my desire to use communication as a tool to persuade and educate.
Along the way, namely from my fifteen years guiding data outreach initiatives at two major foundations, I refined my interest in leveraging public data as a tool to activate an organization’s agenda.
In December 2018, I established Hillcrest Advisory to ensure that my clients, too, can be effective communicators of data, harnessing numbers and stories to make a compelling case to their constituents.
Previous Works
An interactive data visualization on individuals screened for Adverse Childhood Experiences in California, done in partnership with the data visualization agency, Hyperobjekt.
One of numerous data stories created for the California Accountable Communities for Health Initiative (CACHI), this one encourages clinicians in rural Imperial County to refer patients to the county’s Asthma Wellness Program.
Hillcrest Advisory worked with the NY Health Foundation to summarize as an infographic results from a survey on food insecurity.
One of numerous data stories created for the California Accountable Communities for Health Initiative, this one encourages clinicians in rural Imperial County to refer patients to the county’s Asthma Wellness Program.
This website enables UCSF to teach clinicians how to address issues associated with trauma in visits with patients. The website includes more than 30 instructional videos, plus other digital learning techniques.
Created for a coalition combating overdose in Watsonville, CA, this fact sheet is one of many developed for local communities that are part of the California Overdose Prevention Network.
A series of data stories for the California Research Bureau exploring the state of youth homelessness in California.
A series of infographics created for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs help researchers there summarize for patients in plain language the academic literature on safe approaches to reduce pain.
The COPN Guide to Measurement: Data, storytelling, and saving lives includes worksheets and case studies to help overdose collaboratives across the country find and communicate data to address this pressing issue.
Previous Clients
Since 2018, Hillcrest Advisory has worked with nearly 50 organizations to help them marshal data effectively.
Clients encompass a range of industries – large nonprofits like AARP; universities such as Stanford, UCSF and UCLA; and government agencies including the Los Angeles Department of Public Health and the California Health & Human Services Agency.
Overall, Hillcrest Advisory has worked on client projects with the following organizations, providing 9,000+ hours of time supporting their work:
HopeLab
Integrated Work
John Snow Incorporated (JSI)
Los Angeles County Department of Public Health
Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health (kidsdata.org)
Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission
Message Lab
New York Health Foundation
Public Health Innovation Lab
Riff City Communications
San Jose (City of)
San Diego Accountable Community for Health
Stanford Haas Center
Stanford School of Medicine
Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services
The Phoenix
UCLA
UCSF Center to Advance Trauma Informed Healthcare
University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources
University of Southern California
U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs
West Sacramento Accountable Community for Health Initiative
WIC Program, Los Angeles County
AARP
ACEs Aware
Aliados Health
Blue Shield of California Foundation
Brandeis University
California Accountable Communities for Health Initiative (CACHI)
California Department of Health Care Access and Information
California Health and Human Services Agency
California Overdose Prevention Network
CalHospitalCompare
CalFresh Program
California Research Bureau’s Homeless Youth Data Project
Center for Collaborative Planning
Center for Health Leadership and Impact
CivicMakers
Community Health Care Association of the Dakotas
Contra Costa County Health, Housing and Homeless Programs
David and Lucile Packard Foundation
EnCompass
Exasol
First 5 Center for Children’s Policy
Food Education Fund
Futures Without Violence