on Posted on
What do a group of colleagues and longtime friends do when they see their mission-driven clients struggling with the same challenges over and over again?
If they’re like us, they start a new agency!
Spark + Compass has grown out of more than 15 years of collaboration between Sacha Adorno, Debby Stefaniak, and All Around Creative (AAC), with its leadership core of Shawn Fricke and Amy Romanofsky Schneider. Over the course of those years, we’ve partnered on major campaigns, events, brand and product launches, video marketing, and digital platforms—often stepping in at pivotal moments and working behind the scenes to help organizations find their footing and move forward when they weren’t sure of their way.
Again and again, we found ourselves hearing the same things from clients: Our work is complex. Our impact is real, but hard to explain. We know what we’re trying to do—we just don’t have the expertise in-house to bring it to life.
After years of working together across clients and projects, we realized it was time to formalize what already existed. Spark + Compass is the result: a strategic marketing and communications collective built to support mission-driven organizations with clarity, creativity, and care.
What We Do
At its heart, Spark + Compass helps organizations tell their story and tell it well.
We provide end-to-end strategic marketing support, including brand positioning, digital marketing, strategic communications, content development, and video production. But our real value isn’t just in the deliverables. It’s in helping organizations make sense of their work, align around a shared narrative, and communicate in ways that resonate with the people who matter most.
We believe good marketing doesn’t have to be loud or flashy. It should be thoughtful and conducted with purpose, designed to help people understand why the work matters and how they can engage with it.
Who We’re For
We work with mission-driven organizations that are doing important, often complex work; this work is frequently done in spaces where the stakes are high and the audiences are varied.
That includes community development financial institutions (CDFIs), nonprofits, foundations, and others working at the intersection of capital, community, and opportunity. Our clients are builders and problem-solvers who don’t need one-size-fits-all marketing. They need partners who understand their world and can help translate it clearly and credibly.
Why Spark + Compass
The name reflects how we work. The spark is insight: the moment when a strategy clicks or a story finally takes shape. The compass is direction: making sure that inspiration leads somewhere meaningful.
By formalizing our long-standing partnership, we’ve created a collaborative model that blends strategy, storytelling, and design without unnecessary layers or handoffs. We work closely with our clients, meet them where they are, and help them move forward with confidence.
Spark + Compass exists to help good work travel farther—and land where it matters most.
Let’s light the spark together—contact us today!