At the heart of EVOLVE is a simple idea: businesses are part of the community and have a role to play in supporting and strengthening it.

That belief has shaped how the EVOLVE team approaches its work. At its core is a focus on shining a light on success, guided by a set of publishing principles: to be compelling, relevant, informative and inspirational.

In practice, that focus has meant producing a magazine grounded in business and economic development, covering the industries, trends, and leaders shaping the region.

But the goal has never been simply to report. It has been to highlight stories that need to be told and to give voice to the projects and efforts shaping the community in meaningful and lasting ways.

That’s where the special editions come in.

Developed outside of the traditional editorial calendar, these publications are driven by a different kind of purpose. They focus on stories that might not otherwise have a platform, stories that are meaningful to the community but not always widely known or fully told.

“We’ve always believed that if you’re part of a community, you have a responsibility to contribute to it,” said Howard Holley, CEO and Publisher, EVOLVE Communications Group. “For us, that means telling stories that matter. The special editions allow us to lean into the inspirational and shine a light on stories that are too often untold.”

“These weren’t projects where we went out and sold ads and built an issue around that,” he added. “They were community projects.”

In many cases, these special editions center on history, legacy and impact.

That work includes Mary McLeod Bethune: Journey to Statuary Hall, a publication created to coincide with the installation of Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune’s statue in the U.S. Capitol. The project extended beyond storytelling, with partners supporting production and distribution to thousands of students across multiple counties, ensuring her legacy reached a new generation.

It also includes The Story of Fort Mose, developed to bring greater awareness to Fort Mose Historic State Park, the site of the first legally sanctioned free Black settlement in what is now the United States. While historically significant, Fort Mose remains unfamiliar to many. The publication was designed to help close that gap by telling the story in a way that is accessible, engaging, and rooted in its broader historical context.

Estebana represents another dimension of this work. Focused on Florida’s Black arts, culture and heritage, the publication highlights the untold stories and contributions of Black Floridians. This work is especially timely as plans for the Florida Museum of Black History continue to take shape.

These projects are often collaborative, bringing together organizations, institutions and funders who share an interest in telling the story and ensuring it reaches the right audience. In some cases, that has meant supporting writing and design. In others, it has meant enabling large-scale distribution so the publication can serve as an educational or community resource.

“We’re proud to support the community in this way,” said Jeanne Coates, Chief Operating and Sales Officer. “These projects allow us to use what we do best, storytelling, to help elevate voices and stories that deserve to be seen and shared.”

An extension of this work is Perseverance: The Magazine That Inspires, an upcoming publication that expands this approach beyond a regional footprint. Unlike a traditional periodical, Perseverance will be produced when there is a story that warrants deeper exploration, with a focus on resilience, impact, and inspiration.

The first edition will explore the arc of Black entrepreneurship in America, from 1776 through the early 20^th century, drawing from historical content originally developed decades ago and pairing it with new context and reporting. The publication will include profiles, feature articles and supporting narratives designed to connect past progress with present-day conversations. Distributed digitally to national organizations such as chambers of commerce and minority business networks, it reflects a broader reach for EVOLVE’s storytelling approach.

Future editions are expected to follow a similar model, focusing on stories that carry both historical and contemporary relevance, stories that inform, connect and inspire.

Taken together, these special editions reflect a consistent approach: identifying stories that matter, investing in telling them well and ensuring they reach the audiences who can benefit from them most.

They also reinforce a broader belief, one that sits at the intersection of business and community. The role of a business is not only to operate within a community, but to contribute to it.

For EVOLVE, that contribution is storytelling.

Through these special editions, that storytelling continues to evolve, shining a light not only on success, but on the stories that shape who we are, where we’ve been and where we’re going.