Our Challenge
The Children First Fund, the philanthropic arm of Chicago Public Schools, tasked my team with increasing awareness and support for two key leadership development programs: United Black Male Educators (UBME) and Great Expectations Mentoring (GEM). These initiatives aim to address disparities in representation and retention of Black and Latinx leaders within CPS.
Our challenge was to research, contextualize, and communicate the impact of these programs in a way that would resonate with donors—through storytelling, compelling visuals, and accessible design.
The Outcome
Our team delivered a strategic slide deck and a custom donor-facing website that presented research, testimonials, and calls to action in a cohesive and persuasive format. Drawing on site visits, student interviews, and CPS data, we crafted materials that humanized the initiatives and highlighted the real-world impact of UBME’s work. At the end of the quarter, we had the opportunity to present our final deliverables to the CFF team and leaders from the UBME and GEM initiatives.
While the standalone website we designed was not published as-is, the Children First Fund later incorporated our research, language, formatting, and other storytelling elements into their official web content.
Tools Used
Canva, Google Docs, Google Slides, Wix
What I Did
Research & Messaging Strategy:
Synthesized academic literature, CPS statistics, and firsthand stories from interviews to build a compelling narrative about the importance of educator diversity and leadership equity.
Visual Communication:
Helped design and structure the final slide deck and website using clear visual hierarchy, branded elements, and strong storytelling to guide viewer attention and encourage engagement.
Collaboration & Client Engagement:
Worked closely with teammates and CFF staff across several feedback cycles. Participated in proposal drafting, coordinated on visual content, and helped ensure our deliverables were aligned with CFF’s mission, audience, and design guidelines.