Interdisciplinary Designer & Marketing Strategist
From February 2023–June 2024, I managed day-to-day external communications and marketing efforts at MSA, a grantmaking nonprofit based in Boston's North End.
That included projects like: overseeing branding strategy; writing and designing our newsletters and social media posts; designing presentations, outreach flyers, our annual report, and ads; strategizing around recruitment challenges; and handling cross-platform analytics to determine ROI and improve website UX.
I currently work as a very part-time Communications and Marketing Advisor to help MSA through my role transition.
When I first came to MSA, I realized that we didn't have cohesive branding — both for ourselves and our subgrantees. I created a branding kit and branding guidelines PDF that has not only improved the cohesion of our overall image, but also increased the amount of co-branding seen in our subgrantees social media posts, newsletters, and merch.
I fully structured, interviewed for, wrote, and designed our entire 14-page 2022-2023 annual report, which you can read below.
When I found out that MSA was unhappy with the website design company they had contracted, I asked to spearhead the project. I brushed up on website coding, design, and infrastructure to not only visually update our current content but also transform how we think about integrating accessibility from a visual, structural, technical, and content perspective. The resulting website saved MSA over $15,000 in contractor costs and was well-received by the field.
I also optimized the site for SEO and accessibility, resulting in a 75% increase in new users, a 129% increase in returning users, and a 37% increase in engagement over the first three months post-launch.
I presented to America's Service Commissions' Marketing and Communications workgroup on this process; you can watch that presentation below.
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I've really enjoyed exploring print design at MSA, which has encompassed everything from merch design to flyer design.
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Social Media
I built a synced content calendar in Google Forms, Zapier, and Notion that any staff at MSA can submit items to; I also increased social engagement by 68.3% in my first 3 months. However, I think the most important thing I've done for our social media is make our brand more cohesive and beautiful.