Project Insights

www.domainname.comLogo Company 1

Project GRAD Atlanta is GROWING

Alisha StewartGeorgetown University

Summer 2014


Ralph Waldo Emerson once said that “the creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn.” At Project GRAD Atlanta, that acorn, or one nugget of hope is an idea that every high school student and their families living in low-income communities around the city of Atlanta will be the ones leading the way, helping create a new culture of college-going

youth who thought they never even had a chance. It’s an absolute pleasure to have worked with this organization and I thank you for coming on this journey with me.

THE APPROACH

Growing a new culture

@alishanicolePRLogo Company 3

Managing expectations

Looking at the big picture

I approached this task in two different ways. First it was about managing expectations, mine and yours, and growing into a consultant role. This is beyond a school project and will be a living document your organization can continue to build upon so it had to be one that fit where the GRAD is and that is in the shadow of a school system that’s in transition. This process also meant looking at the big picture, recognizing that some circumstances like the growing economic and education gap in Atlanta, just might still be there regardless of the success of this plan.

What GRAD wanted


1

3

4

2

PRESTIGE

Make headlines and receive big dollars from corporate funding

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

Responsible for reporting/forecasting success of APS schools to school system officials

EXPANDED PHYSICAL PRESENCE

Grow program to reach all APS middle and high school students

STRONGER MANPOWER

Become equipped to execute a communications strategy

We’re starting at ground zero here, meaning before we can get to the high-level communications efforts, we must first lay the foundation of what a successful

communications department looks like.@alishanicolePRLogo Company 5

ROOTS OF SUCCESS

What GRAD really needs

PRODUCING INFORMATIVE PRINT MATERIALS

MANAGING SITUATIONS OUT OF YOUR CONTROL

INCREASING PROGRAM AND EVENT AWARENESS

CONTENT CREATION

EVALUATING FAILURES

TRAINING FIELD STAFF

DEFINING INTERNAL PROCESSES

What success looks like


ACCOUNTABILTY

• Trusted brand in the community that reports to its stakeholders

• Proactively addressing issues that directly impact APS students in low-income communities

SUSTAINABILTY

• Functioning communications plan that supports organization goals

• Buy-in from APS officials, school administrators, parents/guardians, students themselves

• Investing in evaluation

CONCLUSION

Growth Cycle

www.ProjectGRADAtlanta.orgLogo Company 7

In closing, it’s just amazing to see this plan come full circle. Ultimately, I identified GRAD’s wants and clarified which of those were actual needs, and moving forward they will be able to execute and frequently evaluate the recommended strategies and tactics I have provided.


THANK YOU AND STAY CONNECTED!

Follow me on Twitter: @AlishaNicolePRSend me an email: [email protected]

Give me a Call: (678) 851-6725Learn More About Me: LinkedIn.com/in/alishanicolestewart/

Project Insights

Documents

Transcript of Project Insights