Project Role
I had multiple roles, some voluntary and others nominated. They evolved from financial and social media team member (Spring '21) to web designer and documentation organizer (Summer '21), Co-Project Manager (Fall '21 & Spring '22), and curriculum developer (Summer '22).
Skills Used
Project Management
Curriculum Building
Information Architecture
User Research
Content Strategy
Web Design
Graphic Design
Overview
ADE (Affordable Design and Entrepreneurship) is an Olin College capstone program in partnership with Babson College, where students collaborate globally to address systemic poverty. As part of the Community Development Team, we worked to create engineering and entrepreneurship opportunities in Clarksdale, Mississippi, with a focus on empowering youth through experiential learning programs like Shifting Rhythms.
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This program faced challenges in curriculum delivery, team onboarding, and resource management. My contributions spanned organizing data, redesigning resources, and developing accessible digital tools that streamlined operations and boosted engagement.
Curriculum testing flow map, showcasing some of our key collaborators.
The Problem
Information and organization were consistently challenging.
Issues that seemed unavoidable arose from the system that was ADE. Issues included:
1. Loss of Data
Focusing on providing new members with recent information often led to the loss of years of data. Leaving other resources and curriculum misplaced.
2. Unstructured Curriculum
Due to the lack of a clear curriculum progression, it was difficult to identify gaps and keep track of curriculum development.
3. Delayed Creation
Onboarding took a long time that deliverables for the organization leads, Ms.Skipper and Ms.Chess, were delayed until late in the semester.
4. Communication Barriers
Heavy reliance on email hindered collaboration as information would get lost in busy inboxes.
Video of testing workshop in Fall 2021 with community partners Spring Initiative.
Research + Analysis
Interviews, Archiving, and Collaboration.
To better understand the gaps, we conducted interviews with past managers to identify pain points in our onboarding process and team organization. We also analyzed our archived materials, uncovering lost resources and gaps in our curriculum structure. In collaboration with community leaders and students in Clarksdale, we worked with Ms.Skipper and Ms.Chess to align Shifting Rhythm goals with local needs to fill those curriculum gaps.
Solution
Revamp Onboarding Material + Establish Management System
Design + Implementation
Creating a Digital Database.
From interviews with former managers and team members, we identified the need for an organized centralized hub for resources such as community contacts, curriculum materials, and other key information. This process also allowed us to categorize and discover lost teaching material, doubling our available content. It also established a new system that encouraged members to keep resources updated in the index for future teams.
We quickly learned the link library above was too overwhelming of a format for sharing with community partners. To streamline communication with external folks, I created a hidden HTML page on the Shifting Rhythms website, organizing the curriculum into sections by key skills.
​This allowed for:
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Reduced the need of frequent emails
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More organized access to curricula
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System for future teams to refine and update the curriculum
Designing + Testing Curriculum
From our Clarksdale testing workshops and interviews with community partners, we identified a want a thematic series, mostly addressing gaps in entrepreneurship and coding. After consolidating feedback, we created 20 new curricula, successfully testing 8 in Boston and Clarksdale.
Improving Onboarding Resources
New team members were overwhelmed by an extensive onboarding process that involved reading over 30 PDFs, making it difficult for them to quickly grasp the project's context and contribute effectively. I created a condensed pamphlet using Illustrator and InDesign that summarized key information and linked to resources. Throuhgh the pamphlet, new resource hub, and community immersion we reduced ramp-up time from 6 weeks to 3 weeks, allowing new members to contribute more quickly.
Value + Impact
The creation of a digital database streamlined resources and boosted curriculum use by Ms. Skipper and
Ms. Chess.
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Consistent student attendance grew from 6 to 13 after space renovations in 2022 (does not include pop-up event attendance run by SR and ADE).
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We tested 8 curricula and built/updated 20, expanding our total curricula from ~14 to 35.
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Onboarding time reduced to 50%, allowing new members to contribute faster.
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We obtained a $20,000 in funding.
