Employer brand
Inclusive, effective internship program — BuilDesign
Program design, recruiting, branding, marketing and promotion, career development planning
Incorporating junior staff into the agency talent matrix is a challenge. To address this, my team and I developed an internship program called BuilDesign. In 14 weeks the program equipped a multi-disciplinary class of interns to jump into client work — understanding the agency environment, creating value, and contributing their point of view from the start.
I spoke at numerous events and wrote thoroughly about the program and how to replicate this successful effort.
Presentation: Drupalcon Baltimore 2017, Drupal As Tech Education
Key program components
Candidates focused on design, development, UX, and product management. They all learned in a cohort together, and they were encouraged to switch focus as they learned more about each discipline.
The program trained and gave experience to aspiring managers who were paired with interns for the duration of the program. Mentor bootcamp training prepared them for this task.
Interns were hired as full-time employees based primarily on their collaboration, ability to learn, communication skills, and agency polish and understanding — specific subject matter expertise was important, but secondary.
Focus on diversity, equity, and inclusivity
Formed on the knowledge that diverse perspectives bring the very best and most challenging ideas, my team kept inclusivity, equity, and diversity at the heart of our recruiting and program development.
All interns were paid a fair wage to encourage the best talent - not just those who could afford to work without pay.
Mentors were trained to create an environment where all our candidates felt needed and wanted. And we talked to each class to learn how to improve for the next.
Result: Over three years of cohorts, the agency hired 18 thriving, diverse, and highly capable employees with an average tenure of over four years. Hires were 60% women and 40% BIPOC.
Compelling conferences
Creative direction, event design, brand experience design, theme development, facilitation
Once every year, all 150 people from Phase2’s distributed company get together in person for a company conference. P2Con is an important moment to connect, set the course for the coming year, be inspired, and learn from one another. Each year is defined by a guiding theme — and a thoughtful employer brand experience to bring it to life.
Digital Experience that Advances the Human Experience. In 2020, amidst a world no one recognized, P2Con became a virtual experience. Our theme for the year simply reinforced our vision as we learned together how to create a digital experience to advance this deeply human experience. Through engaging all our senses, a progressive unboxing of meaningful items, and our employees sharing their talents, we experienced a truly rich time together, even while we were apart.
See me present about designing a successful virtual event at the 2021 Control the Room Conference “7 hours of zoom — in a good way!”
Being Here. P2Con 2019 was a moment to look forward, and as we settled in to the momentum that comes with long-term growth, we needed to lean into what would sustain us throughout the journey. Simply put, we needed to focus on “Being Here”— to reflect on who we were being each day, what we needed to do together, and what we needed to do on our own.
Expand Your Experience. As Phase2 looked to grow our skills, portfolio and brand, we asked team members to step into something new and build on their amazing knowledge and expertise with energy and momentum. The theme captured both opportunities of the business and the location of the event — New Orleans.
Own Your Impact. Phase2 gathered in Portland, Oregon to explore our collective impact and how that could be harnessed and leveraged - for individual benefit, for the benefit of the organization, for the benefit of clients, and all of the lives those organizations touch. This theme reminded the team that their work can make a difference, long after the project deadlines have come and gone.
Engaging the creative community at Design Portland events
Creative direction, event design, brand experience design, theme development
As Phase2 looked to expand its creative capabilities, we looked to our local Design Week Portland events to deepen our collaboration with other experts and engage new candidates. Over the course of three years, we did just that.
After introducing ourselves to the community in 2018 with a lawn games themed open house, we created a sold-out workshop in 2019 - Empathy in a World with No Averages, exploring accessibility and design. Participants experienced simulated disabilities and then worked together to redesign common daily experiences with the tools they had learned.
In 2020, a panel of Phase2 creative experts shared perspectives on creative collaboration in remote environments at the virtual event, Long Distance Design.
Presentation: Design Portland 2021, Long Distance Design
Result: Event attendees grew from 30 in 2018 reaching nearly 100 in 2020.
