Results and Samples of Our Work
Below are some examples of the kinds of issues our clients have asked us to address, with links to the final product we produced for them.
1. "We Need to Make Our On-Line Courses Lively and Interactive"
2. "We Don't Want to Good Work of this $20 Million Program to Go to Waste."
3. "How Do We Communicate the Work of Our Foundation Openly?"
4. "How Do We Tell the Story of A Complex Program
that is a Model for Serving Crime Victims?"
5. "How Can We Keep our Content Fresh and Relevant?"
6. "We Have a Great Idea But No One Understands What We're Saying."
1. "We Need to Make Our
On-Line
Courses Lively and Interactive"
The Problem: Our client, the Education Development Center, a large nonprofit organization, needed to enliven its on-line courses. These courses were a key part of a multi-million contract they had with the U.S. Department of Education. The course we developed for them had to efficiently engage the participants, who were busy professionals working in schools.
The course taught participants how to form a crisis response team for schools. The five-day course began on the anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks. The funder wanted to be sure that this course gave participants the tools they needed to prepare in the event of another attack, school shooting or other crisis.
The Solution: We broke down the course into a series of steps that school officials needed to take. Each day featured a school official who provided a real-life example of how they prepared for or responded to a crisis. School officials told the stories of what worked, what didn't and passed along their best lessons learned. The officials also related dilemmas they faced.
The Results: The course was the highest-rated of all the on-line courses our client provided to the Department of Education. The U.S. government official who oversaw the program said, "The event was a major success! Thank you for one of the most outstanding on-line web courses in the last 18 months! I know this took a lot of work but it was well worth it. This course will be a major resource for our office and the Department." An evaluation revealed that 100 percent of participants would recommend the course to others.
Government officials were so pleased that they began using the course as an example of the success of the entire program. They presented the course in talks and distributed it around the world for other schools to learn about how to prepare and respond to a crisis.
back to top | click here for the on-line course
2. "We Don't Want the Good Work of
this $20 Million Program to Go to Waste."
The Problem: Our client, the American Medical Association (AMA), wanted to capture and distill the lessons learned from an 8-year, $20 million program. The program established state coalitions around the country to reduce underage drinking and our client oversaw its implementation. The program was drawing to a close and our client worried that much of the coalitions' successful work would go unnoticed.
The Solution: To capture the key lessons from this ambitious and innovative project we created a comprehensive guidebook for other communities that want to start coalitions. We interviewed more than 40 participants - including the people who designed the program, those who oversaw it, those who ran it and even those opposed to the idea. These in-depth interviews yielded rich details about how to implement a difficult and often controversial program.
We condensed the information into 11 steps to start a successful coalition. We contracted with a graphic designer to create an appealing and eye-catching piece that was easy to read and follow.
The Results: The AMA uses the guide as its key document to sustain the work of this successful national program. They distributed more than 10,000 copies of the guidebook. One coalition, after receiving a few copies, asked for additional 500 to help it in its work. The funder said that the guide met a critical goal - to provide a step-by-step guide of successful programs that can help others do this work.
back to top | click here for the guide/brochure 
3. "How Do We Communicate the Work of Our Foundation Openly?"
The Problem: In 1996, our client, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), embarked on an experiment to become more open and transparent about the results of its grantmaking. Foundation officials put the word out to look for qualified writers who could produce reports that clearly explained the outcomes of RWJF's grants - the problems they addressed, the results they accomplished and the lessons for the field they produced.
The reports had to be written in plain English without sacrificing accuracy. They had to synthesize reams of documents produced by grantees into a succinct summary. The reports also had to chart a difficult course of being open about problems in projects without overwhelming readers with extraneous detail.
The Solution: We were among the first writers that RWJF hired in 1997 for this new project. Over the years, we provided ideas about new ways to approach these grants results reports. We encouraged RWJF staff to adopt more storytelling in their reports, which they did. We regularly take the initiative to conduct additional interviews to make sure we capture the full scope of the work we write about.
The Results: We've produced more than 100 grants results reports for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, many of which were on RWJF's most complicated and contentious programs.
back to top | click here for example of a report.
4. "How Do We Tell the Story of A Complex
Program that is a Model for Serving Crime Victims?"
The Problem: The client, the U.S. Justice Department, wanted to showcase one of the country's largest and longest standing programs that serves victims of crime. The program sprawled across every part of the big-city police department where it was located. This program was a model in the country but it had grown so big with so many moving parts that it was hard for even the director to clearly describe it.
The Solution: We decided to tell the story of this victim's service program by describing the events that occurred after an actual crime was committed. We asked the director to relate a story of a crime that touched on all the divisions of the victim services department. We then illustrated the program by describing the events that occurred after a horrifying triple murder and how members of the victim services program participated - from accompanying the police on their initial calls to the crime scene, through the investigation, court trial and conviction of the man who killed the three victims.
The Results: We designed a special report that brought to life the work of this large and complex victim services department. This became an official publication of the U.S. Justice department. The bulletin provided a real world example of how victim services departments can help victims, police departments and the larger communities. It also gave suggestions for building a victim services unit, grounded in the 20 years of experience of this program.
back to top | click here for the case study
5. "How Can Keep Our Content Fresh and Relevant?"
The Problem: Our client, Harvard Management Communication Letter, needed fresh content to keep its readers - mostly high-level executives - interested and renewing their subscriptions. The editors wanted us to find new angles to address age-old problems in business communications.
The Solution: Looking at unlikely sources such as improvisational troupes and poetry writing, we proposed and wrote a series of articles to help executives improve their communications skills. We talked to people who translated their work in the arts into practical tips for business executives. We also interviewed high-level executives who gave examples of how these artists helped them communicate better at work.
The Results: My clients used these articles to keep their content fresh and relevant. The article on improvisational troupes was one of their most highly requested reprints.
back to top | click here for article
6. "We Have a Great Idea But
No One Understands What We're Saying."
The Problem: Our client, the University of Wisconsin at Madison, needed help translating an article about technology and recovery from substance abuse treatment into plain English. The report they had received was about a high-level think tank conference in which participants gave their best ideas for how emerging technology could help people recover from substance abuse. The participants generated cutting edge ideas that could help others, but my client was frustrated because a draft chapter that reported the results of the conference had language that was too technical and did not clearly explain the meaning of the futuristic technology. Our client's key messages were getting lost.
The Solution: We talked to the project director to understand the main points that were important to get across. He clarified many questions, and with our prodding, added more details to flesh out stories to illustrate the technology.
The Results: Our piece became a chapter in a journal that our client's target audience read. The director wrote to us to say, "You did an absolutely outstanding job! You turned a lousy draft into a great document."
Now that you've seen some of our success stories, click to About Us so that you can learn more about us.
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