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Chicago, USA
We partnered with the Northwestern Prison Education Program (NPEP) for a year-long strategic communications and editorial engagement effort. The aim: to elevate public understanding of NPEP’s work and the people it serves through stories.
Together, we reshaped the NPEP website, built a long-term editorial strategy, and produced powerful written content — including a flagship program magazine — to raise visibility across key audiences: the public, media, donors, families, and university leadership.
At the center of this project were NPEP’s incarcerated students. But our role wasn’t to speak for students — it was to co-create a space where they could shape how their stories were told.
We approached the work as advocacy through human-centered journalism, balancing emotional depth with editorial integrity. We worked across platforms — from websites to email newsletters, magazines to media outreach — ensuring consistency of voice and message. Our work directly informed national and international media coverage for the program's historic graduation, including placements in outlets such as ABC News, Reuters, PBS, the Chicago Tribune, NPR, and The Guardian.
Our editorial strategy helped NPEP attract new donors, strengthen media relationships, and broaden public awareness. It also fostered internal alignment, giving students, staff, and supporters a shared narrative to rally behind.
For us, this project underscored the power of strategic storytelling: when grounded in trust and executed with care, it can shift perceptions, build coalitions, and create meaningful momentum across platforms.
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