Transition: startups, pivots, mergers, sunsets, leadership
Transitions — in leadership, organizational structure, program focus, and business model — require strategic communications.
We ensure that key constituencies are brought along, your story and core values are elevated and expressed, and concerns or clarifications are addressed at the outset.
Just Economy Institute
The Just Economy Institute (JEI) educates, supports, and connects financial activists who are shifting the flow of capital and power to solve social and environmental problems. Now in its ninth cohort, a nine-month fellowship anchors JEI’s programming, in addition to supporting a growing community of alumni fellows and nurturing field-building efforts.
Founded as the Integrated Capital Institute within RSF Social Finance, when JEI transitioned to a standalone effort in 2021, they tapped Do Good Better to lead them through a complete rebrand.
Through the narrative strategy process, JEI’s team identified core values of Community, Collaboration, and Transformation — taking on the “villain” of the Extractive Economy — and embodied by a Pollinator archetype. Together with creative partner YolkWorks, we created a dynamic brand system, and produced content for the launch of the new JEI website.
As a freshly independent organization, JEI had a range of new needs for communications to donors, key partners, and their community. Do Good Better led the creation of their inaugural stakeholder report in 2023, showcasing the incredible talent and leadership within the JEI network and representing the history of the fellowship program while bringing the new brand system to life in printed form. The report includes highlights from the organization's fellowship cohorts, and engages individual and foundation donors as the core audience. We also developed their first email newsletter, to share timely updates on the work of fellows, connections and opportunities, and inspiration. These assets were deeply informed by a community-centric approach that illuminated the work of JEI alumni, and especially the collaborations among them, to reinforce the narrative strategy and amplify what JEI makes possible in the world.
Collaborator: Tigist Kelkay, YolkWorks
Business Alliance of Local Living Economies (BALLE)
The Business Alliance of Local Living Economies (BALLE) was a network of communities across North America modeling equitable, restorative, locally-centered economies. The network included Local Economy Fellows, the Local Economy Foundation Circle, and the Local Economy Investor’s Circle. In 2019, BALLE evaluated their programs and rebranded and relaunched as Common Future, with a new suite of activities and efforts, and new leadership at the helm.
Do Good Better supported BALLE during the transition from a founding executive director to the next generation of leadership. Transition communications were anchored by videos that captured the history of the organization and introduced the new executive director, and a series of internal and external updates from the board and outgoing ED to ensure that key stakeholders, including donors, were able to celebrate outgoing staff while following the progress of a national search for new leadership. In parallel, Do Good Better formalized a Local Economy Framework taxonomy that built on a rich history of local economy building, introducing key frames and messages to support narrative shifts in economic justice and philanthropy.
Collaborators: J.J. Harris, TechBoogie; Khepera Batties