WHAT IS #PRINCIPALPRIDECHI?
The Chicago Public Education Fund (The Fund) is a non-profit organization that believes great schools begin with strong school leaders. Every October is Principal Appreciation month and Chicago has reason to celebrate; Research shows that Chicago public schools lead the nation in student growth, with students learning six years of material in five years of learning.
That's why The Fund leads Chicago's Principal Pride Campaign. The Fund, in partnership with The City of Chicago and Chicago Public Schools, coordinated wide-spread social media support for principals and ended the virtual campaign with a corporate sponsored event open to all 600+ of Chicago's principals.
MY ROLE
In June 2018, I began production of the three principal profiles that were featured on social media and started the pre-planning of the social media campaign. As a member of the four person Principal Pride team, I had responsibilities that spanned all facets of the campaign.
Videos: I interviewed, shot, scripted, and edited each of the campaign videos, reporting directly to The Fund's Vice President. During the campaign, I helped manage the social media implementation of these videos.
Collateral: Working with a freelance designer, I supervised the creation of the first ever #PrincipalPrideChi logo, newspaper advertisements, event program, and branded banners.
Business Outreach: I led coordinated outreach to over 50 local Chicago businesses and maintained relationships that resulted in the creation of discounts and in-kind donations to principals.
Stakeholder Outreach: I helped implement outreach to stakeholders via an email drip campaign, tracking commitment to social media participation among partners, and creating a social media toolkit that was mailed to Local School Counsels across Chicago.
Event at Navy Pier: I helped in the coordination of The Fund's final Principal Pride event which was attended by 300 school leaders and City of Chicago leaders. On the day of the event, I was responsible for the technical side of the event's run-of-show.
COLLATERAL PROJECTS
NEWSPAPER ADVERTISMENT
I managed the creation of this advertisement as it went through revision. In addition to the print advertisement shown, I also supervised the creation of a Spanish-language and digital advertisement.
I secured placement of advertisements in The Chicago Tribune, The Sun Times, Hoy, and The Chicago Defender.
BRAND CREATION
I hired and supervised a designer as we created the first ever Principal Pride logo. Additionally, we created branded material (such as the banner shown) to continue to use throughout future Principal Pride Campaigns.
STAKEHOLDER TOOLKITS
I created toolkits that were available in digital form and for mail distribution. These toolkits included worksheets for students to complete as "thank you" notes to principals, Instagram photobooth materials, and instructions for participation on social media. We mailed these toolkits to over 150 individuals across Chicago.
THE RESULTS
In just its second year, the Principal Pride Campaign culminated in impressive results:
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4,700,000+ people reached by the overall campaign
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30,000+ people reached organically through The Fund Principal Profile Videos
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300+ Principals thanked on social media
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24 Non-profit partners and 11 local business participants
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Secured long-term corporate sponsorship with Fifth Third Bank for future campaigns
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Principals across Chicago felt the Principal Pride!