REEF GUILD, UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII AT MANOA
Leveraging international collaboration to create resilient coral reefs
HUMAN CENTERED DESIGN | BRAND DEVELOPMENT
Project Highlights
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FORMED 15+ PARTNERSHIPS
Championed partnership formation among peer institutions to lay the foundation for data sharing and collaboration for the Guild.
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CONDUCTED 20+ RESEARCH SESSIONS
Conducted research with key environmental and NGO stakeholders, including leaders from NOAA and National Geographic.
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DEVELOPED BRAND IDENTITY
Created a brand identity system for the Guild, Including logo, style guide, and website.
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DEVELOPED GLOBAL MARKETING STRATEGY
Developed 12-month go-to-market plan for marketing the Guild, including digital, in person, and PR tactics.
Due to the effects of climate change and ocean acidification, only 10% of corals will live past 2050.
International Union for Conservation of Nature
I partnered with Dr. Ruth Gates, Director of the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology and President of the International Society for Reef Studies, to build the Reef Guild: a global network of reef researchers and scientists, with the goal of encouraging data sharing and collaboration across organizations, boarders, and languages.
PROCESS
01: RESEARCH
I started by conducting interviews with the Gates Coral Lab internal stakeholders and external partners to learn about the barriers and opportunities for collaboration.
02: PROBLEM AND INSIGHT FRAMING
Alongside the Gates Coral Lab team, I extracted driving insights and formulated an actionable problem statement that was used as the guiding design challenge.
03: STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
I then collaborated with a community of 15+ environmental NGOs to better understand and validate this problem statement, gathering ideas and insights on potential solutions.
04: OPERATIONAL STRATEGY
Based on these insights, I created a top-line organizational strategy for the Reef Guild, including core value proposition, operations, and stakeholder engagement.
05: BRANDING
Backed by this strategy, I worked with a graphic designer to develop an engaging visual brand – including a logo, colors, imagery, and brand guidelines – for the Guild.
06: MARKETING
And finally, developed a comprehensive go-to-market strategy to launch the Guild. This included a strategic roadmap, messaging, assets such as infographics, and a website.
IMPACT
As a result of this project, the Gates Coral Lab was able to create the first ever global, open-source repository of global coral conservation activity, paving the way for increased data sharing and collaboration.
“We’ll have to do something to help reefs get through 2050. We have to act now and perhaps not wait for permission.”
Ruth Gates, Founder Gates Coral Lab