Website.

General Synod Resolutions Website.

The General Synod of the United Church of Christ is the national decision-making body for the denomination, responsible for giving general direction to the evangelistic, missionary, and justice programs of the UCC. Because of the UCC’s explicit congregational polity, any decisions made by General Synod are not binding upon any UCC congregation, or its associations, and conferences.

Although resolutions have previously been available in digital archives of General Synod minutes and indexes of them have been kept, resolutions have historically not been available in full in a digital format. Working with the Office of General Counsel, and Magnetize, I worked with the both stakeholders to envision and build a website that would make finding every resolution, 980 dating back to the UCC’s founding in 1957 accessible to the general public. We knew from data and notes from across the church that having a sleek, elegant, but functional historical archive of General Synod resolutions was important for transparency, access, and to have this resourcce available to the church.

I worked with the Office of General Counsel to develop usability and accessibility needs, and worked with Magnetize to develop webpages and a menu navigation that adhered to UCC Branding Guidelines. I wrote some of the initial content on the website, as well as a news article to promote the new site. This new website streamlines the collection to make all of them much easier to find. It also includes an updated search function, searchable by year or keyword.

Deliverables:

• Project Management

• UX and UI strategy & design

• Stakeholder engagement

• Site content

• SEO/Conversion strategy

• Creative Direction

• Communications Strategy

Outcome:

This new website was the first ever to take every General Synod resolution (dating back to 1957), and provide it in a digital format. For the first time, people from across the denomination reported how this resource has helped inspire them in their work in the church. Having this resource easily allows for those working on future resolutions to see what has been passed by General Synod in years past, and it gives those interested in learning more about General Synod an idea of what kinds of resolutions have passed (and not passed).

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CLICK HERE to read more about this news resource.

UCC.org Main Menu Redesign and Launch.

The United Church of Christ is a mainline Christian denomination known for its work in the areas of social justice, LGBTQIA rights, just policies and laws that ensures all God’s creations have access to the necessary resources, and fighting for a just world for all. UCC.org has become the go-to source for the denomination to find all kinds of resources from worship materials, action alerts, daily devotionals, the church finder tool, scholarships, and more.

Upon my arrival to the National Ministries, I learned that the previous main menu navigation system was inadequte, and users all over found it very difficult to use. It was jumpy, pages and categories were not organized, and it was not ADA compliant. I set out on a mission to work to improve this. After a year of research, conversations with internal/external stakeholders, and design work, we launched a redesigned main menu interface in early 2024.

Deliverables:

• Project Management

• UX and UI strategy & design

• Stakeholder engagement

• SEO/Conversion strategy

• Creative Direction

• Communications Strategy

Outcome:

The updated main menu navigation was met with favorable reviews and increased engagement from our users. The following was accomplished with the redesign:

Alleviates "jumpiness" for desktop/laptop users.

• Improves user experience on mobile devices and tablets.

• Decreases load time for all devices.

• Increases accessibility for people with disabilities and those who use assistive applications/devices (such as screen readers).

UCC Conference Ministers, pastors, National Staffers and others reported having a much easier time navigating the website, and locating the resources they need, and overall felt the new navigation gave the website a refreshed, and updated look and feel.

CLICK HERE to read more about these and other updates on UCC.org.

Chicago Theological Seminary main website redesign.

As a premiere, progressive, forward-thinking graduate school of theology in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood, Chicago Theological Seminary (CTS) needed a website that matched its boldness, and reputation as the one of the leading seminaries in the country. At a time where the seminary was experiencing dramatic growth in population, its aging website and the challenges of a changing digital landscape made it difficult for the seminary to keep up with its more tech-savvy audiences.

CTS was eager to create to re-imagine its website through a sharper, more responsive, and accessible website to capture the attention of students and prospective students, and establish loyalty among staff, faculty, alumni, trustees, donors, friends, and prospects. Partnering with 31 Lengths, a marketing agency based in New York City, we created a project scope and goals, and researched other seminary websites in the U.S. to determine trends and overall design. Internally, I engaged with various departments to determine usability and information needs, and to establish and execute a migration plan for existing content and determining which content would be more suitable for myCTS, the seminary’s internal intranet. The CTS Office of Communications (myself & the director) then developed and executed a communications strategy to launch the refreshed website, as well as a micro-targeted campaign, using social media, email marketing, and word of mouth for new and lapsed visitors.

Deliverables:

• Project Management

• Public outreach strategy

• Stakeholder engagement

• Site content

• Website development/management

• Intranet conception/implementation

• Email marketing

• Social media campaign

• Communications strategy

Outcome:

The website redesign launch was very anticipated and exceeded expectations among all audiences, including perspective students, and doubled visits to the CTS website, while placing a much-needed focus on high-stakes information. The redesigned website included the refreshed CTS brand, a responsive design that meets user needs on any desktop display, mobile device, laptop, or tablet, and improved ADA functionality.

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