volunteer communications chair

For two and a half years, I served as the volunteer Communications Chair for 2U's LGBTQIA+ business resource network, called "2Q." The group's mission is to help advocate for a culture of diversity and inclusion at 2U and serve as a space for LGBTQIA+ employees to build community, share resources, and empower their authentic identities. On average, I clocked an additional 15-20 volunteer hours per week on 2Q projects beyond my full-time paid position at the company.

Strategic Communication Planning and Branding

I actively participated in bi-weekly 2Q chair meetings to determine and execute the group's year-long communications plans, which included creating and maintaining an LGBTQIA+ global observance calendar.

I managed 2Q's regular intranet blog contributors (as well as one-off guests) and served as their editor for all written submissions. I also contributed my own article to the blog: "Queerness, Otherness, and Horror Movies."

I spearheaded all editorial, design, and promotional efforts for 2Q's 2022 and 2023 Pride Month activities and was on 2Q's 2021 Pride Committee. I came up with the taglines "Color Me Proud," "Go Forth and Pride," and "Queer Is NOT a Crime" and directed the branding/graphic look for the latter two campaigns with an outside design firm, handling most daily design projects myself. I also designed and managed all member swag.

Here are two examples from the branding designs I created:

And here is my weekly series of intranet blog posts I wrote for our 2022 Pride Month campaign:

Multimedia: Videos and Podcasts

I applied my video production and editing skills toward a variety of 2Q projects that often incorporated my wacky sense of humor. Other projects were designed to uplift and inspire:

2Q Kicks Off Pride Month with a Virtual Pride Parade

2Q Honors International Transgender Day of Visibility

Welcome 2Q's New Chairs! Get to Know Your Fabulous Leaders

I also launched, produced, and co-hosted 2Q's podcast "2Q4U." I came up with the name and the tagline: "The New Podcast That's 'Spilling the LGBTea' on All Things Queer at 2U." Listen to all the episodes.

Member Engagement, Event Hosting, and Content Promotion

I redesigned 2Q's internal website from scratch and created 2Q's first "designer" newsletter and email template.

I posted ongoing content, surveys, questionnaires, etc. on 2Q's Slack channel to incentivize member engagement and interaction, which at the time comprised over 500 active members.

I regularly featured 2Q members in the spotlight (and allies from other employee groups) with various campaigns including "The Spectacular Spectrum of Love," "Zero Discrimination Day," "Loving Ourselves Is the Ultimate Superpower," and ongoing "Day in the Life" articles.

I hosted or co-hosted several live all-company 2Q events including Virtual Dance Parties, Brain Breaks, and a Pride Month discussion on LGBTQIA+ heroes.

I worked with 2U's internal communications team to promote 2Q events and editorial content via the company's weekly all-staff newsletter, intranet, Slack, and "Daily Dose of Team Time" all-company Zoom meetings.