What We Do
We are solution designers.
We help leaders, schools and systems ideate, design and implement innovations for equity.
System & Learning Design
Our team empowers leaders in learning. We specialize in instructional, school and system design, network advising and innovative leadership and learning models. This work includes workshops, design sessions, coaching, thought partnering and innovative program design and implementation support for learner-centered personalized learning.
Professional Learning & Community
We design and facilitate in-person and virtual school and learning tours, speaking engagements, webinars, professional learning, and workshops. We also work with clients to develop event strategies and provide event management and logistics. Looking for your own professional learning? Check out our free Getting Smart Town Halls or our paid cohort offering Smart Sprints for more information.
Strategy
We provide strengths-based, flexible, client driven strategic support to a variety of organizations and school districts. Our strategy partnerships span a wide range of projects including project design, planning and management, network design and development, scaling strategies, strategic guidance, technical assistance, product and brand development, edtech product development, market positioning and go-to-market strategy, organizational development, education foundation investment strategy and on-demand strategy packages.
Campaign & Initiative Development
We help get your voice heard by advocating for the work being done to support high-quality learning for all. Getting Smart designs and implements high impact thought leadership campaigns and initiatives for foundations, organizations and school networks. This includes spotting, naming and framing emerging issues, campaign management, audience development, message testing, content development, publication and dissemination.
Communication & Storytelling
We believe in the power of storytelling and support clients with media channel development, strategic communications, marketing and social media. This includes building and implementing strategic communication plans, message testing and market research. Getting Smart also amplifies products and brands through sponsored blogs, infographics, white papers, podcasts and other multi-media marketing content.
Getting Smart partners with ASU Preparatory K-12 Academy Charter Network in Arizona to support strategy around new school model design and launch, network alignment, professional learning, learning model development, branding, communications and curriculum design. Through on-site meetings, virtual meeting and coaching, design session facilitation, and project work, our focus is helping ASU Prep reach the mission of designing new models for educational success and raise academic achievement for all learners.
Working together with a local foundation, we helped to develop a regional strategy and shared vision for high school learners to graduate with authentic real world experiences that are badged and recognized at businesses and universities across a two state partnership. This includes building entrepreneurial skills, job shadows, college prep opportunities and more. Through this project we worked with varied sizes of districts serving diverse communities to create a common set of agreements on what opportunities and experiences should be provided to high school graduates.
To highlight the employment, ethical and educational implications of exponential technology, we launched the Ask About AI campaign. Through over 50 blogs, a social media campaign, a series of podcasts, nationwide convenings and a culminating white paper we explored implications for employment, public policy and education and how we can prepare learners for the future of work and learning.
We supported The Learning Accelerator with storytelling for their Strategy Lab cohort in the Summer/Fall of 2020 in order to expand their practices and make them available to other districts, and to share success stories from the field. This included digging into existing content and resources to find story opportunities, interviewing cohort members and TLA leaders, and content development.