Institutional Narrative / Ford School of Public Policy

About This Project

If anybody has the training for tomorrow’s world, it may be students at The Ford School of Public Policy. It’s one of the top graduate programs in its discipline in the world. It teaches the analytic and creative skills to harness the complexity of 21st century society, the one critical skillset for advancing the human agenda. We were asked to bring clarity and urgency to this narrative by answering the questions “Why Public Policy? Why Ford? Why now?” for all stakeholders, including prospective donors. The fund-raising goal was $38 million. Through a deep dive including extensive interviews with faculty, students, and alumni business leaders, we developed a manifesto and a message architecture to guide all communications. The graduates who leave UM’s Ford School will be the next generation of leaders in public service, business, and the global NGO network.