Neha Mehta (BBA'09), Chandra Wiggs, Margo Ruter (BC-Mktg), Patricia Blair (BC-School Dir), Bob Bondlow (BC-Ops Mgr), Rose Quasarano, Leslie Hinchcliffe, Sandy Popick (BC-Board Pres). Not pictured: Dan Duell (BC-Artistic Dir), Anne Bommi (MBA'04) & Hugh Jedwill (MBA'04)

On April 18th, the fourth Ross-lead Taproot team kicked off a new project with Ballet Chicago.  It is a Brand Strategy and Key Messages project that will run for six months.  Having worked with Ballet Chicago last year on their Strategic Plan, we had already decided that BC need to position themselves as a ballet education conservatory to best leverage their strengths in their school.This year’s team includes Anne Bommi (MBA’04) as the Brand Strategist, Neha Mehta (MBA’09) as the Community Manager and Hugh Jedwill (MBA’04) as the Account Director.When it comes to BC’s branding they have classic issues with brand identity and mixed messages.  At a basic level many people confuse “Ballet Chicago” with “Chicago Ballet.”  In addition, many people think of ballet and dance as the same thing.  Even those who consciously recognize the difference typically don’t know that the Ballanchine-style ballet training is considered the most comprehensive, modern style.The first part of the challenge is to create a Positioning Statement that Ballet Chicago can use internally to identify what space do they compete in, what they do, how they do it and what their point of difference is.  Then the team will focus on Key Messsages that BC can use in communicating with their key stakeholders.

Ballet Chicago is extremely excited about the project as it comes on the heels of the Ross Student MAP project that created a Marketing Plan for their Nutcracker and Spring Repertory performances.  Taken together, BC will have a strong communication plan with tight, consistent messaging.  This in turn will help them define themselves in the crowded dance space of Chicago, receive more funding from donors and foundations and recruit more board members.

From left: Hugh Jedwill, Rachel McCallister, Bob Bondlow, Alejandra Pedemonte, Jennifer Hoffman, Dan Duell, Victoria Torelli, Jane Dutton

The Ballet Chicago MAP Team

The Ross MAP team working with Ballet Chicago is made up of four first-year MBA students who are all energized about working with a nonprofit. Jennifer Hoffman, Victoria Torelli, Rachel McCallister, and Alejandra Pedemonte make up the team. In their few weeks in Chicago, they have managed to take dance classes through Ballet Chicago, go to performances, interview students, administrators, audience members and donors as well as check out the competition.

Bob Bondlow and Dan Duell from Ballet Chicago have been overjoyed by the caliber of work the students have provided. “We don’t always have the resources to do these things. When we found out we were a match with MAP, we thought ‘hail Mary!’” Bondlow said.  Through the work the MAP team has provided, Bondlow and Duell said they have already been able to see through other people’s eyes how their organization compares, something they have not been able to do on their own.

The MAP team is working on building a strategy for Ballet Chicago to increase their target audience. Being a real-world consulting project, the students have been able to get the most out of their educational experience. “I feel like this project has been a culmination of all of my classes so far,” said Jennifer Hoffman, a member of the MAP team.

Victoria Torelli, also on the MAP team said that she expected this project to be a passion project, given her background in dance, “but the passion changed to be passion for the company instead of just ballet,” she said.

Professor Jane Dutton, the MAP team’s faculty advisor, was also present for the presentation.  She felt that this presentation was a memorable turning point in her many years of being a MAP faculty advisor. “There was a level of connectedness to the heart of this project and I could see the light in the eyes of the students,” Prof. Dutton said, “What’s wonderful is that no one is the expert here and everyone is learning.”

Bondlow and Duell feel that the larger goal of the project was to help the educational experience for the students. However, the strategy and learnings that the students are providing to them has been invaluable.  “When an artist sees a full audience, you have no idea what happens to their heart.”  Bondlow said.

The mixer was part of Ross Chicago’s Alumni-MAP Initiative (AMAP), a non-profit outreach meant to create deep, positive change in our community.  This year’s focus is Ballet Chicago, an arts education ballet institution.  Hugh Jedwill, MBA’04, worked with Ballet Chicago to bring a student MAP team to help Ballet Chicago with a marketing plan for their Nutcracker program.  Ballet Chicago was already familiar with Ross as they had worked with a Ross-led team last year to build a new Strategic Plan.  Starting in April this year, a Ross-led team will help them with a Branding and Key Messaging project.

By focusing 100% of Ross Chicago’s considerable resources on one non-profit each year, we can make a significant impact on our community. Other Ross alums, Manisha Singh, EMBA’04, and Kevin Wiliams, MBA’86, have helped Ballet Chicago on their strategy and public relations, respectively.  Neha Mehta, BBA’09, is coordinating additional family-friendly events including a Sunday afternoon performance to Ballet Chicago’s Spring Repertory.

The mood at Rock Bottom, however, was not about business.  It was on the school and the experiences that made all of us–alumni, faculty and current students–remember why Ross is important to us:  the connections and relationships we made (and continue to make) that will always stay with us.

The team quickly realized that everyone who knew BC even slightly was most impressed by the value of its school.  The outside community saw only the performances, which were rated as highly as other professional troupes by professional dance critics.  But the place that held the hearts of all those who knew BC, was how it developed the best dancers with its caring, character-building and deep attention to each student.

This was a significant change.  Previously, BC had tried to create a reputation as a performance organization, competing with heavy-hitters like the Joffrey and Hubbard Street Dance.  The strategy that the Ross AMAP team created shifted the focus away from the fierce competition of Chicago performance dance and into BC’s strength of education.

THE RESULT

On September 20^th, the Ross AMAP team presented the final Environmental Scan and SWOT.  All in all, it was a very successful project. With the findings of the team, Ballet Chicago has been able to secure new funding, is working to re-build it board and has critical hires planned over the next five years.

Ballet Chicago’s Artistic Director, Dan Duell, commented on the impact of this project:

“The Ross AMAP TEAM lifted us up and opened up a new world of possibilities for our future. We now have a much stronger sense of how to direct our energies and resources toward our long-term goals.”

AND THERE’S MORE

A new AMAP project is starting in March 2012 with Ballet Chicago.  This time we will help them create a Brand Strategy and Key Messaging.  Like the support we gave Family Matters in 2010, BC needs a clear message to cut through the clutter and misunderstandings in the dance industry.  In all this confusion, their new strategy as an educational institution needs to come through clearly.  A perfect challenge for Ross Alumni!  If you’re interested in helping and have a marketing background please contact Hugh Jedwill before March 15 at hugh@mobileanthem.com.

Ballet Chicago will also receive a student MAP team that will work on its Marketing Plan during March and April.  They will work in coordination with Kevin Williams (MBA1986), who is developing a Spring Communications Plan, and Hugh Jedwill (MBA2004), who is the Account Director for the next Ross Chicago AMAP team for 2012.

If you liked the Ballet Chicago story, please join your fellow Michigan alums for some special events. March 14 we will host an event welcoming the BC student MAP team, along with other Chicago MAP teams.  We will also have a family-oriented alumni outing to see Ballet Chicago’s Spring Repertory performance on Sunday, May 6^th at 3pm.  More details on the May event will be soon available.

In April 2011, Ross started its 3^rdAMAP initiative with Ballet Chicago. Ballet Chicago (BC) is a leading, international non-profit ballet school that trains and performs in the Ballanchine style.  Five months later in September, the Ross AMAP team created the foundation for a Strategy Plan.  Team member, Manisha Singh (EMBA2004), worked for the next few months to help them finish and get board approval for a five-year plan.

The Ross AMAP Team: (left to right) Marianne Hewitt – Project Manager; Patricia Blair - School Director, Ballet Chicago; Bob Bondlow – Operations Mgr, Ballet Chicago; Nathanael Hall – Strategy Associate; Manisha Singh – Strategy Consultant, EMBA2004. Not pictured:Hugh Jedwill – Account Director, MBA2004; Nicole Lusignon, Community Mgr, MBA2009.

In April 2011, Ross started its 3^rd AMAP initiative with Ballet Chicago. Ballet Chicago (BC) is a leading, international non-profit ballet school that trains and performs in the Ballanchine style.  Five months later in September, the Ross AMAP team created the foundation for a Strategy Plan.  Team member, Manisha Singh (EMBA2004), worked for the next few months to help them finish and get board approval for a five-year plan.

Dan Duell, Artistic Director, Ballet Chicago

Timing of the Strategic Plan was critical for BC.  They had grown to a $1 million organization but were operating on the same principles for over ten years.  In their words:

“The growth that has occurred in the past year places Ballet Chicago on the cusp of a higher tier of performing arts organizations in metropolitan Chicago. With a budget of over $1,000,000 for FY2011, the organization has entered into a different category of fundraising and is now competing with larger arts organizations for the same funding dollars.”

Patricia Blair, School Director, Ballet Chicago

It was clear that they could benefit from a team of Ross Chicago alums.  The team formed in partnership with the Taproot Foundation, a nonprofit organization that makes business talent available to organizations working to improve society.  In addition, Ross Alums felt a special bond to BC, as they truly build people’s character and leadership through an empowering educational experience. In the words of Patricia Blair, School Director:

“…we want children who can go into the world with the utmost faith in themselves, with kindness and care for other people, with knowing how to be a team player and pitch in and be one of those that walks into the room and makes it better just by their being there.”

And most importantly, we are continuing our work with our next project, a Strategic Plan project with Ballet Chicago. This project just kicked off April 20th. Faced with an increasingly competitive field and increasing investment costs, Ballet Chicago needs a strategic plan to help them leverage their $1 million budget for future growth. The team for this project is: Marianne Hewitt – Project Manager; Manisha Singh – Strategy Consultant, EMBA2004; Anju Upadhay – Strategy Analyst, MBA2007; Nathanael Hall – Strategy Analyst; Nicole Lusignon – Community Manager, MBA2009; Hugh Jedwill – Account Director, MBA2004. Stay tuned for more as this story develops.

The Ross AMAP Team: (left to right) Anne Bommi – Brand Strategist, MBA2004; Joey Kesner, - Community Manager, MAcc2005; Kim DeLong – Executive Director, Family Matters; Dennis Roy – Project Manager, MBA1974; Hugh Jedwill – Account Director, MBA200

THE CHALLENGE

On a warm day in August 2010, Ross started a Taproot initiative with Family Matters. Family Matters (FM) is a community organization that works with families in the Rogers Park area.  Success came eight months later in April with a tailored brand strategy, including mission statement and key messages.

At the start of the project, FM struggled to consistently and effectively communicate what made them special. Here’s the problem statement in their words:

“We want to hone our mission statement and develop key messages so that staff, Board, and participants are able to succinctly and compellingly convey who we are and what we do – in a way that external audiences easily understand and value. We believe that this will position us to strengthen current relationships and cultivate new ones. We believe that it will take an objective eye to help us reach this goal. Our current mission statement is a paragraph long. Board members and the development team struggle to effectively communicate the passionate work that visitors experience upon entering our doors. Staff members have difficultly sharing a brief and consistent description of our multi-program organization.”

It was clear that they could benefit from a service grant from the Taproot Foundation, a nonprofit organization that makes business talent available to organizations working to improve society.  In addition, Ross Alums felt a special bond to FM, as their unique proposition was around building leaders. With the Ross leadership equity in action-based learning, FM’s Principles of Leadership touched a chord with the RACC Board and all the alums involved. Again, in FM’s words:

“We believe that part of what makes our organization unique are the tools that we model, teach and utilize in order to achieve our goals. We call them the Principles of Leadership: understanding choices and consequences; embracing positive thinking and language; and using peaceful conflict resolution.”

THE WORK
Core team members met and interviewed various people affiliated with FM: employees, volunteers, participants, alumni, donors and even organizations. Based on the information accumulated, the Ross AMAP team presented Key Findings on January 20th. After incorporating feedback, the team created a Brand Strategy for the client—in this case, a succinct message that positioned them in the marketplace of community organizations and clearly identified their unique program of leadership.

We presented our findings with a standard branding positioning formula taught in Ross’ core marketing class: “In the north-of-Howard neighborhood, Family Matters is the family-centered organization providing unique personal development experiences that inspire individuals to find their place in the world and make a positive societal impact.”

The FM team was very excited to have a simple statement of their brand and the position, which they wanted to occupy in their consumers’ minds. Next, we used the new positioning to develop key messages for their key constituents –donors, volunteers, families. The FM staff needed the words and key phrases to clearly and FM on April 6 in preparation for our final meeting. The key messages are below. Each one came with a summary and three additional talking points to be used when the listener said “tell me more.”

• Family Matters inspires positive individual change.
• Family Matters engages individuals with the broader community.
• Family Matters is the home, down the street from home.

On Saturday, April 16, the Ross AMAP team presented the final presentation to the entire FM Board of Directors. Also in attendance were some employees and volunteers as well as a couple of teenage participants in the FM programs. While it is not easy to capture the attention span of a teenager on a Saturday morning at 9am, the entire audience was enamored with their new Brand Strategy and Key Messaging. We discussed our methodology and our basis for our discovery and provided the “Next Phase” for their organization. This included applying for an additional Taproot project to work on their donor brochure that would proudly use their new brand strategy. Upon completion, Kim gave each member of the AMAP team a special customized plaque in gratitude of our hard work.

THE RESULT
All in all, it was a very successful project. With the findings from the Ross Taproot team, Family Matters will now be well-prepared to overcome funding obstacles and reach the next level of their organization’s growth. Below is a quote from Tawanna Brown, the FM Deputy Director, which summarizes the thoughts from the FM organization:

“I just wanted to take a moment to thank you and the Taproot team for the tremendous gift that you’ve given to Family Matters, thus far. I was amazed at how well your team was able to capture the organization’s work in language that is succinct, direct and compelling!

“As much as I am impressed with the ‘almost’ end product, I am also grateful for the patient and committed determination that your team consistently extended to us throughout the project, particularly during the revision phase. During our last two meetings, I’ve experienced a personal gift, one that comes at a critical juncture in my 11-year journey with Family Matters. For the first time in a long time, I saw the organization with “fresh eyes.” That was huge for me, in so many ways, and I’m very grateful. So, thank you for being the catalyst for that opportunity!”

AND THERE’S MORE
If you liked the Family Matters story, please join your fellow Michigan alums for a special event. An email will be sent out regarding the Ross Family Matters Walk-a-thon team. This annual event will occur on Saturday, May 21. Contact Joey Kesner at jkesner@gmail.com for more information. Another way to get involved with FM is through one of their key programs, year-round tutoring for their participants. Tutors are assigned a student and have one-on-one sessions on a weekly basis. This allows the tutor to get to know the student and become an influence in his/her life. In fact, the President of the Board of Directors began as a tutor. All that information and more at http://www.familymatterschicago.org

http://www.bus.umich.edu/AlumniCommunity/Dividend/FALL10_AlumniActivities.pdf

Chicago Club Establishes Ross Nonprofit Initiative

Members of the Ross Alumni Club of Chicago recently established the Ross Nonprofit Initiative. The goal is twofold: to contribute to the community and provide a forum for alumni to pursue a common interest — philanthropy. In early 2010 the club partnered with the Taproot Foundation, a national organization that enables business professionals to donate skills in marketing, human resources, strategy, and more to local nonprofits.

In May the Chicago club launched its first outreach with Casa Central, the city’s largest Hispanic-oriented social service agency. The organization has more than 450 employees and a budget of $16 million. It serves local youth and senior citizens as well as homeless families and victims of domestic violence. “The breadth of Casa Central’s services,
the depth of the staff’s knowledge, and its passion for helping the community are very impressive,” says Kevin Williams, MBA ’86.

The organization had not updated its fundraising materials in 16 years. Enter club board member Hugh Jedwill, MBA ’04, who served as account director on a new brochure project. Other club members playing key roles included project leader Williams, marketing manager Paras Parekh, AB ’94, and copy editor Lakshmi Bhargave, MBA ’09.

Meanwhile, Kelene Soltosz, MBA ’10, served as community manager with the goal of creating other volunteer opportunities beyond the scope of the specific marketing initiative — offering interviewing skills and resume writing to Casa Central’s constituents, among other things.

“Taproot already has a great process for providing strategic services for nonprofits,” say Jedwill. “And our alumni club provides a qualified team familiar with this process through our shared experiences with MAP [Ross’ Multidisciplinary Action Projects course].”

Chicago club co-president Brian Schwartz, BBA ’05, says the Ross Nonprofit Initiative has helped grow the alumni base while offering alternative programming to members. “It’s a great way to build our club brand, as well as the Ross brand, in the Chicago community,” he says.

The board has since applied for and been awarded the club’s second project, which launched in September. This time Chicago alumni are producing a messaging and brand strategy for Family Matters, based on the city’s north side. The organization has grown dramatically in recent years, from a single program working with 10 families to its current structure of five programs supporting more than 400 children and families. It also works with some 325 volunteers.

Jedwill once again is serving as account director. Dennis Roy, MBA ’74, is project manager; Anne Kristan Bommi, MBA ’04, is brand strategist; Jennifer Hobbs, BBA ’02, is copy editor; and Joey Kesner, MAcc ’05, is community manager.

“There is a great fit between Ross’ equity in ‘leadership in thought and action’ and the mission of Taproot,” says Schwartz. “We’ve worked with them to create this opportunity for an alumni group — a capacity they didn’t originally have. Since Taproot is a national foundation, it means Ross can scale with the organization as opportunities arise for other alumni chapters to participate with local nonprofits.”

Casa Central Kickoff – July 12

Our team met to kickoff the project with the client. We got a tour of their campus and met several of their program leaders. Even knowing how big they were beforehand, the breadth of their services, the depth of knowledge and their passion for helping the community was very impressive.

Ross Team Kickoff – June 14

The team met for the first time. After introductions, Kevin briefed everyone on the project and walked through Milestones, Communications Plan, Responsibilities, Timelines.

Site Visit – May 14

Hugh met with the leadership of Casa Central including the President, Ann Alvarez, to verify readiness and approve the grant. Her team is very impressive and very educated – many with experience in for-profit business. They had a prior Taproot team complete a Branding and Key Messaging project. A top recommendation was to update their brochure.

Meet the Team
Like all good teams, each person has a defined role but also pitches in create stronger strategy, ideas and deliverables.
Hugh Jedwill (MBA 2004) is Account Director
Kevin Williams (MBA 1986) is Project Leader
Paras Parekh (BA 1994) is Marketing Manager
Lakshmi Bhargrave (MBA 2009) is Copy Editor
Gretchen Samuelson is the Graphic Designer

Why partner with Taproot?
The Taproot programs are consistent with the core equity of Ross, Leading in Thought and Action. We use the brain power of our alums to create positive change in Chicago non-profits. The programs are designed similar to the MAP
programs that most all Ross grads have experienced. Think of it as a non-profit MAP….post-bschool.

More about Casa Central
Casa Central is the largest Hispanic-oriented social service agencies in Chicago with over 450 employees and a budget of $16 million.

• Mission: Transform lives and strengthen communities with a special focus on Hispanics
• Child/Youth programs reach 500 children pre-elementary, 175 grade school and 100 teens
• Seniors programs reach 150 for wellness activities and 1500 are provided home care services
• Adults/Families reach 70 homeless families, 500 victims of domestic violence and 800 get free computer classes