The Gateway Hilltowns are six small communities in Western Massachusetts: Blandford, Chester, Huntington, Middlefield, Montgomery, and Russell, all sharing the excellent Gateway Regional School District. These communities have been working hard over the last few years to counteract some negative economic and demographic trends. Recent efforts have worked to attract young families, bring broadband high-speed internet to all residents, support our small businesses, and collaborate between town governments and departments to work more efficiently and sustainably.
gatewayhilltowns.org
The Boston Public Market is the only indoor, year-round, all locally sourced marketplace for groceries and specialty agricultural products in the country. Here, residents and visitors can find fresh, seasonal food from New England. The Market is also a dynamic civic space, educating the public about food courses, nutrition, and preparation. Everything within the Market is produced or originated in New England.
The Market opened in July 2015 and needed to issue report on construction and operating activities to stakeholders, government officials, and funders. I worked closely with staff to graph, design, and properly layout the many accomplishments of the organization in way that would be engaging, exciting, and fruitful (pun intended).
Headquartered in Somerville, Massachusetts, Taza makes stone ground chocolate. They are also a pioneer in ethical cacao sourcing, maintaining direct relationships with cacao farmers and paying a premium above the Fair Trade price.
For a class on operations analysis during my MBA program, my group chose to examine and report on Taza. We looked at several aspects of their operation and used concepts we had reviewed in class to illustrate how the factory and the corporation worked. I created, designed, and formatted the final report tying together the combined efforts of my group.
New Entry Sustainable Farming Project is an initiative of Tufts University's Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy and additional partners. Their mission is to improve the local and regional food system by training the next generation of farmers to produce food that is sustainable, nutritious, and culturally appropriate and making this food accessible to individuals regardless of age, mobility, ethnicity, or socio-economic status.
As part of my MBA program, each student was required to create a consulting group, work with a local organization, and make a final report and presentation. My group worked with New Entry on the creation of a strategic plan, giving us the opportunity to conduct interviews, analyze engagement, visit farms, and our knowledge of operations and management into practice. I designed and laid out this report, consolidating and conveying our group's work.