WIR’ED pairs students and marketing professionals with area shopkeepers to improve STEM education and online marketing
CLEVELAND –Cleveland Metropolitan School District and East Cleveland Schools students, and volunteer marketing professionals met to discuss their partnership in WIR’ED, a program that pairs students and marketing professionals with business owners to improve their online operations during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mel McGee, founder of We Can Code It, guided the online meeting and introduced the marketing pros, including:
- Adrienne Sabo, co-founder of Clever, a creative agency focused on developing compelling branding, marketing, and digital services for clients throughout northeast Ohio. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adriennesabo/.
- Siddarta Sen, operations and research analyst for the Veale Foundation, a northeast Ohio nonprofit committed to supporting charitable causes involved in education, human and social services, civic and community, and healthcare. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sidsen5/.
- Matt Wilkinson, general manager of digital marketing and acquisition for the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-wilkinson-71a466a/.
- Molly Ware, manager of digital marketing at the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/molly-ware-503b2712/.
- Todd Franko, director of local sustainability and development for Report for America. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/todd-franko-5314308/.
McGee reiterated the project’s goals, that students have a meaningful learning experience, that business owners receive help when the need it most, and that both succeed in developing a program that can be replicated.
Conceived in March 2020 by NeoSTEM leaders and the Old Brooklyn Community Development Corporation, WIR’ED seeks to respond to the needs of brick-and-mortar businesses with little or no online presence struggling to operate in the increasingly socially distanced and online world triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Martha Holden Jennings Foundation and Case Western Reserve University partnered to provide funding for the project.
Businesses participating in the project include Bill Kap Piano, David’s Challenge Young Achievers Ohio, the East Cleveland Neighborhood Center, the Falafel Café, Gus’s Old Brooklyn Family Restaurant, the Historical Society of Old Brooklyn, the JDL Treat and Flower Shoppe, and the Northeast Ohio Alliance for Hope.
Business owners, students, and marketing advisors will continue to meet throughout February and March to discuss their goals, and will gather online on a weekly basis to discuss their progress, with the next meeting scheduled for February 8.
For more information, contact Alyssa Lenhoff-Briggs at alyssabriggs@tiesteach.org.
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