Responsibilities: Front-end web design and development, on-going training and back-end support

Technology: WordPress CMS, commercial theme (Make by The Theme Foundry) with custom CSS / child theme, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop

Visit Site: theleadersguild.tangaza.ac.ke

Project Summary

This was a 18-month project to design and develop a site for The Leaders Guild (TLG), an alumni association offering leadership development training programs for Catholic religious women and business professionals in Nairobi, Kenya. The project was part of an international partnership between the School for New Learning, DePaul University, Chicago IL USA and the Centre for Leadership Management, Tangaza University, Nairobi, Kenya, funded by a grant from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation.

TLG wanted a professional looking site that would promote their membership, programs and projects, reflect their leadership ability and that they could update and maintain after the grant ended. The grant mandated that the site be used to share leadership resources.

I was brought in during the middle of a 3-year grant to design two sites, including this site for TLG. As the fourth person (and first web designer) to work on developing this site, my initial challenge was to gain the trust of all stakeholders and to evaluate the earlier design and development work. I worked closely with key stakeholders to define and clarify project goals and shape the written content. I conducted user research in Nairobi, Kenya and identified market segments and appropriate technology.

The final site uses WordPress CMS and a commercial theme. I used CSS to customize the visual design. We chose WordPress because the university where TLG is housed also uses WordPress and they have access to technical support from the university. I’ve provided training and creating user manuals to TLG staff so that they can update the site themselves.