EdTrust (The Education Trust)

Summary: I led the technical project management and cross-functional coordination for EdTrust’s full website redesign, launched in August 2024. The project delivered a modern, accessible digital platform with improved information architecture, clearer content pathways, and a scalable WordPress CMS foundation — all completed on time and within budget.

Context

The Education Trust (EdTrust) is a national nonprofit advancing racial and economic justice in education. By 2023, their website had become outdated and difficult to navigate, limiting the organization’s ability to showcase key research, policy priorities, and advocacy work. I was brought in to streamline web operations and lead a soup-to-nuts redesign that addressed structural issues, accessibility gaps, and long-term maintainability.

Partnering closely with the Editorial Director, Art Director, and an external digital agency, I drove the project from initial scoping through launch and post-launch stabilization.

Challenge

EdTrust’s legacy website reflected over a decade of accumulated content and technical debt. Key problems included:

• Outdated design and visuals that didn’t reflect the organization’s evolving brand

• Fragmented information architecture that buried high-value resources

• Accessibility issues such as poor color contrast and confusing navigation

• Weak on-site search with no filtering by topic, content type, or date

• Disorganized taxonomy and content lifecycle that made publishing inefficient

The redesign needed to create a clear, accessible, and durable platform while supporting a large body of policy research, state work, and press resources.

Approach

1. Technical Scoping & Requirements Definition

• Facilitated stakeholder workshops to define goals, success criteria, and user needs

• Created a unified requirements document balancing technical, editorial, and design needs

• Developed a realistic roadmap for phased execution and delivery

2. Vendor Selection & Project Governance

• Wrote a detailed RFP outlining functional requirements and constraints

• Evaluated proposals and selected a digital agency with strong UX and WordPress expertise

• Managed vendor communications, timelines, deliverables, and budget

3. Content Strategy, IA, & Taxonomy Design

• Conducted a full content audit across blogs, reports, data tools, and press releases

• Designed a new taxonomy enabling topic-based filtering and improved crosslinking

• Streamlined content types and improved lifecycle management

4. UX & Design Collaboration

• Reviewed wireframes, prototypes, and user flows with the agency

• Ensured accessibility compliance (WCAG) and mobile-first responsiveness

• Provided feedback on layouts, navigation, and page templates to support usability and findability

5. Quality Assurance & Content Migration

• Led end-to-end QA testing, documenting issues and coordinating fixes

• Oversaw content migration into the new WordPress environment

• Trained interns on CMS workflows and created a full set of documentation for ongoing maintenance

6. Governance, Training & Sustainable Operations

• Built governance policies covering editorial workflow, content quality, and publishing standards

• Created training guides and checklists to support long-term consistency

• Established processes for future updates, audits, and redesign phases

Impact

• A modern, user-centered website

• Clean, accessible, responsive design

• Clear pathways for priority content across P-12 and higher ed policy areas

• Improved search & discoverability

• Taxonomy-driven filtering for topics, content types, states, and initiatives

• More intuitive navigation and site structure

• Stronger content operations

• Streamlined workflows and documented SOPs

• Better alignment between editorial, design, and digital teams

• Delivered efficiently and predictably

• Launched on time (August 2024) and within budget

• Met all core goals for usability, visibility, and long-term maintainability

Outcome

The redesign significantly strengthened EdTrust’s digital foundation, enabling users to find resources faster, explore key policy topics more easily, and engage more deeply with the organization’s mission. The project established a scalable platform and sustainable operations model that set the stage for future growth and digital transformation.