Case Study
Communications to Support a Youth Serving Leader
Pace Center for Girls
The Challenge
Pace Center for Girls has transformed the lives of thousands of girls and young women since its founding in 1985. Beginning as only one center in Jacksonville, Florida, Pace has successfully grown to serve girls in 23 locations in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. With a stronghold on local Florida press, Pace enlisted Fenton to help increase awareness of the organization on a national scale, as well as strengthen the organization’s position as a thought leader in the juvenile justice and education spaces.
Our Approach
Our partnership began with a robust research and discovery phase to understand Pace’s role in the juvenile justice and education spaces both locally and nationally. By conducting stakeholder interviews, audits of existing media, messages, social/digital platforms and peer organizations, Fenton was able to identify persistent trends, such as a lack of consistency in brand materials between the national office and local centers, as well as a lack of clarity on Pace’s distinct advocacy and policy positions. Next, we created a comprehensive communication strategy to streamline communications among various Centers and spotlight Pace’s work among target audiences. This included strategies for national and local earned media, as well as digital recommendations for Pace’s narrative and visual brand materials, website and social media channels.
Impact
Once our communications strategy was discussed in detail with the Pace team, we moved quickly into implementation, prioritizing national media opportunities and brand alignment. Most notably, Fenton assisted Pace in the development of its 2021 Impact Report and positioned Pace’s CEO, Mary Marx, as a critical thought leader, landing coverage in national outlets such as Philanthropy News Digest, Ms. Magazine and a profile in Scripps Media’s The Race, which aired on 61 television stations in 41 markets.
Fenton has also taken on a key role in their digital strategy work, advising on a website refresh, national and local social media channels and contributing to Pace’s Insights Blog.
