An income and employment justice case study about disrupting systemic barriers to financial equity.
Money touches everything. Economic justice is about dignity, rights, and systemic change. For over two decades, we’ve worked at the intersection of income equity and human rights, understanding that economic systems shape: gender pay gaps, discriminatory hiring, pregnancy discrimination, immigrant worker exploitation, and more. These issues are fundamentally connected, and those at the intersections of race, gender, and immigration status often feel the impact most acutely.
We’ve lived these issues; we understand them. As a woman-owned firm that employs women, including LGBTQIA+ women and women of color, we practice what we advocate. We maintain a flat organizational structure where power and decision-making is distributed across the firm. Our multi-generational team means some decisions are youth-led while others are informed by deep history and knowledge of movement work.
Income and employment justice starts at home. We constantly balance two commitments. We ensure fair wages for our team, including raises, benefits we’re not required to provide as a small business, and competitive compensation whether someone is a consultant working a few freelance hours or a full-time employee. We also keep out costs accessible for nonprofit clients and mission-driven businesses focused on impact, not profit margins. We understand the tension because we actively work through it, and that lived experience informs how we help others navigate these challenges.
Having managed both corporate initiatives and grassroots campaigns, we bring a unique intersectional lens to economic justice work. We help organizations tell the real story behind the numbers through data and research, create digital campaigns that drive action for worker rights, connect with donors who understand intersectional justice, and shape stronger narratives about economic dignity and power. Whether we’re providing additional income to women freelancers or building comprehensive strategies for organizations fighting systemic inequality, we are proving that the system isn’t broken: it’s built this way. And we’re helping rebuild it differently.
Before We Started
A woman-owned leadership and career advancement company had a mission to help women, including women of color, increase their access to power, money, and advancement opportunities. They offered classes, retreats, and professional development opportunities designed to address the systemic barriers that block professionals of color from economic equity.
The problem was, their digital presence didn’t tell the full story and transformative nature of their work. Their website contained basic service descriptions without articulating the change they created or why their work mattered.
While they produced content, they lacked a systematic approach to reaching their target audience consistently and then evaluating what worked best. They had no newsletter strategy, which meant potential and current clients didn’t have a reliable, consistent touchpoint. Their social media presence was inconsistent and text driven, which led to lower engagement.
Most critically, the gap between the quality of what they offered and the clarity of their communications meant potential clients couldn’t fully understand why they needed to work with them, which limited their abilities to serve more women of color who deserve economic justice and advancement.
What Changed
From Service Descriptions to Impact Messaging
We upgraded their website text, rewriting it to share a clearer story of their impact and purpose. We moved them from mere descriptions of what they offered to explaining why it mattered and what it changed for their clients. The new messaging centered storytelling and a more humanized, personal connection.
From No Newsletter to High Open Rates
We developed and implemented a newsletter strategy that consistently achieves 60-77% open rates. This far exceeds industry standards of 15-25%. As a result, their newsletter continues to be a reliable source for acquiring new clients, sharing timely updates and insights, and demonstrating ongoing thought leadership.
From Sporadic Content to Strategic Engagement
We provided ongoing guidance surrounding what issues, conversations, and moments throughout the weeks, months, and years connected to their work, ensuring their content remained relevant to current economic justice discussions. We coached them away from posting when they felt like it to strategically engaging their audiences with content that they were likely to care most about. This helped re-position them as responsive thought leaders rather than occasional contributors in the space.
From Text-Only to Visual Storytelling
Our graphic design package provided visual content for their classes and retreats, which modernized how they communicated opportunities to their community. This visual dimension made their work more shareable, more engaging, and more accessible. This was particularly important for their target audience of busy professional women who were often juggling home and work life responsibilities.
From Isolated Services to Integrated Strategy
Perhaps most importantly, we built their overall digital content. By providing strategic guidance on platforms, timing, messaging, and visual identity, we helped them develop an integrated approach where their website, newsletter, social media, and other places where they shared and produced content all reinforced the same powerful narrative about women’s rightfully taking up space in their respective professional fields.
The Lasting Impact
We are particularly proud of the 60-77% newsletter open rate because it demonstrates that their audience trusts them as a consistent source of valuable insights. They return to repeatedly consume and engage with the organization’s content. This kind of sustained engagement builds the kinds of relationships necessary for long-term career development, and it creates a community of professionals committed to economic equity.
Most significantly, the narrative transformation from service descriptions to impact messaging helped our woman-owned business client see themselves in their own work and understand the value of strengthening their messaging.
This case study demonstrates that even people who are working in a particular field sometimes need help practicing what they preach.
Ready to make a lasting impact? Get us on your team.