2024-25 was a big year for the Ed Fund. They sold out their first Oakland Grown festival, launched the POWER Fund in response to funding cuts, ran the first cycle of the New Teacher Supply Fund, renewed their partnership with OUSD, and adopted a new strategic plan. It was also their 20th year. The annual report had to tell all of that to donors, corporate partners and the district.

The Ed Fund supplied the copy, and I took it from there. I designed the report and managed the project from kickoff to final files. Before anything went out, it went through two layers of quality control. First was my own pass, where I checked that every image and logo was high enough resolution for print, that the design was accessible, and that everything was aligned and consistent from page to page. Then it went to our team of proofers, who review everything we submit for grammar and spelling, suggest rewrites, and run their own design QC. That matters in a report this dense, with dozens of stats, donor and partner credits, a photographer credit, and a financial statement that was still preliminary pending the audit.

The report leads with students and keeps the numbers close behind, so a donor skimming it sees the impact fast and a partner can find their program’s results right away.