We’ve had so much fun sharing the work of other Visions departments – now we want to share a little bit more about what we do!
The Marketing & Communications Services Department handles Visions’ internal and external communications. From viedu.org and The Wire to social media, articles, staff celebrations, and mass communications, we help share the stories, successes, and updates that keep our community connected and informed.
“This department was almost brand new when I was hired as a Communications Coordinator in 2016,” said Justina Janas, Marketing & Communications Manager. “What started as a few student spotlights every few months has grown to student spotlights almost every week, daily social media posts, staff celebrations, improved communication channels and waitlists of students wanting to join our community.”
While much of our work overlaps and contributes to our shared goals, our team operates with two main areas of focus: communications and marketing. Our communications work includes things like The Wire, emails, articles, and spotlights. Additionally, our team supports the leadership team with important internal and external communications, such as graduation and the move to our new building.
“There are a few main components to our work – maintaining The Wire, writing articles and important communications, and overseeing Visions’ social media platforms,” shared Ellie Fazzi, Communications Coordinator. “Our team is responsible for so much content, and what I like to remember is that the things we share are more than just a source of information – they’re a way to build trust, foster community, and humanize who we are as an organization.”
Marketing, on the other hand, focuses on strategic efforts to attract and engage prospective families. This includes managing advertising campaigns on Google, social media, local radio, in the DMV, and more. We create ads, develop special landing pages on viedu.org, set targeting based on enrollment goals, and analyze data weekly to measure the success of these campaigns.
“Part of the challenge of managing our communication efforts is understanding how the school works together and feeding information to students, families, and staff at different points in their journey to Visions,” explained Ben Drahmann, Marketing & Communications Analyst. “A prospective student with minimal understanding of charter schools will need a different stream of information than a family who has been with us for four years. To do that, we have to understand our audiences, understand what they need to hear, when to hear it, and how they should hear it so they are well informed.”
Although communications and marketing serve different purposes, they are deeply interconnected, working together to advance both our departmental and organizational goals.
“Communications and marketing go hand in hand,” said Justina. “You won’t have success without one or the other.”
Mass Communi-connections
One of the most dynamic aspects of our work is the collaborative touchpoints we maintain with nearly every department at Visions. From partnering with Enrollment to identify key marketing opportunities, to working with the Events team on messaging and campaigns, to supporting Student Services in launching new programs, our team is here to provide marketing and communications support wherever it’s needed.
“Since joining in a Part-Time/On-Call capacity, I’ve been able to grow alongside Visions by working directly with my team and different departments, eventually joining full-time in June of 2024,” shared Ronaldo Gomez, Communications Coordinator. “Our department offers a lot of opportunities to learn different digital applications, expand your writing portfolio, and build project management skills with stakeholders internally and externally.”
“It is so much fun to collaborate with other departments and help broadcast the special work that is done to support students at Visions each day!” adds Sierra Horton, Communications Coordinator.
A Team of Many Talents
We promise – we do more than just take pictures! Our team is dynamic and multi-talented, with skills in areas like graphic design, video production, strategic communications, public relations, and more. Hover over the tiles below to check out some professional fun facts about our team that show how our past roles and experiences make these skills come to life in our day-to-day work!
