Peace Corps

Branding and Communications Materials
Project Overview
From 2015-2017, I worked on a communications strategy and created a series of branded communications materials for Peace Corps in the Kyrgz Republic.  The strategy's overall goal was to help the Kyrgyz people better understand Peace Corps - How volunteers work, contribute, and benefit local Kyrgyz communities.  
My Contributions
I co-wrote the communications strategy and led outreach efforts through social media and mass media campaigns through national radio and TV stations in the Kyrgyz Republic. Below are a few samples of the materials I created: Fact sheets, annual reports, banners, bookmarks, infographics, roll-up posters, social media posts, and videos.
Peace Corps in the Kyrgyz Republic was established in 1993 – a few years after the fall of the Soviet Union. Peace Corps Volunteers have been active in the country for over 20 years.​Fast forward to 2013, Peace Corps in the Kyrgyz Republic was experiencing many political challenges with the Kyrgyz government. Many communities around the country didn’t understand what Peace Corps was or how it worked. Often there would be misconceptions that Peace Corps volunteers were embassy employees, spies, missionaries, or all three.

Politics and staff turnover from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Peace Corps started to weaken the initial relationship that began in 1993. At the same time, the Peace Corps office in Kyrgyzstan did little to no outreach over 20 years to share volunteer success stories or inform the Kyrgyz people about how it works. Over time, these factors contributed to a lack of local understanding of Peace Corps Volunteers.
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​In the summer of 2015, politics and a weak relationship with the Kyrgyz government created a situation where the Peace Corps in Kyrgyzstan was extremely close to being shut down. Because of this situation, I was given an opportunity to step into a staff position to support an effort to reestablish the image and reputation of Peace Corps for the Kyrgyz government and people.
Context and More Background
PR and Communications
2015-2017

Branded Materials and Strategy:

From 2015-2017, I worked on a communications strategy and created a series of branded communications materials.  Below are a few samples of some of the materials created which included: Fact sheets, annual reports, banners, bookmarks, infographics, and roll-up posters.

The strategy's overall goal was to help the Kyrgyz people better understand Peace Corps - How volunteers work, contribute, and benefit local Kyrgyz communities.  We used a mixed-methods approach by creating branded communications materials, developing social media presence, hosting open house tours of the Peace Corps office, and engaging in public outreach activities.

One of the most successful parts of our strategy was the videos I produced for social media.  These videos showed how volunteers help members of the local community or featured a "counterpart." (local co-worker assigned to each Peace Corps Volunteer)You can see a few examples below:

A few of these videos went viral like the one below:
(this is a repost - the original was on facebook)

This undoubtedly was great exposure for Peace Corps, and it also attracted Kyrgyz national TV and Radio stations. Soon I found myself utilizing my Russian language skills to participate in and set up interviews with Peace Corps Volunteers and the national Kyrgyz radio and TV stations. Eventually, I built a close partnership with the national Kyrgyz Radio station. Both Peace Corps and "Dostuk" Radio began collaborating on weekly live radio shows featuring Peace Corps Volunteers speaking Kyrgyz. This worked well for our communications strategy as volunteers could talk about their work directly to listeners around the country in the Kyrgyz language.
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By the end of my contract, I had built a relationship between Peace Corps and the Kyrgyz national government's TV and Radio station. Producers from one of the stations eventually created a TV series about Peace Corps Volunteers. I also had the chance to film and put some of the episodes together before I left Kyrgyzstan. Below is part of an introduction to the TV series. Link below:
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=559097660961902