Samantha Zucker Email & Phone Number

I'll be embedding with the Better Future Forward team for a few months to support their work on Partnerships and Servicing.

Grounding research to help you reroute and reroot. Reroot Research provides foundational mixed-methods research focused on providing clarity and direction.We believe that organizations move forward by inviting people in.Reroot Research helps organizations get unstuck using equitable and scrappy research methods to connect to relevant audiences and.

Leading a small team of designers and researchers to help EmbraceRace understand the current needs of the parents and educators they serve, and how to make resources more accessible, aligned, and engaging in their goal to raise color brave kids.

In 2023, I worked with Bloomworks and their clients on two fast-paced projects focused on public good. First was an 8-week project working hand in hand with the Colorado Behavioral Health Agency to develop a plan for their mental health treatment bed tracker. The work included in-depth expert interviews, recruiting and interviewing a wide range of mental.

Level believes using your benefits should be as easy as buying a cup of coffee. In order to get those benefits to employees, they need to clearly understand who makes benefits decisions in 2022 and how that process is changing in a radically shifting landscape. In partnership with Brand, I joined the Level team for a 3-month collaborative research project.

I joined the team at Collective. for a fast-paced project focused on creating self-reflection tools for and with team leaders. Our process included building rapid prototyping, conducting on-site testing and feedback sessions, and synthesizing findings in collaboration with a hybrid team.

Lextech helps employees thrive at work. I worked with the team to provide qualitative research, in-person workshop design and facilitation, user journeys, and strategy for one of their clients.

Vital Village Networks invited me to co-design and facilitate a three-part design lab series for a recent fellowship. The series created space and process for fellows from distinctly different backgrounds and perspectives to come together and develop a shared vision and values across their work. I worked closely and quickly with the VVN team in a highly.

Collective Health has grown rapidly in the past few years. With this success comes the opportunity to better understand the current state of affairs and the extending impacts. Embedded with the UX Research and Product Strategy team, I planned, executed, and synthesized an exploratory research project focused on a core business experience. In a limited time.

ISTE’s Course of Mind team is raising the bar of what educators expect out of EdTech products. But how do you hear from educators in new ways when the dynamic has already been set? Based on their skills and needs, we developed a customized and collaborative approach to bring in my expertise. Meeting weekly and at key inflection points, we worked together.

I support Lisa Baird and the team at Calbright College to re-design and operationalize a college-ready to respond to California’s massive workforce development needs in a post-covid world.

After setting up a sustainable Research Ops system at BFF, we used it first to answer some of their toughest questions - what is happening for students in repayment who aren’t paying? BFF wants their product and repayment to be fair and unburdensome for students, but struggled to reach these students to understand where challenges laid. Our new research.

I worked with the Better Future Forward team to overhaul and redesign their research recruitment process to prioritize and engage students that they previously had trouble finding inroads with - particularly students who had lost contact after graduation. Together we built a custom Research Ops system within their existing business platforms. The system.

I supported the Moneystack team on a rapid 8-week cycle to reimagine and revamp their product vision ahead of pitching. I coached the team and Lise Sasaki on using research and lo-fi prototyping to better understand their users’ needs.The short timeline and exploratory nature led to an interesting challenge. I focused my efforts on conveying the most.

I joined the team at Edquity after helping to transfer and adapt the design work with the Hope Center to fit its new home. We saw an opportunity at Edquity to reimagine the typical approach to user research in a way that fit both the needs of the students we aimed to service and the company itself. Students who Edquity is designed for by definition have.

With the Hope Center, I created a system and strategy to automate emergency aid for college students. Across the country, the process for students to receive emergency aid is convoluted, slow, and involves answering uncomfortable questions. I worked with the Hope Center to conduct qualitative design research on their proposed application. Through those.

I worked with YearUp as a freelance facilitator and general design coach for many of their convenings over the course of a year and a half. One convening that stands out is when I designed and executed a 2-day workshop in Austin, TX, bringing together 5 key organizations in the emerging hybrid college space to find commonality and define a future together..

I joined the IDEO Design for Learning studio as a sub-contracter on a project for the Foundation for California Community Colleges to bring in extra support in higher education, equity-based design, and design research. I specifically facilitated major stakeholder meetings, helped plan and execute on research with the team, collaborated in synthesis and.

Better Future Forward needed support in communicating their offering, Income-Shared Agreements (ISA), an alternative to student loans. Since this is a new field, we needed to find a concise, clear, and compelling way to describe ISAs to students, who were confused by the concept. To create a new communication plan, I interviewed students, who were excited.

Washington D.C. Metro Area

I worked full-time for Tomorrow Partners, with freelancer Lisa Baird, on the Strategic Planning for the Common App.This included- Developing and implementing a research plan across multiple stakeholders including students, colleges access organizations, college administrators, and internal staff. - Discovering and communicating key insights in actionable.

Washington, DC

Cofounded the ECMC Innovation Lab and managed Design and Research day to day.- Design a mobile first solution to the skills gap in technical education- Redesign of CollegeAbacus, price transparency tool for college prices- Design of PellAbacus, price transparency shortcut for low income high school students, from inspiration to creation- Reimagining the.

Greater New York City Area

Worked on Knewton's first direct to consumer product, focused primarily on tools for teachers to create effective, inspirational and consistent content for the system. - Introduced, facilitated and leveraged user testing- Built partnerships with teachers and organizations to leverage design input- Prototyped tools in axure

Greater New York City Area

Focus on the User Experience of the GameChanger product. Major work includes- Leading User Testing (in office, remote and on location) - Long Term Research and Product Recommendations- Day to Day Usability and Experience Design

New York City

Assist the Mother Design team in all design related tasks on both client and internal projects. Tasks include design research, publication layouts, photo retouching and studio assistance.Worked on clients including:- Wired- Google- Fred Perry- Microsoft- Burton

New York City, New York

- Design infographics, publications, and identity directional work along side in house design team. - Research and pitch conference opportunities for additional exposure and potential business development- Manage photo collections and assist in website upkeep.

Greater Pittsburgh Area

theFearbox project is a participative public art piece that allows research into the topic of every day fears, as well as offering a therapeutic experience for participants. It dives into understand our most basic human emotion, fear. Project Highlights- Funded by Carnegie Mellon's SURG Grants- Hosted by 6 locations in the Pittsburgh area- Over 500.

Greater Pittsburgh Area

Assisted professors and students with the Blackboard Course Management tool. This included boutique customer service skills of neutralizing frustrated individuals, quickly and accurately finding solutions to their IT problems, and strong communication skills to walk them through the solution via email or phone. Requests included troubleshooting solutions.

Morocco

After learning about migration and transnational identity in Morocco in an academic setting, I spent a month in country traveling, researching and interviewing migrants of various backgrounds. Using photography and Adobe Photoshop, I then created digital narratives of each migrant. The visually stimulating works offer a glimpse into the individual lives.

Worked on Landing Sites, Promotional Slides, Animations, Banners and Party Favors for various parties.

Graphic design work for the Pittsburgh based non-profit. Work ranged from project logos and proposal design to photography and editing.

Bachelor Of Humanities And The Arts, Communication Design And Linguistics, 3.75

Activities and Societies: Phi Beta Kappa, Carnegie Cares Volunteer OrganizationGraduated with University and College Honors from Carnegie.

Education record

Project Breaker is two week intensive created by Senior TED Fellow Juliette LaMontagne and Stanford's D-School. Focused on Human Centered.

Migration And Transnational Identity

A semester long immersive program in Morocco focused on how migration impacts every aspect of life in the country. Morocco is often.