Achievement First: Rebuilding Content & SEO for a 40-School Public Charter Network
As Director of Marketing & Digital Strategy at Achievement First, I rebuilt content and SEO into the network's core inbound engine — turning complex, mission-driven storytelling into measurable family recruitment and brand impact across 40 schools in three regions.
The Challenge
Achievement First is a K–12 public charter school network serving 40 schools across three regions, primarily in historically under-resourced communities. Marketing needed to support family recruitment, brand, and authorizer relations simultaneously — across regions with very different local contexts and audiences with very different needs.
When I joined, there was no cohesive content or SEO program in place. Families searching for a school couldn't reliably find us. Enrollment campaigns lacked measurable funnels. And the digital brand didn't yet match the quality of the schools themselves.
My Thinking
The opportunity wasn't to publish more content — it was to build a system that could compound. I identified that the engine needed to:
Make the network findable to families in the moments they're actually searching
Tie every campaign to qualified inquiries and application starts, not impressions
Hold one cohesive brand voice across schools, development, and authorizer relations
So I focused on three priorities: rebuilding content and SEO as the core inbound engine, launching integrated enrollment campaigns with clear funnels, and modernizing the digital brand across all three regions.
The Approach
A. Content & SEO Strategy
Rebuilt keyword architecture, editorial calendar, on-page optimization, and internal linking to make organic search a reliable inquiry channel.
B. Integrated Enrollment Campaigns
Launched 10+ campaigns with coordinated paid, email, and landing-page funnels, measured against qualified inquiries and application starts.
C. Web Migration & Digital Brand
Led a full website and blog migration, improving performance and strengthening the digital brand across all three regions.
D. Cross-Functional Alignment
Partnered across schools, development, and authorizer relations to keep brand narrative consistent across audiences with very different needs and regulatory realities.
The Outcome
20% growth in organic traffic within 12 months
15% lift in family inquiries tied directly to the content engine
150+ qualified inquiries and a 15% YoY increase in application starts from the enrollment campaigns
15% site traffic growth post-migration, with a strengthened digital brand across all three regions
Led a $500K annual marketing budget covering content, web, campaigns, and family recruitment
What I’d Do Next
Deepen first-party data capture across the family recruitment funnel
Build a lifecycle program for families from inquiry through enrollment
Expand SEO into region- and school-specific topic clusters
Work Samples
