CO·NECTA
The guide for creative and social entrepreneurs
Nesta
July 2020 - February 2021
Partner • Inter-American Development Bank.
Location • Latin America and the Caribbean.
About
CO·NECTA is a self-led learning guide for creative enterprise teams. The guide aims to support teams to align ideas, develop new ways of working, expand and foster relationships, establish strategies, and work together towards a sustainable future.
CO·NECTA is made up of three modules:
Building your creative team: this module helps teams to reconnect with each other, get reacquainted as individuals, create a healthy team culture and design better working habits.
Building your relationships: this module guides teams to speak with their audiences, understand how their customers experience their enterprise, and meet the actors in their ecosystem.
Building your sustainable enterprise: this module helps teams get beneath the surface of their enterprise and into its inner workings. It supports teams to design internal processes to get their product or service to market, mitigate risks and prepare for the future.
What I did
I conceptualised the project and developed the proposal to create a partnership agreement with the Inter-American Development Bank. Additionally, I managed partner and key stakeholder relationships to have an aligned vision of the project.
I led and managed the development, testing, and delivery of the entire project. Together with that, as the project lead, I formed and guided a multidisciplinary team to undertake the project.
I conducted user research with creative teams and regional experts within the creative and entrepreneur industries. I analysed and codified research insights and turned them into tangible outcomes such as various design tools and learning activities for teams to experience. I tested these with users and iterated them based on feedback received through interviews, surveys, and observations.
Finally, I designed and co-wrote CO·NECTA with the Learning Content Manager.
More on my skills…
How I’ve maximised and adapted my communication skills to engage with the right audiences
To effectively engage stakeholders and manage expectations, I adapted my communication skills throughout the project. I built strong relationships with programme and in-country partners, aligning on project outcomes and expectations. During the proposal and scope development, I challenged assumptions about the needs of entrepreneurs in Latin America, advocating for a people-centred design process.
Using visual thinking and design artefacts, I simplified complex challenges into accessible language, ensuring clear communication with both entrepreneurs and partners. I tailored my communication style to the audience, holding formal meetings with programme partners and informal conversations with entrepreneurs. This approach fostered closer relationships, a deeper understanding of their environments, and effective advocacy for their interests. Additionally, my fluency in Spanish enabled culturally and linguistically relevant communication, further enhancing collaboration.