The Laurent Clerc Center at Washington, DC’s Gallaudet University operates the federally funded National Deaf Education Center to develop and disseminate innovative curricula, instructional techniques, and products to meet the needs of deaf and hard of hearing students from birth through age 21. 

Challenges

In 2020, the Clerc Center committed to launching an online portal to make hundreds of curricular resources available and accessible to families and educators by September 2021. But in mid-2022, the project remained stuck without a clear path forward. A range of visions; communication challenges between technical and content experts; and imprecise project management processes, roles, and responsibilities all contributed to the muddle.

Solutions

Facing an October 2022 launch deadline from the Board, the Clerc Center’s Chief Administrative Officer, Nicole Sutliffe, decided to bring Clarity on board to jump start the effort. With deep experience in PK-12 and higher education, a track record of managing complex technology implementations, and collaborative coaching approach, Clarity was a perfect fit.

Results

✓ Identified roadblocks and built consensus with the CAO and PM

✓ Defined requirements for a minimum viable product

✓ Created a project plan and developed supporting reports to keep the team moving forward 

✓ Delivered one-on-one project management coaching to the project lead

✓ Supported a successful launch within 5 months of being brought onto the project

Clarity’s work as a trusted advisor and partner to the Clerc Center team is ongoing with an additional focus on marketing and strategic planning to add content and functionality to the portal.