Essie Justice Group
Our Client
Essie Justice Group is a member-led organization of women with incarcerated loved ones working to build collective power and address the harms of mass incarceration. Its signature Healing to Advocacy Program brings women together for a nine-week journey of healing, connection, and leadership development. Graduates can go on to become facilitators, helping create new cohorts in their communities.
Our Approach
Essie came to Made by We with a clear challenge: create a complete branded experience for a new leadership-development program while staying connected to the visual language and values of the larger Essie Justice brand. We began by exploring illustration styles that could work in conjunction with their existing identity. After incorporating feedback from their team, we established a sub-brand guide and used it to produce an approximately 80-page curriculum and toolkit featuring custom illustrations, infographics, worksheets, and color-coded training materials.
Scope
_ Curriculum Design
_ Editorial Design
_ Art Direction
_ Charts & Infographics
_ Photo Editing
_ Print Production
_ Branded Merch
Healing to Advocacy cohorts launched in 2019 (the organization's most ever at the time).
Healing to Advocacy graduates trained as facilitators when Essie launched its Facilitators Training Program in 2018.
Pages of curriculum, worksheets, agendas, forms, and supporting materials designed as a cohesive facilitator toolkit.
Project Summary
Essie Justice Group came to Made by We to create a visual toolkit for its Facilitators Training Program, which equips graduates of its Healing to Advocacy Program to step into leadership roles and facilitate new cohorts.
The challenge was to translate a substantial amount of training content into materials that felt human, approachable, and engaging … not institutional or overly academic. We used custom illustration, expressive typography, visual storytelling, and thoughtful information hierarchy to bring personality and warmth to the curriculum, while making the materials easy to navigate and use.
Made by We designed approximately 80 pages of facilitator materials, including the curriculum, worksheets, agenda, welcome letter, nomination form, and supporting documents. Custom illustrations and a color-coded tab system helped break up dense information, clarify concepts, and create visual moments of connection throughout the toolkit.
We oversaw the physical production of the toolkit binders, tabs, t-shirts, etc. considering how facilitators would use the toolkit during in-person training.
The response from Essie Justice reflected the impact of those details. After the first training, their Director of Membership & Organizing shared, “We are thrilled with the toolkit, thank you so much! The reaction from the Facilitators was so exciting to see!”
The result was a cohesive facilitator toolkit designed to feel less like a manual and more like an invitation to participate, connect, and lead.
