Creating a Sense of Community with the Pledge 1% Program

- Gretchen Roughgarden

As designers, we are tasked with creating and improving a brand’s identity and defining the unique position it has in the world. Our craft gives us a unique lens into culture and community and it fuels our passion and commitment to have a positive impact on the world we live in.

Community service and charitable giving are integral to the cultural backbone at Smith Design. Committed to giving back, President and CEO, Jenna Smith, has been diligent in her continued efforts to instill charity and social responsibility into the culture of Smith Design. “The leadership team decided to join Pledge 1% because we felt the initiative was a great opportunity to further encourage our employees to give back,” said Smith. “We’ve been committed to giving back for quite some time and Pledge 1% provided us with a platform to let our employees support various charities of their choosing and make a difference in people’s lives.”

Smith Design’s team holds firm belief in the importance of education and that everybody, despite differing abilities, should have the opportunity to reach their full potential. Smith continually donates her personal time to job-shadowing and internship programs for young women at local New Jersey Universities. Smith utilizes her and her staff’s knowledge, experience, and resources to provide guidance to young woman as they enter college and prepare for new careers. Upon learning The Nevada Blind Children Foundation (committed to scholastic and vocational education for the blind and visually impaired) was in need of graphic design services, Smith set to work and tasked her team with an important mission- the foundation’s 2018 After School Program Booklet.

The After School Program Booklet is an important material to the Nevada Blind Children’s Foundation as it outlines their large variety of programs offered throughout the year. We are proud to have partnered with the Nevada Blind Children’s Foundation to develop their 2018 After School Program Booklet.

The Foundation’s mission is to provide children “the essential building blocks including extended educational curriculum, extracurricular activities, social opportunities, and transitional skills to children who are visually impaired.” Their Programs are designed to: (1) Increase graduation rates and post-secondary education enrollment and/or vocation. (2) Increase employment rates for blind adults. (3) Increase quality of life for blind or visually impaired children with significant intellectual and/or physical disabilities that prohibit them from graduation and/or vocation.

“Working on Pledge 1% projects like these are nice for a change because you know that even in seemingly the smallest way possible, you are a helping hand in making a difference for someone else. That’s what’s so rewarding.”- Lexi Savino, Designer

“Through our active participation in philanthropic initiatives, our employees feel good about themselves and are proud to be part of something bigger than themselves. Whether we commit resources as individuals or as a team, we are creating a strong sense of community at Smith Design.” said Smith “We believe it is our responsibility to enrich the lives of others and to make the world a better place, in small and large ways.”