Metropolitan Family Service

Client

Metropolitan Family Service (MFS) is a Portland nonprofit that supports children, families, and older adults through education, financial empowerment, and community wellness programs.

Challenge

The original newsletter was packed with great resources, but the design appeared as a single block of text with inconsistent formatting. Readers found it overwhelming and hard to scan, which limited engagement. Content was also primarily drawn from external sources (e.g. “Learn more about Arab American Heritage Month from History.com”), which missed an opportunity to highlight MFS’s own community.

Solution

I redesigned the email series to strengthen both engagement and mission alignment. Beyond updating the layout, I collaborated with staff to identify client, volunteer, and team voices, conducted interviews, and crafted feature articles. The result was a repeatable, modular design that elevated storytelling and streamlined production.

• Introduced a branded “Heritage Month Series” header for consistency.

• Broke content into three clear sections (feature story, staff spotlight, events).

• Applied a color system to add rhythm and guide the eye.

• Simplified to a single clear CTA to reduce decision fatigue.

Result

A clean, visually consistent series that was easier to read, more engaging for the audience, and more effective in highlighting MFS’s voices — from client stories to staff perspectives.

Further Reading

In addition to design, I also researched, interviewed, and wrote feature articles for this series:

• Heba and Aziz →

• Ranya →