Social Entrepreneurship Class Helps Booker T.

Booker T. reached out to Drew’s Social Entrepreneurship class for help with their marketing. “Booker T. told us they’re looking to raise their profile in order to increase enrollment of students in their programs and to incorporate other San Francisco high schools like Drew,” says Romy ’19. The caveat: there is no marketing budget.

The students responded to the request by splitting into groups to work on different proposals. This process included two site visits to ask specific questions of Booker T. leadership.

“The project was a great experience and an example of learning by doing,” says Maria ’19. “In working with Booker T., we were able to take the knowledge learned inside the classroom and relate it to real-world experiences.”

“It was really interesting because was all real-life marketing,” agrees Romy. “It was fun to collaborate with other students. One of my classmates, Tyler, is super smart about this, and his presentation was really interesting. We were all learning from him.”

As a member of Drew’s Girls Varsity Volleyball team, who utilize Drew’s gym in the Booker T. center, this project had special meaning for Romy. “I am at our gym every day, so it’s nice to understand the organization better and deepen the relationship,” says Romy. “And I got to know the kids at Booker T. better through interviewing them. I learned that they want more of their friends at Booker T. so they can share the experience with more people and make it feel like a home.”

The recommendations from the Drew students centered around maximizing Booker T.’s nonprofit status and creating a suite of marketing materials that can be distributed in a variety of ways to specific demographics in the city.

“They really liked the work,” says Romy. “They’re going to begin to reimagine their website and work with Drew’s photography and video classes at Drew to start making videos and images they can use to explain all of their services to the community.”