In 2021, Indianapolis Public Schools, the largest public school district in the state, was faced with both an employer reputation challenge and had a major district-wide restructuring plan on the horizon. The district’s HR team partnered with Maureen to provide strategic communications support to advance the teacher recruitment and retention goals of IPS leading into the planned restructure, while also improving the public perception of IPS as an employer.

The collaboration between Maureen’s team, our research partner, web developer, and IPS HR and Communications resulted in a new initiative – Proving What’s Possible, a name grown out of Superintendent Aleesia Johnson’s deep belief that IPS staff and students prove what’s possible every day in their schools and in their communities.

A new website became the centerpiece of a communications campaign and umbrella of programs that focus on authentic and honest staff storytelling and strategic (recruitment), responsive opportunities to supporting staff throughout their IPS career (retention).

Today, Proving What’s Possible has:

• Grown to become a mantra embodied by staff citywide

• Improved the public narrative about the district as an employer

• Increased the certified staff fill rate in the district’s highest-need schools up to 92% (as of 2024), and

• Supported improved retention rates by teachers of color by 10 percent (as of 2024).

Additionally, Maureen supported IPS’s HR team in preparing for and successfully navigating the district restructuring project, Rebuilding Stronger, in which the district underwent dozens of community meetings to inform IPS’ strategy in reconfiguring and closing some schools, expanding programmatic offerings and a capital campaign to improve current and build new schools.