The Commit Partnership

The client

Founded in 2012, The Commit Partnership is a coalition of more than 200 partners committed to solving systemic education challenges in Dallas to ensure an excellent and equitable education for all students. Their True North Goal: By 2040, at least half of all 25- to 34-year-old residents of Dallas County, irrespective of race, will earn a living wage.

Commit works with school systems, higher education institutions, policymakers, businesses, nonprofits, community members, and foundations to address the root causes that limit educational opportunities, removing systemic barriers where they exist to ensure that all students have the chance to succeed.

The partnership

In Commit’s own words, “We are guided by facts and numbers — not ideology or opinion.” That means the nonprofit has mountains of proprietary data, as well as the expertise to digest and dissect it to determine what indicators are the most important and what approaches are the most likely to accelerate student achievement.

To rally people around the cause, Commit has worked with D Custom to showcase data and findings in an easy-to-understand, engaging format. For one project in 2017, we designed a scorecard report and corresponding microsite that displayed Commit’s findings in an approachable way, demonstrating to philanthropists and potential partners exactly what their funds would be targeted to and how valuable they would be.

In 2024, Commit came to us again. This time, in addition to our editorial and design expertise, they wanted help facilitating a critical conversation — and triggering action — around postsecondary education and its direct impact on living wage attainment. Commit had a research-based story to tell and needed a partner with the right audience and the ability to frame and advance critical issues to elicit desired change.

Currently, two out of three Dallas County residents ages 25–35 are unable to earn a living wage — the sobering statistic behind Commit’s True North Goal. Even though local public education still has far to go, there are actionable, evidence-based solutions working in pockets of Dallas that could help more students earn a living wage.

With collective action, these solutions are scalable, and economic impact is massive. Citywide implementation positions Dallas to serve as an incubator for change, influencing better student outcomes across the state and nationwide.

D Custom tasked with designing four magazine-style reports using Commit’s content and data — as an example, one focused on the very hot topic of school choice and accountability — to be packaged and mailed to D Magazine’s audience of influencers and community leaders. In addition, we cohosted events upon release of the reports, so readers could engage directly with Commit’s expert panelists.

The takeaways

As Dallas-area residents who care about public education, the welfare of our children and young adults, and the economy, we were honored to help Commit in this endeavor. It demonstrates our unique ability to not only create evocative stories but also get them in front of the right audience to instigate change.

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