Ayla Starr

The Commons Innovation Fellows signed a five-year contract with the Greater Milwaukee Committee. I was honored to be on the first year team to create the groundwork for their public health project. The end goal is to create a comprehensive model to take to legislature for health care and communities to hold themselves accountable for social determinant factors that influence health. I was able to create a model to show in front of the entire leadership team of MCM. It was a great experience. I would not have been able to have completed such a task without my studies in communication. I was able to look back on my experiences with professional communication to aid me.

With The Commons Innovation Fellows, I helped create potential ad campaign ideas for Briggs & Stratton for the 2019 campaign year. I worked on a team of students to create ideas for Briggs & Stratton to increase their market share in gas and electric lawn mowers. Briggs has the largest share in gas mowers, and now electric are taking over. They make both models, so it was imperative that we did not dicredit the effectiveness of electric while also promoting gas. This was a challenge, but we created an idea that helped reach customers through omnichannel marketing using 3 messages. The slogan for the campaign was "More Than A Mower." The three appeals we used were emotional, technology, and humor. These were found to reach our target audience. My skills as a communicator allowed me to communicate effectively in a professional setting, and work well with my team. My presentation skills helped me present my ideas to the entire leadership team of the company.

For this project, myself and two other students led a training and development workshop for freshman students. This workshop helped students tell their "resume story." We understand that applying for jobs can be difficult, especially during the interview process. We educated the students on the STAR Method: situation, task, action, and result. This allowed students the ability to learn how to effectively communicate their jobs and skills to their prospective employer.

This project was for my listening class. We had to go out in the community and perform an act of kindness. For this project, I chose to help my friend Romke de Haan with his local non-profit, "MKE No Hate." This foundation creates a safe space for those in the community to come together to discuss and advocate for equality and justice in Milwaukee. This project taught me patience, responsibility, and teamwork. I worked closely with Romke to advertise, and then helped coordinate the event at a local brewery.