Portfolio
Check out a sample of our social design projects.
Detroit Mountain Recreation Area
Tasked with re-engaging donors, building 'buy in' from the entire region, and preparing the mountain for its next capital campaign, Jenny contracted as Interim Executive Director for ten months at Detroit Mountain Recreation Area in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota. During this time we conducted dozens of interviews with key stakeholders, developed a 5-year strategic plan, established a recurring donor program, secured key corporate partnerships, and laid the groundwork for the capital campaign. On top of that, we had fun!
Reimagine Downtown Casselton
With necessary downtown infrastructure construction scheduled, the city of Casselton, North Dakota saw an opportunity to "reimagine downtown." Discover Outdoors was hired to facilitate and gather public input on what residents would like to see in a new, thriving downtown. Using feedback from the public, we are currently designing a series of prototypes to be tested over the course of 2025 that will gauge interest on activations downtown, such as art installations, pop-up coffee shop, pop-up movie theater, teen recreation center, and outdoor winter activities.
Moorhead Placemaking
For the first time in its history, the city of Moorhead, Minnesota had "Placemaking" in its 10-year master plan. Discover Outdoors was hired to explore how the city could best incorporate placemaking into some of its public spaces. An assessment of current development projects and public spaces was conducted, as well as interviews with residents and key stakeholders, and then several tests were run to gauge public interest, including a lighted river walkway in the winter, as well as a business art walk in a location looking to drive pedestrian traffic.
Student Retention at
North Dakota State University
In an effort to increase first-year student retention rates, the President's Office at NDSU hired Discover Outdoors to research and design ways to encourage students to stay enrolled, especially first year students. Our research found "social embeddedness" to be a key contributor to retention which led to a series of activations geared toward strengthening relationships between students and faculty/staff. After hearing from students that better communications were needed on campus, we created a student-led social media account to disseminate important information to students and drive in-person engagement.
Beyond the Game
Beyond the Game, a program under the nonprofit, Youthworks, reached out to Discover Outdoors because they wanted to expose their middle and high school students to the outdoor industry. The sports program places special emphasis on physical and mental wellness, as well as youth development. Discover Outdoors designs and leads quarterly "Nature Days" for students that brings them to a new location, teaches them about survival skills and the importance of team work, and the powerful impact nature can have on our well being.
