As a company, we’ve built a repertoire of communications tools and knowledge that we share with clients working to improve lives and livelihoods in the US and in developing countries. We developed our wide range of services by steadily building upon our storytelling and strategy skills, applying them to new contexts and platforms for outreach and learning. Today we provide strategic consulting and training, and we develop creative tools for nonprofit, educational and community-based institutions around the world.
With each opportunity for growth, what has remained constant is our commitment to the end user. Working in developing countries and fragile environments called us to also honor our responsibility to our own communities in the United States, the Midwest and Chicago.
History of Ensemble
Ensemble Media began as a documentary production company using film to raise awareness about economic development, the environment, education and entrepreneurship. We worked with government ministries and local collectives to tell their stories. Through our documentary work, we realized the power of storytelling to engage and also educate. We expanded beyond the documentary medium, producing web series, PSAs, animation and even sound recordings. Clients began asking for supplementary tools like facilitator’s guides, brochures, infographics and even websites that emphasized storytelling and stakeholder engagement.
We began creating communications tools for nonprofit organizations working in public health, in post-conflict zones, girls’ education, and many others. With each new initiative, we assessed its goal, the audience, and designed multimedia solutions rooted in the program’s overarching strategy. We seized opportunities to incorporate and build upon local knowledge and ensure accessibility in low-resource contexts.
Our work with USAID’s T4 India (Technology Tools for Teaching and Learning) initiative is a standout example. We created a suite of outreach tools for government counterparts to use, learning tools to support classroom teaching, and a project website that captured best practices and impact across 13 governorates. Through focus group research in urban, rural and peri-urban environments, we developed the storyline for Raahein, a 10-episode life skills series for teenage youth. We worked collaboratively with local video producers and editors to see it to completion.
Organizational Strengthening
After years of experience designing and creating strategic solutions for others, we realized our potential to build organizational strength and capacity within the organizations themselves through consultation and training. Beyond deliverables like style guides and explainer videos, we help organizations develop effective communications strategies, plans and knowledge management systems that empower projects and people to communicate effectively in a wide range of environments.
How our Partnerships Start
We usually begin relationships with our clients when they don’t have the in-house capacity to make their communications vision come to life. We’re more than an extra set of hands; clients trust us as a strategic partner to make communications efforts go further.
Team Qualities and Values
Everyone on the Ensemble Media team is selected not only for their creative problem solving abilities, but also for their commitment to making positive change. We’ve learned that geography and industry are secondary to the skills our team members bring to the table to form a specialized team for each project. We feature a strong network of vetted communications and production people around the world, from London to Tunisia to Pakistan, across the US and locally as well. Our team members bring decades of international development and nonprofit experience, as well as the most innovative creative tools and technology currently used in advertising, media and public relations.
