Our Work > Virtual Site Visits & Case Studies
Strong Libraries Build Strong Communities
Story Objective: Showcase the broad success of Latvia’s Public Library Initiative, in support of advocacy efforts by Latvians and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation staff.
Project Background: Catalytica collaborated with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Global Libraries program to document their public/private partnership with the Latvian government.
In addition to being a tool that Latvians could use to maintain public and political support for public libraries in their country, this video provided Gates Foundation program officers with a means to share the successes of the program with other Foundation staff, and with grantees in other countries who are undertaking similar public library initiatives.
New York City High Schools: A Case Study **
Story Objective: Highlight lessons and successes of a public/private partnership with the City of New York to improve high schools across the city.
Project Background: This case study was originally created for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s 2008 Annual Meeting. Presented in segments, it was used as a means to explore and tie together key organizational tenants that were featured throughout the event. This version has been edited and amended for public viewing.
Listen Up! *
Story Objective: Feature a little-known project within PATH’s Sure Start initiative, which is promoting maternal and child health in rural India.
Project Background: When our team traveled to rural India to document the efforts of the Sure Start initiative, we witnessed many wonderful and innovative approaches to getting life-saving health information and practices to families in remote villages—all of which had been mentioned by program officers back in the United States. What we didn’t expect to see was this completely innovative, grassroots program that is significantly empowering the messengers, as well as the audiences they are trying to reach.
Exploring Sure Start from our unique perspective as storytellers enabled our team to uncover this relatively low-cost part of a much larger initiative, which grantees had not mentioned during program officer visits. Now, captured as a ‘virtual site visit’ this simple, grassroots effort can be shared with other program officers and practitioners to inspire and inform all sorts of health and development outreach efforts.
* Indicates footage was shot while Catalytica team was on staff at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, but story was completed as a Catalytica project.
** Indicates project was fully produced by Catalytica team while on staff at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
