DRGLinks.org site build (USAID)

Description

The U.S. Agency for International Development's (USAID) Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance (DRG) requested a site to provide a central technical and evidence base for USAID staff, practitioners, implementing partners, and others. DRGLinks.org joined the Learning, Information, and Knowledge Sharing (LINKS) suite of USAID-affiliate sites.

DRGLinks are exclusively using U.S. Web Design System (USWDS) components. Thus making "future-proof" DRGLinks as a sustainable platform, as USWDS includes built-in updates for each component.

Strategy

Our goal was to create an easily navigable hub to access important training and resources for supporting the growth of democracies across the globe. 

Team leadership

During the site build, I served as the Subject Matter Expert (SME) for Drupal-related questions (especially in terms of content authoring experiences and web component implementation/usage). I also served in a mentorship capacity for junior Content Strategists and Creators on the team, making sure that all content that was published on the site was up to par with both client and industry standards. Specific leadership tasks included:

• Writing step-by-step guidance for content entry

• Training content authors on Drupal content functionality

• Performing lead reviews on content before it went live

• Leading client check-ins, building a roadmap for the client to ensure milestones are met

• Interfacing with the client to provide status updates

My role

• Act as a core client liaison/technical content SME 

• Design and facilitate sessions to garner feedback and simplify the content governance process for overworked clients

• Manage the project/roadmap across development stages

• Manage a team of content authors/editors

Highlights

Many resources on DRGLinks were curated, edited, and published by my team. I led QA efforts and established editorial standards for the team, per current digital content and accessibility best practices.

The image below shows a small part of the materials that DRG provides to help global practitioners engage with in-country and US-based resources to accomplish program goals.

Main photo by Louise Viallesoubranne on Unsplash.
Screenshots below taken December 2024.

First screenshot is the Resources listing page on DRGLinks.org (cropped for size; currently unavailable as a live site, but hyperlinked via the Wayback Machine).