Education Super Highway
Helping Unlock $5 Billion in Federal Broadband Reform
What: In 2011, America’s public school system faced a structural failure: 72% of schools lacked the broadband capacity required for digital learning, leaving 40 million students without access to modern educational tools.
EducationSuperHighway formed to modernize E-rate and upgrade Internet infrastructure in every public school in the United States. Naomi Usher initiated the partnership, authored and secured funding through SAPPI’s Ideas that Matter grant, and led Studio Usher’s strategic and creative direction.
This was not a traditional branding assignment. It was design for institutional change. The work transformed complex telecommunications policy into a clear, human-centered campaign capable of influencing federal decision-makers and mobilizing bipartisan support. Studio Usher reframed broadband access from a technical infrastructure issue into an urgent education equity issue affecting millions of children.
Goal: The campaign needed to persuade federal policymakers, including the FCC and members of Congress, to modernize E-rate and redirect $7.5 billion in federal spending. At the same time, it needed to rally superintendents, coalition partners, and philanthropic leaders behind a bipartisan reform effort. The stakes were clear: make the scale of the connectivity gap impossible to ignore and build the political will to close it.
Notable: Studio Usher designed an oversized broadsheet publication that departed from the traditional Washington white paper format. Using the universal language of school test marks, checks and Xs, the piece visualized the reality that millions of students were being excluded from opportunity.
Over six days of photoshoots across New York and New Jersey, Studio Usher photographed K–12 students with and without adequate digital access. The collateral featured 144 student portraits across two full spreads alongside life-size images that personalized the scale of the issue. Clear data, bold visual structure and concise messaging culminated in a direct call to action for legislators.
A companion microsite and animated film extended the campaign and supported coalition building during federal reform discussions.
Impact: The campaign mobilized philanthropy, corporate leadership, and federal government in coordinated action. Major foundations committed $9 million, and fifty CEOs urged the FCC to modernize E-rate. The FCC approved $5 billion in expanded broadband funding, and President Barack Obama publicly advanced the ConnectED initiative to bring high-speed access to 99% of students.
In 2019, Founder and CEO Evan Marwell announced that 99.2% of America’s public schools had the broadband capacity required to support digital learning. The national classroom connectivity gap closed.
This project demonstrates how strategic nonprofit branding and design for institutional change can influence federal policy and deliver measurable national impact.
Press & Recognition: The campaign earned an AIGA Justified Award for design excellence. National media outlets covered the issue extensively, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Forbes, Politico, Education Week, ABC News, Bloomberg Television, and The Hill.
Partners: SAPPI Ideas that Matter, Trigger Design Inc., Jonathan Nesteruk, Photography
