Shining the spotlight on student wellbeing: Meet Susanna Neuvonen, Marketing Executive at mdeducational foundation

At mdeducational foundation, we’re dedicated to prioritising student wellbeing by providing fully funded support in schools and educational settings across the UK and Ireland. Our mission is to ensure that all post-16 students feel supported in every aspect of their wellbeing, helping them on their journey to a brighter future.

Behind this mission is a team of talented and committed professionals, who each play an essential role in fostering an environment where post-16 students can thrive, through education and beyond. Our entire team at mdeducational foundation is driven by our mission and vision, bringing a unique set of skills and a shared passion for making a positive impact on student wellbeing. One of our team members is our Marketing Executive, Susanna Neuvonen, who plays a crucial role in amplifying our message and impact.

Below, you can join us in getting to know Susanna and learn more about what happens behind the scenes in non-profit marketing.

Can you tell us about your background in marketing and what inspired you to take on the role of Marketing Executive at mdeducational foundation?

“I’m originally from a small country village in Finland, where I’ve lived most of my life and completed my schooling. During my studies in Finland, I unexpectedly fell head over heels for marketing, and I’ve been on the same path ever since. I simply thrive with pure passion in marketing and love to explore the never-ending possibilities the field has to offer. It’s fascinating to bring something to life from just a small idea. Although I’ve lived in various places abroad, I have now settled in Edinburgh, Scotland.

My background is in working with children and young people together with a variety of marketing roles. Once I ended up in Edinburgh some years back, I merged them both when I began working for a leading British online school. I was responsible for various marketing activities, such as leading the website redesign, and content creation directly collaborating with our school families and managing projects such as the school podcast. My previous role in education and an additional touch from personal experience of seeing the urgent need to support young people with their mental health drew me to this particular role at mdeducational foundation.

Fun Fact about Finland: Finnish people are the biggest coffee drinkers in the world ☕”

What are your key responsibilities as the Marketing Executive?

“As the Marketing Executive at mdeducational foundation, I oversee all aspects of marketing. From strategic planning, brand management, website and social media content creation and management, through to PR, blogging, events and data reporting – you name it, I’m on it. The more the hats, the merrier!

My role involves developing and implementing thorough marketing strategies that align with our charity’s goals. Building a comprehensive identity for our charity has also been a big part of my role to ensure our brand awareness is on a strong base and the perception is strengthened.

I collaborate closely with the schools we work with as well as our Wellbeing Leads, which allows me to generate impactful content that resonates with our audience. It’s always amazing to share what wellbeing workshops and sessions our Wellbeing Leads run for their students at their cosy Wellbeing Hubs! One of my favourite sessions I posted on our social media about was a wellbeing workshop run by our Wellbeing Lead, Andrew at Djanogly City Academy Sixth Form in Nottingham, where the students expressed their inner selves using LEGO figures.

Additionally, I make sure our brand is visible at different events like exhibitions and school launches. I’ve also had wonderful opportunities to attend some of our school launches, be part of school visits here in Scotland and attend events like the NAPD Annual Conference in Galway. I love connecting with our community, especially the young people, and sharing our mission with like-minded individuals and organisations.

I’m passionate about leveraging my experience, skills and knowledge to support our charity’s mission to ensure all post-16 students feel supported in every aspect of their wellbeing, helping them on their journey to a brighter future. Working for mdeducational foundation is incredibly rewarding, as it allows me to focus on making a positive impact on young people’s lives and each step and task is an opportunity to contribute to our charity’s mission.”

How do you approach developing and implementing marketing strategies that align with our charity’s goals?

“Coming from a for-profit background, I can say that working now in the non-profit sector is very different when it comes to marketing. So naturally, I’ve shifted my approach to developing and implementing different strategies in order to support our charity’s journey in the most suitable and sustainable way. Our marketing strategies need to be flexible and adjustable for the short-term but also long-term goals we’re aiming at. This will allow us to make sure that every step is supported and our message is being amplified on the way.

Despite the rapidly changing landscape of marketing, one thing remains constant: the honourable vision and mission we uphold at mdeducational foundation. Soon after I started my role here, I had the chance to meet our charity’s Co-Founders Miriam Dervan (Founder and Executive Chair at mdgroup) and Tarquin Scadding-Hunt (CEO at mdgroup). From that meeting, it quickly became obvious to me that there was a very personal dedication behind the charity. Their inspiring passion for giving back to the local community and supporting post-16 students works as fuel for our team to help change the script for today’s young people.

In our marketing, we want to focus on showcasing how our charity is leading by example. We want to inspire others to also step up to shape the future of young people for the better. Our main focus is to share the everyday work our Wellbeing Leads do to pioneer this and continue to raise awareness of the impact our wellbeing initiative is having.”

Can you share some examples of successful marketing initiatives you’ve led at mdeducational foundation?

“Just like we need data to see the real impact of our wellbeing initiative, the same applies to marketing. A big part of my role is to gather and analyse data to see the results of our marketing efforts. Based on the results shared in my monthly data reports for our social media and website, I plan and make needed adjustments in order to develop our strategy even further.

One of the biggest marketing projects I’ve led so far was establishing the brand for our charity. I worked on creating a coherent and comprehensive brand identity that supports awareness about our charity and strengthens the perception of it. Brand management has included creating brand guidelines, branded assets for the team and Wellbeing Leads to use, and a Key Messaging Deck. All of these support building a strong and unified brand for our charity and allow our team to help share our message with a wider audience.

Following the brand management, I’ve worked on implementing the new brand identity to our website by managing a full redesign. This has helped us establish a good pool of information about us and what we do to then grow our reach. Website management has been another strong focus point in my role as our website works as the centre of our marketing.

After implementing the brand and website, I’ve been able to build on other channels to support the overall marketing efforts. One big supportive aspect has been the consistent and cohesive usage of different social media platforms to widen our reach and share engaging and informative content with our audiences. Especially with our social media content, we highlight the importance of human approach and building a caring community. We don’t want to just say pretty words but actually show the real impact our wellbeing initiative is having on our young people.

So, if you don’t already follow mdeducational foundation, we’d love you to support our charity by following us and joining our community as we support young people on their journey to a brighter future. Find us on:

• Instagram: @mdeducationalfoundation
• Facebook: mdeducational foundation
• X/Twitter: @mdeducational
• LinkedIn: mdeducational foundation
• YouTube: @mdeducationalfoundation

Our audience plays a big part in amplifying our charity’s message as we continue to advocate for post-16 students by raising awareness of their wellbeing needs and the importance of early support. Together we’re putting student wellbeing at the forefront of education and providing support through education and beyond.”

What have been the most rewarding and memorable parts of your role at mdeducational foundation so far?

“First of all, I feel incredibly proud to be part of a team that wholeheartedly believes in providing more than just education to our young people. As a team, we do everything to aim for a world in which every student has access to the wellbeing support they need, without delay. The most rewarding part of my role has been seeing the tangible impact of, not just our marketing efforts, but our charity as a whole.

The most memorable parts of this role are definitely the opportunities where I’ve had the chance to hear from the young people themselves, understand the crucial need for additional wellbeing support and see our charity’s impact. Being part of the school visits across Scotland gave me the opportunity to learn about the schools and the stage of wellbeing of young people. It’s a rewarding part of this role to hear student voices and support their wellbeing needs by amplifying those voices.

Another opportunity to see our charity’s impact has been the school launches I’ve been part of, such as our launch at Djanogly City Academy Sixth Form in England and at Mount St Michael Secondary School in Ireland. At these launches, we celebrated the official opening of the schools’ Wellbeing Hubs and introduced their wonderful Wellbeing Leads. The atmosphere is always full of excitement and energy as we all come together with the common goal of improving the wellbeing of our young people.

We recently published a case study from Mount St Michael Secondary School as we celebrated our first year of impact there. This was another great piece to work on and to hear the school community’s firsthand experiences. It’s wonderful to know that with our support, so many young people have been able to thrive once again. One of the student testimonials that stayed with me as a reminder of why we do what we do: ‘You have allowed me to talk about, open up, and process things in ways that not many have ever bothered to do with me.’”

How do you stay up to date with marketing trends and best practices, and apply them to your work?

“I live and breathe marketing, so it can be hard to switch off that part of my brain, even after I’ve finished work for the day. On the plus side, I constantly keep up with the trends and practices that are happening in the ever-evolving marketing world, driven by pure curiosity. For me, staying organised with my responsibilities and tasks is vital to maintaining a positive and productive atmosphere. Since the marketing field can often be one chaotic mayhem, I use Notion as my project management tool to track everything and bring in the calm. I’m sure my team is well-acquainted with my enthusiasm for this tool, but it’s one I’ve carried with me from role to role, and it really helps keep my many thoughts in one place.

Beyond this, I regularly attend webinars and courses, where the leading marketing experts share their tips and tricks when it comes to marketing. I’m currently working on a SheCodes course to learn coding basics and develop my skills. Especially when it comes to website management, it’s very useful to keep my coding skills to a good standard and apply them wherever possible to improve user-friendliness and apply best practices to our website.

Coming from a small but mighty team, I think it’s valuable to brainstorm with people in the same field and similar situations, so I try to network with like-minded individuals whenever I can. There’s a never-ending pool of things to learn out there waiting for us marketing professionals and sometimes we need to remind each other of the importance of flexibility and adaptability. Feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn to learn more about my work and the exciting initiatives at mdeducational foundation!

I believe in a trial-and-error approach when it comes to marketing. Since the algorithms and best practices of marketing constantly change, it’s simply impossible to say that what worked today would still work tomorrow. Luckily, I see this more as an opportunity rather than a threat, and I actually enjoy the problem-solving part of my role. With plenty of creativity, a can-do attitude (and maybe a little bit of fairy dust), anything is possible, and I find it extremely rewarding to work in the dynamic field of marketing.”

What role does collaboration have in the charity’s marketing efforts?

“In the non-profit sector, working together is key. The main thing is of course working efficiently within our own amazing and talented team. Good communication with other departments also helps us to make sure our messaging and branding are cohesive throughout the organisation. We’re all on the same page and aim to do all we can to shape the future of young people together by pushing for change.

Our extended team includes our incredible Wellbeing Leads, who work directly with young people in schools day in, and day out. They promote positive wellbeing to post-16 students through the delivery of an agile wellbeing curriculum. As part of this, they run various workshops and sessions on topics that are prevalent to students, such as overcoming loneliness, dealing with grief and managing exam stress.

In my role, I collaborate closely with our Wellbeing Leads to generate real content and show how we’re prioritising student wellbeing. Such content includes photos from the Wellbeing Hubs, students participating in wellbeing enrichment activities and student feedback. With the Wellbeing Leads’ support, I can then put the spotlight on their incredible work and show the impact it’s having on young people.

We also work with many organisations that offer further support for young people. From a marketing perspective, collaborating and partnering with like-minded organisations play an essential part in raising awareness on important topics like removing the stigma around mental health, building a supporting school community to improve attendance and learning about the impact of social media. At mdeducational foundation, we collaborate with organisations like Childline, Ulster University and PAPYRUS Prevention of Young Suicide – all of these collaborations are built on shared values and a common goal. We join forces by sharing valuable resources and support with leading charities and organisations to address the wellbeing challenges faced by young people today. Together, we’re supporting each other and amplifying our voices to create a long-lasting impact.

One reason that strongly drew me to my role was my personal experiences of seeing the struggles that young people are facing and how they can at times feel lost and alone with them. After losing a dear friend to suicide, I saw even more clearly the gap in accessible wellbeing support for young people. Early intervention is fundamental and by offering dedicated suicide prevention, we can help young people and their communities to recognise and respond to those who are struggling with thoughts of suicide. I’m extremely proud that our charity is working together with PAPYRUS to prevent young suicide and promote positive mental health among post-16 students. With dedicated resources like suicide prevention training, our collaboration enables us to extend our reach and enhance our combined ability to support young.”

What are some of your favourite creative outlets outside of work, and how do they influence your marketing approach?

“As marketing is such an innovational and imaginative field, I think it’s important to keep your creativity alive outside of work to keep your ideas and approaches fresh. Personally, I do this through many crocheting projects, experimenting with new baking recipes, deep-diving into board games or video games and exploring other fun handcrafts. My most recent obsession has been crocheting soda can hats while watching old sitcoms and playing Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley on Switch (a game based on the Finnish cartoon Moomins). I’m quite the multitasker and there’s definitely a time and place for that in marketing. However, it’s a pity I can’t practice it while crocheting and playing at the same time – just imagine the tangled yarn!

On top of crafting, I also love spending time in the countryside and nature foraging berries and mushrooms. I preferably do this in my home country of Finland, foraging the forest goods until our freezers are full at our small cottage by the lake. I find it very peaceful to wander around and pay attention to the smallest of details, whether it’s a beautiful stream, a trail of mushrooms or a wee baby dear. At times I can be quite a daydreamer and get carried away, but on the other end, it also gives me the energy to hyperfocus at the right time when I need to.

Each of these activities allows me to express myself and think outside the box – which is pretty crucial in marketing. They also help me to recharge and rebalance after being brought back from my fairyland.

Fun Fact about Finland: Finland is called “the land of a thousand lakes”, however, we actually have over 185 000 of them! 🌊”

To wrap up, what is your favourite wellbeing tip you rely on to look after your own mental health?

“At mdeducational foundation, we cherish our Wellbeing Days. They’re valuable opportunities to ensure that while we champion prioritising student wellbeing on our day-to-day, we also remember to recharge our own batteries. During my last Wellbeing Day, I had a fantastic time walking alpacas – check out how my experience was here.

On top of the benefit of having Wellbeing Days at work, I do various activities to keep my own mental health in check. For me, it’s important to do things that keep my mind busy, but away from work duties. On a day-to-day basis, this usually involves cooking dinner while blasting out YouTube videos on a playback speed of x2. Occasionally, I’m also get to by travel to various countries around the world, exploring new cultures and places that I hold close to my heart, which is great for my mental health.

Fun Fact about Finland: Finland is the happiest country in the world for the seventh year in a row 😊”

Thanks Susanna, for sharing all of the amazing things that go on behind the scenes of your role!