Founder, Marshall Fire Resource Guide
Olivia McKeen is good at turning tragedy into alacrity.
When her family lost their Louisville home to the Marshall Fire, McKeen—like many others—was in shock, but she quickly pivoted to how she could help others affected by the disaster.
“I was able to get out safely, my parents got out, our pets got out,” she said. “We even got some of our stuff out. And that was certainly not the case for everyone.”
Enter the Marshall Fire Resource Guide, a comprehensive website for those who lost their homes as well as people seeking to support displaced families. It’s the result of a group project McKeen led in her digital marketing course to develop and market a website.
A focus on user experience
The idea came from a Slack channel for fire victims, which had a lot of information, but was poorly organized. “And a lot of older people who lost their homes don’t know how to use Slack or Facebook, but they’re comfortable with a website,” McKeen said.
Those audience considerations helped drive the site’s design aesthetic, which is equal parts professional and accessible. Even its logo and the shade of blue she used were chosen “because it’s a calming color,” she said.
McKeen is no stranger to digital marketing—she started doing internships in the industry in high school, as a way to explore her interest in the discipline—and is currently interning with startup Sol Vae, founded by Bridget Thorpe (OpsMgmt, E’ship’09). That opportunity came about after Thorpe spoke at a networking event at Leeds.
“Right now, it’s just the two of us, which is exciting,” she said. “It’s like getting to be the head of marketing, with a lot of freedom to try new things and see what works.”
She’s also very involved on campus, including membership in Delta Sigma Pi, Women in Business, the Dean’s Student Cabinet and Kappa Alpha Theta.
“I would love to use my degree to do something that helps people.”
Olivia McKeen (Mktg’23)
Developing the website was equal parts group and passion project—and she continues to update it with news and resources—but McKeen is now in talks with Boulder County about a takeover of the site, to further broaden its reach.
The project has helped McKeen think about a career doing digital marketing for a nonprofit.
“I wanted to come out of Leeds with a meaningful degree and a meaningful job,” she said. “I would love to use my degree do something that helps people.”
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