Working at Bartlett Interactive

Joining Bartlett Interactive

In the Spring of 2019, I was out of university and planning the next steps in my career. At the time, I only had experience building web applications in the classroom - everything from wire-framing to user-interface development, but only in the context of school projects. I needed experience solving problems in the real world, for real people. My summer internship at Bartlett Interactive was a perfect opportunity to get the creative, hands-on experience I sought post-graduation.

On my first day on the job, I shadowed our eponymous founder as he pitched digital services to the Brookline Education Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving the city's commitment to excellence in public education. The directors wanted to invest in a new digital home to streamline donations, support community participation, and accept grant applications for innovative learning programs.

Over the next few weeks, I worked closely with the directors and volunteers to design and build a new website with a bespoke WordPress theme tuned to their needs and specifications. They were pleased with the final product:

"The resulting website is so easy to use - both for people visiting the site and for us to keep the content up to date. We are so pleased with our new website, and editing it has been a pleasure! We are still getting rave reviews about the great new design from teachers and donors who use the site."

— Brenda Sullivan, Associate Director, Brookline Education Foundation

Building Websites for the Community

Once the principal offered me a full-time position at the agency, I undertook several more projects and additional responsibilities. To keep costs low and reduce overhead, I began self-managing my projects, learning to pitch my capabilities to prospective clients, forge relationships with key stakeholders, create action plans, estimate costs, and launch products on time and under budget. I was a developer first and foremost, but eager to hone my business skills along the way.

Some other clients I worked for include the Charlotte & William Bloomberg Medford Public Library, Lucius Beebe Memorial Library, Brookline Arts Center, Somerville Public Library, Brookline Innovation Fund, Cognoa, Go Healthcare Staffing, and Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnership — organizations that I felt were making a positive impact on public health and education. I'm proud to have made my contributions to get them onto the web.

"I’m thrilled how my website turned out. Working with Graham was a real pleasure. He is an exceptionally good listener and designer. And most importantly to me, he is a wonderful teacher."

— Linda Booth Sweeney, Award-Winning Author & Educator

I can't overstate the importance of my time at Bartlett Interactive. I began with little real-world development experience. In two years, I cultivated a set of technical, business, collaborative, and creative expertise that laid the foundation for the rest of my career.