CASE STUDY

NEW MEXICO CENTER FOR PUBLIC HEALTH

STRATEGIC ILLUSTRATION

The Challenge

The Center for Health Innovation in Public Health Institute of New Mexico needed to understand and map behavioral health services across the state. They were conducting focus groups, interviews, and community meetings to gather insights for a legislative report. They requested visual support to create a one-page summary of key findings—but what emerged went far beyond the original scope.

Approach

The project began with immersion in the community. Attending a community leadership meeting and a larger community engagement event, initial drawings captured what speakers were sharing about challenges and needs in New Mexico.

But something unexpected happened. Flying home after the community events, one thing kept resonating: how the community described trauma’s impact and exactly when interventions could make a difference. They already knew what was needed and when.

This led to creating what the community was actually describing: a trauma journey map showing intervention points identified by the community themselves. Final delivery included drawings of the community meetings, the overall story used for legislative story telling, and a trauma map of community intervention points.

The Impact

  • Visuals used during legislative advocacy days 
  • The community-identified trauma map resonated most powerfully with legislators
  • Emerged from deep listening rather than the original scope, demonstrating the value of adaptive, collaborative process
  • Provided clarity and narrative coherence for the Executive Director’s advocacy work
  • One-page visual summary made complex research accessible for legislative audiences 

Capabilities & Roles

Capabilities Utilized:  Strategic Illustration, Discovery & Sense-Making, Visual Facilitation & Harvesting

Roles Fulfilled: Strategic Illustrator, Visual Synthesizer, Community Listener, Collaborative Partner

“Working with Jessica was such a pleasure!  Her ability to turn incredibly complicated concepts into art and clear graphics not only blew my mind, but change the way people talk and think about behavioral health in New Mexico. I’m constantly looking for ways to work with her again.”

– Stacey Cox, Executive Director

This drawing was used to tell the story of public health in New Mexico.
The trauma cycle map with key intervention points identified by community members. The different font orientations created an experience that asked the map to be handled and moved around to be understood.
A sketch of the story layout for the legislative visual.
The Executive Director walking through the story visual at the community meeting.