The Techno-Humanist Manifesto
Strategic project management and publishing operations support for Roots of Progress and a major MIT Press release.
Impact at a glance:
Managed end-to-end manuscript operations for a major MIT Press publication
Coordinated permissions, chart production, and submission workflows across 50+ visual assets
Built centralized systems across Notion, Google Drive, and Slack to streamline production
Supported collaboration between author, designers, fact-checkers, PR teams, and publishing stakeholders
Partnered alongside globally recognized organizations, including MIT Press and DEY
THE CHALLENGE
As The Techno-Humanist Manifesto moved toward final submission with MIT Press, the project entered a highly complex production phase involving manuscript finalization, permissions management, chart production, stakeholder coordination, and publishing operations.
The book combined extensive historical research, economic analysis, and visual storytelling — resulting in dozens of figures, charts, excerpts, and external source references that required organization, verification, permission outreach, and production oversight.
At the same time, the project involved coordination across multiple contributors and external partners, including the author, researchers, designers, fact-checkers, public relations teams, and publishing stakeholders.
Without centralized systems and operational leadership, the process risked becoming fragmented, difficult to track, and vulnerable to missed deadlines during a critical stage of publication.
THE OPPORTUNITY
I was brought on to provide strategic project management and operational oversight across the manuscript’s final production phase — creating structure, clarity, and accountability across a fast-moving, multi-stakeholder environment.
The first priority was centralization.
I rebuilt and streamlined workflows across Notion, Slack, and Google Drive to create a single source of truth for chart production, permissions tracking, deliverables, approvals, and publishing requirements.
Key areas of focus included:
Managing the final manuscript production timeline leading up to submission
Coordinating permissions outreach and documentation for figures, excerpts, and third-party materials
Overseeing chart production workflows between researchers and designers
Building detailed art logs and submission-ready documentation for MIT Press
Creating scalable systems for tracking status updates, ownership, approvals, and next steps
Supporting collaboration between editorial, research, design, and communications teams
Coordinating with DEY on launch preparation and communications planning
This operational infrastructure allowed the team to move efficiently through a highly detail-oriented publishing process without losing visibility across hundreds of moving pieces.
The work extended beyond traditional project management — acting as a bridge between strategy, execution, communication, and publishing operations.
THE IMPACT
The result was a significantly more organized, streamlined, and submission-ready production process during one of the most operationally demanding phases of the project.
Key outcomes included:
Centralized management of permissions, figures, and production workflows
Successful coordination across multiple contributors and external partners
Clearer visibility into deadlines, blockers, approvals, and deliverables
Reduced operational friction during final manuscript preparation
Improved communication cadence across stakeholders and departments
Submission-ready art logs and documentation aligned with publisher requirements
The systems created for the project helped transform a highly complex publishing workflow into a more manageable, trackable, and scalable operation — allowing the team to focus on execution rather than administrative bottlenecks.
From permissions tracking and chart coordination to stakeholder management and launch preparation, the project required both strategic oversight and meticulous operational execution.
Not every marketing or publishing challenge is solved with more content or more campaigns.
Sometimes the highest-leverage work is creating the systems, structure, and operational clarity that allow ambitious ideas to move forward.
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