We Tell Stories &
Design Lasting experiences
Love Solutions
We believe in doing work that matters because we have a genuine passion for helping clients see through to game-changing solutions.
Build Together
We believe we’re in this with you. We build on trust and work tightly with internal teams to understand how our team can make your team stronger.
Strategy first
We believe outcomes work if there’s a strategic focus. We will never design or develop something unless we unearth its strategic intent first. We help our clients new approaches.
Relationships Matter
We believe in the long haul. We’re proud of our shared success and we want to be working together for as long as you need us — and cheering you on every step of the way.
MG Leadership
Matt Mansfield
Founder
Matt is the CEO of MG Strategy + Design; he leads projects and works hands-on with both clients and internal teams. Matt has held senior leadership roles for a few decades now. He’s a frequent speaker at design and storytelling events.
Matt has extensive experience leading content, design, multimedia, and product teams at CQ Roll Call, the San Jose Mercury News, and National Geographic. He taught as a professor and program leader at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.
Matt also serves on the leadership team of M. Harris & Co. in Chicago, which MG partners with in building a growing design practice.
As a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society for News Design, Matt was celebrated as a pioneer in information design, a lifelong volunteer, and a mentor to a generation of creative professionals.
From 2008-2013, he was a professor at Northwestern, serving as co-director at the Medill School in D.C. Ask Matt about his Medill students and he’ll proudly tell you what they are up to now. He’s also the co-editor, with NU colleague Ellen Shearer, of “Truth Counts: A Practical Guide for News Consumers” (CQ 2018).
Matt built USEnergyJobs.org, the annual report from NASEO and EFI, as well as two political magazines for Bloomberg. His recent project with the AFL-CIO and EFI resulted in a new brand and website for the Labor Energy Partnership.
Matt has worked with ESPN, NPR, RMI, the National Association of Latino Elected Officials, the American Academic of Pediatrics, the McCormick Foundation, the Pew Charitable Trusts, and many other clients. He and his teams’ work has garnered hundreds of awards, including World’s Best-Designed™ Newspaper, the Pulitzer Prize, Best of the West, and several National Magazine Awards.
Contact Information
Email: matt@mgstrategy.design
Phone: 202.550.2297
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Jonathon Berlin
Creative Director
Jonathon is the creative director for MG Strategy + Design. As the company’s chief strategist, he works with MG team members every day to craft visual storytelling solutions. He’s been doing work like this for more than two decades
Recent work has included art direction, animation, storyboards, graphics, data visualization, and experience design for the American Academy of Pediatrics, Chase, Energy Futures Initiative, Mission Possible Partnership, RMI, and McKinsey.
Jonathon oversees design work for M. Harris & Co. as part of MG’s partnership work in Chicago. He is also a visiting multimedia expert at the Discovery Partners Institute.
As the former director of content for data and graphics at the Chicago Tribune, a masthead-level position, Jonathon’s work has reached millions of people. This year, he was part of the Tribune and BGA team that won the Pulitzer Prize for reporting that exposed the failure of Chicago city officials to keep tenants safe from deadly fires in dangerous residential buildings,
His infographics work has been honored by Malofiej, SND, AIGA and Print. Before coming to Chicago in 2007, he worked at the San Jose Mercury News, the Rocky Mountain News, and The Times of Northwest Indiana. He was a Page One designer during The Rocky’s Pulitzer Prize-winning work covering wildfires in Colorado.
Jonathon has also taught infographics, data visualization, and human-centered web design at Northwestern University and Columbia College. He was president of the Society for News Design (SND) in 2012.
Jonathon and his wife have three kids. They live in Chicago, where he also spends time jogging, cooking, and building things with Legos.
Contact Information
Email: jonathon@mgstrategy.design
Phone: 312.273.7314
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Scott Goldman
Founder
Scott is a partner and the chief financial officer at MG Strategy + Design, which he and Matt Mansfield founded in 2002. He is also the head of content for Service Titan.
Scott has directed content marketing teams at Angie’s List and USA Football, and he led news and design teams as a senior editor at The Washington Post, Indianapolis Star and Charlotte Observer.
He was Chief Marketing Officer for FinTech startup EveryIncome, and directed national news, sports and entertainment coverage at Advance Digital. Scott has spearheaded MG projects for Stanford University, Crain Communications, Aspire, and many others.
Contact Information
Email: scott@mgstrategy.design
Phone: 317.345.5143
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Team: MG Collaborators
MG builds project teams from a trusted network of experts — people with the perfect skills to bring to life each thing that we make. We’re nimble and scalable. We believe in hiring the best folks for each engagement. We make awesome happen together.
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35+
Team members available
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75+
Combined years of experience
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40+
Data visualization projects
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33+
Campaigns created
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99+
Projects launched
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99+
Design awards
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25+
Live events produced
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20+
Years of board service
Multi-skilled experts
We work with nonprofits, associations, foundations and media to turn ideas into actions and inspire change. Our team combines creativity and design skills with deep subject matter expertise to produce transformative work.
Strategy
Branding
Content Development
Data Visualization
Design
Digital Development
Audience
Marketing