Client Cheers
I have had the pleasure of working with Akiko over the years on a variety of projects, including designing reports, white papers, and course catalogs for both student and educator audiences. She is an absolute joy to collaborate with—always responsive, highly creative, and exceptionally detail-oriented.
Akiko has a remarkable design eye. She consistently delivers polished, thoughtful designs that exceed expectations, always on time and with a seamless process that makes working with her easy.
Year after year, we continue to work with Akiko because she’s not just talented but also dependable and professional. Her ability to understand and translate our needs into visually stunning and impactful materials is invaluable. I highly recommend working with Akiko!
•••••••• Bonnie Lathram, Director of Communications, Global Online Academy
Minerva Strategies has been privileged to partner with Akiko Baron for nearly a decade. Akiko brings our clients the rare combination of creative design, outstanding client service, and strong project management. She is extremely thoughtful and takes the time to understand our clients’ work, motivations, and what they’re trying to convey to their audiences. We have worked with Akiko on projects large and small—including development of visual brands, long-form annual reports, complex presentations, and simple one-pagers—and she gives each project her full attention and focus.
Finally, Minerva’s clients are all mission-driven organizations in the business of advancing equity, justice, and opportunity in our communities. Their work changes lives and they care deeply about it. Akiko cares just as much and brings her A game to every interaction and deliverable—that feels great for Minerva and great for our clients.
•••••••• Joy Portella, President, Minerva Strategies, LLC
I had the pleasure of working with Akiko on a series of projects for a large family foundation’s agricultural development team. Over the course of a year and a half, she collaborated with us on a comprehensive strategy document and several strategy narratives tailored for both internal and external use. Her expertise extended beyond just text—she created professional, visually appealing PDFs that seamlessly integrated images, graphics, and well-structured content. She also developed multiple visual assets to support the strategy, including a clear and concise theory of action diagram. She was able to transform a dense, complex slide into an accessible, easy-to-understand visual.
From start to finish, Akiko was organized, methodical, and reliable. She communicated consistently and effectively, managed longer timelines with grace, and remained flexible and patient through multiple rounds of changes and edits. Her deep design expertise ensured that every deliverable met the foundation’s design requirements, resulting in professional and cohesive final products.
On top of her technical skills, she was an absolute delight to work with. Her professionalism, creativity, and collaborative spirit made the entire process smooth and enjoyable. I highly recommend Akiko for any design needs—her work speaks for itself!
•••••••• Michelle Quibell, Managing Consultant, Global Health Visions
The Cedarmere Foundation worked with Akiko Baron to help design a 40-page publication sharing the foundation's history, key lessons learned, and highlights of community partners supported through grantmaking over the years. This project was deeply personal for Cedarmere's founders and board, and Akiko handled it with care, professionalism, and creativity. She was incredibly flexible, patiently taking our feedback and incorporating it thoughtfully into the design to reflect our vision for the document. Her openness to collaboration and ability to listen made the process smooth and ensured that every detail was exactly as we hoped.
Akiko worked with us to create a timeline that fit our final deadline for sending the document to print. She kept us on track while also being open to shifting the timeline based on different needs that arose. We especially appreciated how she took the extensive narrative and created a visually engaging document through the design elements that provided cohesiveness, captured our history and lessons learned, and honored the heart and soul of the foundation’s work.
Working with Akiko was an incredible experience, and the foundation's board couldn’t be happier with the result, bringing this concept to honor the foundation's legacy to life!
•••••••• Danielle Baer, Grants Manager, Cedarmere Foundation