“We might possess every technological resource... but if our language is inadequate, our vision remains formless, our thinking and feeling are still running in the old cycles, our process may be ‘revolutionary’ but not transformative.”
SERVICES
I believe in the power of people to change what seems impossible.
Since 2008, I have worked with nonprofits and movement organizations to create communications strategies that build brands and bring abundance to the infrastructure for social change.
I’m your thought partner, your co-conspirator. As we think through the challenge or opportunity ahead of you, I help you hone your strategy and find the language to bring your stakeholders along. This could look like:
Supporting your organization’s strategic planning process with framing and messaging that clarifies your ideas and speaks to your most important audiences;
Creating a strategic communications plan that can set your team up to meet your brand-building, engagement, and fundraising goals;
Helping you navigate communications and development challenges by listening, offering an outside perspective, and producing the written content to move your agenda inside and outside your organization;
Making your authentic voice shine through your executive communications by crafting speeches, opinion pieces, and internal messages; and
Writing the materials your organization needs to communicate its vision and impact, including annual reports, strategic plans, websites, and other marketing collateral.
I work on an hourly basis with a rate that reflects the speed of my writing. I operate with a sliding scale so that smaller organizations and emerging leaders can also access my services.
Please contact me to discuss.
BACKGROUND
I am a writer. My career has been a journey to use that skill to bring about positive social change. While studying economics at Macalester College, I realized that my added value was my ability to explain, to persuade, and to bring some level of poetry to the dismal science.
Since graduating with that economics degree, I’ve worked in organizations that are fighting for a more just society. As a grant writer, I used my writing to argue for my organizations’ impact and tell their stories. I earned my master’s degree in public relations and corporate communications to hone that skill, and I began to focus on brand strategy as one tool to build narrative infrastructure.
For more than 15 years, I’ve worked in complex, national organizations to create more effective communications that are rooted in authenticity and resonate with internal and external stakeholders. I’ve built marketing and development teams, led foundation fundraising and grantwriting, and served in senior leadership during times of turmoil and transition.
Employment
Community Change
January 2016 to March 2024
Drove the Community Change rebrand and name change; planned and implemented a cohesive brand strategy to position the 501c3 and 501c4 sibling organizations among target audiences; and led the internal culture change process to embrace a more public identity.
Co-led a team of 11 marketing and fundraising professionals to double the organization’s budget and created a highly collaborative and effective co-leadership model.
Managed the institutional grant strategy and portfolio and wrote winning proposals for multiple seven- and eight-figure grants from significant progressive funders to support programs related to immigrant rights, child care justice, guaranteed income, place-based power building, and capacity building in the community organizing field.
Crafted marketing collateral, digital content, and fundraising materials to support organizational strategy and acted as the lead speechwriter for senior leadership at high-profile events.
Built internal systems that increased collaboration among the external affairs functions of the organization; collaborated with senior leadership and program directors to articulate program strategy and position new bodies of work within the philanthropic landscape; and redesigned the grant writing role to strengthen cross-team collaboration and supervised two senior development strategists holding robust program portfolios.
Global Refuge
formerly Lutheran Immigration & Refugee Service
August 2008 to January 2016
Held primary responsibility for diverse development functions, including grant writing, major donor identification and development, direct mail campaigns, data hygiene, and event planning and
Built an email marketing program and the backend data infrastructure to support advocacy and fundraising communications.
Aligned development strategy with marketing, communications, and advocacy campaigns.
Education
Georgetown University
Public Relations & Corporate Communications
Fall 2012 to Spring 2015
Macalester College
Economics & International Studies
Fall 2004 to Spring 2008
Skills
I’m organized and strategic, an empathetic manager, and a get-it-done person. I learn quickly and confidently.
I’m an alumna of Rockwood Leadership Institute’s Art of Leadership. I carry Rockwood’s theory of transformation into my work and seek to carry out my vision of opportunity, power, and justice for us all.
I’m PMD Pro certified and comfortable with project management practices and tools like Asana, Basecamp, and Airtable. I have an eye for graphic design and a grasp of basic tools like Canva.
WRITING
& STRATEGY
My work is featured in a variety of content tailored to distinct audiences. It is included in a forthcoming anthology on narrative powerbuilding, throughout Community Change’s public-facing content, and in communications plans and research papers.
Forthcoming Anthology
“The Power to Win: Occupy Wall Street, the Fight for $15, and Multidimensional Power,” co-authored with Dorian T. Warren, Co-President of Community Change. This chapter will appear in the forthcoming anthology, Liberation Stories: Building Narrative Power for 21st-Century Social Movements.
Community Change
As Chief Writer for Community Change, I crafted much of the public-facing content that captures the organization’s mission, vision, and impact.
Strategic Communications Plans
Georgetown University's award-winning Public Relations and Corporate Communications program teaches strategic planning and digital communications. While pursuing my master’s degree, I developed plans with clients including the Parkinson’s Action Network, MTV UK, and the National Retail Federation.
Economic Research
My award-winning undergraduate honors thesis presents statistical analysis of oblast level corruption and financial market liberalization in Russia.
CONTACT
