I am a passionate, creative and engaged Executive. I define a successful career in relation to my organization’s success.  

● Communications professional with 13 years of progressive experience leading internal and external strategic campaigns for an organization of 800 full-time employees and a residential population of 90,000.  

● Media and public relations professional with management responsibility for a team of communicators. Actively serves as the lead Public Information O捕겿魵cer for community-wide team of public information o捕겿魵cers and marketing professionals.  

● Creative professional with the ability to develop and design collateral media in a variety of platforms including digital, print, web and social media.  

● Skilled team leader with the ability to develop relationships to engage stakeholders (internal and external), government relations, the business community and outside agencies.  

 PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE   City of Lawrence, Kansas Communications Manager  2009 – Present 

➢ Serve as part of the organizational Executive Team. Responsible for the general communication e捕forts for the City                                 of Lawrence. Create strategic communications programs and plans which utilize various forms of media                           including traditional print, web content, digital media, social media, press releases and any other appropriate                             communication tool needed to develop a successful campaign. Assist city departments with communications and                           other activities.   

➢ Serve as liaison between the media and municipal government. Develop new media policy, pitch stories and track                                 media placement of stories.  

➢ Research, analyze and present data to management and elected o捕겿魵cials regarding policy decisions, program                           design and evaluation, and contract negotiation.   

➢ Coordinate special events and programs for the municipality and overall community.  ➢ Serve as sta捕f liaison for Convention and Visitors Bureau and actively involved in partnerships with the Chamber                                 

of Commerce, University of Kansas, Kansas Athletics, Downtown Lawrence and other community organizations.  ➢ Responsible for supervising two full-time and one part-time communications sta捕f.  

 Significant Accomplishments: 

➢ Managed the city’s social media strategy including the growth of the city’s social media presence. Developed a                                 professional program for the creation of edited video for the organization.   

➢ Twice managed process to complete a total redesign of the city’s web site ( www.lawrenceks.org ). Initiated new web                                 tools for citizen outreach and utilization of the website including redesign of the e-newsletter system.   

➢ Created and developed a Transient Guest Tax Grant program that provided $150,000 each year to events which                                 demonstrate a measurable economic bene겿魵t to the community, enhance the cultural economy and/or travel and                             tourism economy, and create additional Transient Guest Tax and sales tax to further enhance Lawrence’s character                               and reputation for tourist activities and demonstrate pull of regional visitors.  

➢ Wrote and implemented a revised Communications Plan to guide organizational communication e捕forts. ➢ Published articles in local magazines, industry journals and represented city in trainings and seminars for elected                               

o捕겿魵cials and city sta捕f.  ➢ Twice elected as President of Kansas Association of Public Information O捕겿魵cers (2014, 2016)  

 

eXplore Lawrence   (Destination Management)  Interim Director  Feb.2009-March 2016 

➢ Appointed as the Interim Director of the Lawrence Convention and Visitors Bureau to manage the organization and provide stability through the reorganization process.  

➢ Managed a sta捕f of six employees and their respective activities for sales, sports, marketing/communications, community relations and the Visitor Center.  

➢ Worked with internal and external stakeholders to develop a proposal for reorganization which was later adopted as the new framework for a standalone 501(c)6 organization.  

➢ Oversaw the launch of the award-winning “Unmistakably Lawrence” branding and marketing campaign.  ➢ Managed the completion of the initial “Cradle of Basketball” program to ensure grant funding guidelines were 

met. Managed vendor and client relations to complete the project and produce a successful launch of the program.    City of Leavenworth, Kansas   Assistant to the City Manager/  2003 –2009 

Public Information Officer ➢ Responsible for the general communication e捕forts of the City of Leavenworth. Prepare City Manager and City 

Commission budgets. Serve as contact for citizens and media regarding City programs, projects and events. ➢ Serve as sta捕f liaison for Sister City Committee, Cable Television Advisory Board and Youth Advisory Commission. 

Actively involved with community organizations such as Leavenworth Convention and Visitors Bureau, Leavenworth Main Street and the Chamber of Commerce. 

➢ Responsible for supervisory functions for two contract vendors for the City of Leavenworth, including training of                               vendors and managing projects for timely completion.  

➢ Completed total redesign of the city’s web site from a static site to a content-management website. Trained and                                   assisted sta捕f to utilize the new web-management tool. Initiated new web tools for citizen outreach and utilization                                 of the website including an e-newsletter system, e-payment options and e-registration tools.  

➢ Redesigned the city’s newsletter/parks and recreation brochure from a spot color/black-and-white publication to a                           glossy, four-color brochure.  

  Sprint Telecommunications  Technology Analyst I 2001 – 2003    

➢ Performed duties associated with internal technology help desk. Assisted customers with varying operating                         systems, Microso䊶핫t programs, and internal mainframe and internet-based applications. Trained new employees                       and created a training manual complete with application instructions, processes and procedures. 

 EDUCATION  

University of Missouri at Kansas City  Kansas City, MO  Masters of Public Administration (2006)  Emphasis: Non-Profit Administration Course Highlights: Financial and budgetary management, public management, leadership, research and statistical evaluation, program/policy analysis and development, grant and proposal writing, collaboration and team building, economic development administration, public management theory and implementation.  Kansas State University    Manhattan, KS Bachelor of Science in Journalism & Mass Communications (2000) Sequence: Public Relations   

 SKILLS  Strong public speaking, oral and written communication skills, sta捕f management, time  

management, research and statistical evaluation, budgeting, organizational communications, leadership skills and crisis response management. Exceptionally motivated professional with high attention to detail and organization. National Incident Management System courses completed: ICS 100, ICS 200, ICS 300 and ICS 700.   So䊶핫tware pro겿魵ciencies: Microso䊶핫t O捕겿魵ce Suite, Adobe Creative Suite (InDesign, Acrobat DC, Illustrator, Photoshop), content management systems for web design and content, cloud-based graphics and editing programs for layout and design.  

 Writing samples, portfolio materials and references available upon request.