Alisa Smith Email & Phone Number

Chicago, Il, Us

Greencastle, In, Us

Chicago, Il, Us

Advancement Engagement: Alumni Relations, Donor Relations, Stewardship, Events, Annual Giving, and Communications

Chicago, Illinois, Us

One of the delightful challenges of moving to Chicago Booth was the need to focus sharply on the identity of a school dedicated to educating the leaders of tomorrow. When I arrived, Booth had no dedicated Advancement creative team. I put together a team with all of the complementary skills needed to get the job done, and launched into a planning exercise with senior administrators to set clear, multi-year guidelines for the School’s campaign brand. Of paramount importance was ensuring both internal and external marketing campaigns were constructed around the same messaging. With that defined, we turned our attention to invigorating and then sustaining strong relations with Chicago Booth alumni, colleagues, partners, funders, and vendors. Notable achievements:• Managed the creation of print and digital collateral such as the campaign website, social media campaigns, major and principal gift proposals, leadership communications, videos, press releases, and contributions to Chicago Booth Magazine. • Collaborated with Donor Relations and Annual Fund personnel to determine strategies and tactics that would facilitate effective fundraising and stewardship efforts in partnership with our Prospect Research and Analytics teams.• Partnered with senior leadership and fundraising professionals to develop personalized materials to support all stages of the solicitation process.

Chicago, Il, Us

Working at DePaul gave me the opportunity to try my hand at developing a full-cycle institutional identity. This was somewhat different from corporate branding, because the university encompassed many different disciplines and audiences, yet needed a single, cohesive identity that also aligned with its long-range goals. To create that, I piloted all strategic planning involving the University brand and related messaging to ensure focus, integration and consistency with overall institutional identity. This involved routine collaboration with creative teams and interns to ensure all design work and writing conveyed a strong identity while respecting strategic goals. Notable achievements:• Conceptualized and coordinated print and digital communication initiatives, including two alumni magazines, six college newsletters, annual philanthropy reports, Annual Giving campaigns, Alumni and Friends website, campaign website, social media outlets, videos, and event collateral. • Built relationships within the University to enable photo and file sharing, access to all areas of the two campuses for photo shoots, and timely and cost effective internal printing and mailing.• Directed communications initiatives related to DePaul’s annual capital campaign.• Implemented a project management platform to create alignment with our partners.

As someone who has been a lifelong practicing visual artist, I was fortunate to serve as an art director with firms that specialized in corporate branding. In each case, I collaborated with or managed a creative team of writers, designers, new media specialists, public relations staff, marketing consultants and photographers in full-cycle branding campaigns. We used both traditional print and digital media to create intriguingly unique visual identities.

Master Of Arts (M.A.), New Media Studies

Postgraduate Diploma, Innovation And Design Thinking, Distinction

Bachelor Of Fine Arts (Bfa)

Bachelor Of Science (Bs), Visual Arts Education K-12

Associate Of Arts (Aa), Technology Of Lithography