As an independent, woman-owned, social-impact creative agency, 5IVE is on a mission to partner with leaders, teams and communities to develop innovative solutions, solve complex issues and build better systems for human progress. Areas of specialty include brand development and communication strategy, positioning, design systems, integrated campaigns, philanthropy and thought leadership.

Critical Incident Stress Consultants (CISC) provides evidence-based resiliency strategies and support following toxic stress exposure to help the helpers stay in their chosen field. CISC works with hospitals and healthcare systems, organ procurement organizations, and other first responders in Minnesota and across the country.

I'm sharing my expertise as a consultant to manage marketing and communications for our signature education event, SPARK: A Donate Life Symposium, and the rigorous creation of our Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award application. SPARK is hosted by LifeSource to share information and inspiration about organ, eye and tissue donation with the healthcare community. The Symposium is held every other year in the Twin Cities and attracts hundreds of healthcare and end-of-life professionals from the Upper Midwest. In 2019, more than 750 people attended the day-long event. Our national Baldrige application builds on our top tier recognition from the regional Performance Excellence Network (PEN) for our 2018 application, which I wrote, and subsequent site survey. It's the next step in our ongoing quest for excellence and the embrace of continued opportunities for improvement and innovation.

We save lives and offer hope and healing through excellence in organ, eye and tissue donation in the Upper Midwest, serving the 7.2M people who live in communities across Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. I led the team charged with creating a culture of donation in our communities and increasing the number of registered organ, eye and tissue donors. I oversaw strategy development, program implementation, brand integrity, and internal and external communications to match promises with practice to facilitate the gifts of donation so generously given.

The first eight years of my career at LifeSource laid the groundwork for my position as Communications Manager. I was responsible for coordinating media relations, managing advertising campaigns, providing leadership and guidance in communication strategy, developing and producing print and electronic communication materials, and providing guidance and mentoring to the public affairs team on project management and fulfillment.

AOPO is a member organization for the 58 organ procurement organizations in the United States to help maximize the availability of organs and tissues for transplantation and enhance the quality, effectiveness and integrity of the donation process. I've been involved with the AOPO Public Relations and Public Education Council since 2006, and chaired the Council in 2008-2009. As chairperson, I provided national PR and media expertise and served as a resource for member organizations.

Avalon's mission is to build healthy, safe and inclusive supportive housing communitiesas a long-term solution to homelessness. As a small and mighty non-profit organization, I was responsible for all fund development activities including annual giving, special events, direct mail and local grants and managed all communications activities, including media relations, annual report, website and other collateral.Notable contributions include: - Created first fund development and communication strategy for organization - Exceeded annual fundraising goal by an average of 11% each year - Increased corporate giving 63% in 2002 over previous year - Created and implemented first direct mail campaign, grossing more than $10,000 - Developed organization’s first website