Kate Mckenzie Email & Phone Number

Springfield, Illinois Metropolitan Area

Responsible for fundraising efforts for NPR Illinois, the public radio station at the University of Illinois Springfield. Duties include writing direct mail and email solicitations, as well as using social media platforms to raise funds for the station; plan and execute three fund drives annually, including all marketing materials, letters, social media content and on-air messaging, which includes recording audio pitches with a dozen donors per drive; developing positive relationships with donors and listeners through meetings, letters and ongoing stewardship; planning, organizing and hosting stewardship events for audience members; planning the station’s 50th anniversary celebration in 2025.

Springfield, Illinois Area

Responsible for the development and implementation of marketing and communication efforts that enhanced fundraising and donor relations for UIS. Duties included writing solicitations for multiple units on campus; creating and updating marketing materials, including web content and brochures, for the division; planning and executing social media campaigns; serving as media contact for Advancement-related news and functions; maintaining the website for Division of Advancement; writing articles for alumni magazine, newsletters and website about campaigns, alumni and donors; writing speeches for the UIS Chancellor and other participants for Advancement-related events; working with Office of Electronic Media to produce videos and other multimedia pieces for the Division of Advancement; networking with alumni and donors; assisting with the planning and staging for Advancement-related events.

Springfield, Illinois Area

Responsible for the opinion pages for the daily newspaper in the capital city of Illinois. Duties included writing editorials; managing syndicated and local columnists; and managing letters to the editor. Also ran social media accounts for the publication. Spent last five months of tenure as interim editor, where was responsible for all newsroom operations, including all editorial content in news, photo, sports and features departments and management of all staff, including freelancers.

Joliet, Illinois, And Morris, Illinois

Responsible for all editorial content in news, photo, sports and features departments for print and online editions of two publications. Focus on daily content while also implementing long-term projects and goals. Oversaw budget of more than a half-million dollars. Improved relationships and reputation of the publications with readers and community by commitment to providing local, accurate news. Managed website and social media accounts.

Crystal Lake, Illinois

Coordinated investigative and short- and long-term projects for the news and sports sections for the three daily newspapers in Shaw Media’s suburban market. Projects were specific to individual publications; also coordinated group projects with teams of reporters and photographers from the three publications who did shared reporting, then localized articles for each market to make it more relevant to readers.

Dekalb, Illinois

“Acres of Change" is a book that chronicles the history of DeKalb County, Illinois, from 1963 to 2012. The 304-page book served as the sequel to “From Oxen to Jets,” which covered the county’s history from 1853 to 1963. I spent three years working with the Society, serving as editor to provide the technical expertise to organize the book and edit all content, including main bars, sidebars and photo captions. I also helped find potential publishers and worked with the one chosen company on all aspects of the publishing cycle.

Glenview, Illinois

Oversaw the news-gathering operations for the 32 weekly newspapers in the Pioneer Press in suburban Chicago

Dekalb, Illinois

Supervised the news, sports and feature sections of a six-day a week, 9,600-circulation newspaper that covers DeKalb County, Ill., as well as directed the news coverage. We provided news in a variety of platforms to meet the needs of all readers, with a focus on breaking news online and through social media and furthering the story in print. During tenure at newspaper, the Daily Chronicle went from winning a handful of awards annually to the most-decorated small daily newspaper three consecutive years (2010, 2011 and 2012) by the Illinois Press Association

Dekalb, Illinois

Supervised four reporters and two photographers and was responsible for shaping the local section of a six-day a week, 9,600-circulation newspaper that covers DeKalb County, Ill. I assigned, edited and wrote stories, with higher education my main focus for writing. Frequently updated the website and created, and then monitored and grew social media accounts.

Dekalb, Illinois

I supervised four reporters to generate all local news content for a six-day a week, 10,000 circulation newspaper that covers DeKalb County, Ill. I was responsible for assigning and writing stories, editing much of the newsroom-produced content and frequent updating of the newspaper’s Web site. I shepherded the news staff through sale of the newspaper in December 2007, including transition from an afternoon to a morning publication and management changes. I also led coordination of content, as well as wrote stories, following the 2008 campus shootings at Northern Illinois University

La Crosse, Wisconsin

Created a unified higher education beat - covering a public university, private university and technical college - for about two years before being switched to covering City Hall for the last six months of my time at the Tribune. For both beats I was responsible for regular meeting coverage, as well as feature and breaking news stories related to the beat and a bi-weekly column on both beats.I also served for two years on a team that determined and arranged training for newsroom staff.

Noblesville, Indiana

I was a member of the inaugural staff that started a daily newspaper in suburban Indianapolis. I crafted the education beat for an afternoon publication that was going against an established daily and twice-weekly newspaper already serving the area.

Little Rock, Arkansas, United States

Camp Counselor for a residential school for at-risk children in the Little Rock, Ark., school district. Responsible for weekly care of up to a dozen girls in third through fifth grades enrolled in the school. Duties included ensuring attendance at the school and helping with homework; making sure they were taken care of in terms of dress, hygiene and being fed; providing outdoor education and supervising recreational time, including a weekly camping trip; communicating with teachers at the alternative and home schools, as well as parents/guardians.

Springfield, Illinois

The master's degree in Public Affairs Reporting from the University of Illinois at Springfield requires completion of a six-month internship in one of the bureaus in the statehouse press room. I worked for Lee Enterprises, which at the time owned five daily newspapers in downstate Illinois: the Quad-City Times, the (Decatur) Herald & Review, The Southern Illinoisan in Carbondale, the (Mattoon) Journal Gazette and the (Charleston) Times-Courier.I wrote articles on the daily happenings in the statehouse, often localizing stories for each of the five newspapers.

Ma, Public Affairs Reporting

This degree included a six-month internship in a bureau in the Illinois Statehouse Press Room. I covered state politics for five downstate.

Ba, Mass Communication - Journalism

Activities and Societies: I was a reporter, city editor and columnist for the Winonan, the weekly school newspaper. I also served.