Katie Laird Email & Phone Number

Houston, Texas, United States

As Director of Special Projects, I put my two decades of strategy development, relationship building, tech activation and marketing experience to use in new ways every single day. My role is that of an agile agency innovator, a cross-departmental collaborator, a content developer, a community builder and an empathetic supporter to rally those who do good in a difficult world. If this all sounds fluid and expansive, yup - you've got the right idea. My project priorities and collaborative partners shift on a quarterly basis based on the needs of our organization and in response to real-world events our social impact agency helps our clients respond to. It is gratifying and challenging work. As a seasoned workshop facilitator and speaker, in this role I activate a wide range of smart and change-minded clients from board members to senior leadership teams to communications departments to data scientists to on-the-ground community organizers. These days, I am also leading the experimental stages of a new nonprofit strategy service model that supports nonprofits led by and serving historically marginalized communities and organizations with low operating budgets. We rise together. It is an honor to serve in a role that helps nonprofits, for profits with heart and civic organizations dig deep into their why, connect in meaningful (human) ways to their communities and find the language and actions that can make all the difference.

Houston, Texas Area

I work in the social impact strategy space for a creative and gutsy B Corporation. We put people over profit and work solely with clients who fall into the following categories: nonprofits, civic organizations and for-profits with a strong, demonstrated desire to effect positive change in their communities.In my role as Account Director, I lead strategy and client relationship building by serving as a bridge between visionary clients and smart creative teams. Together we articulate meaningful organizational messaging, develop strong branding (like logos and impactful community-facing pieces), build content strategies and other tactics to help good groups do even better.To me, the very best part of this role is in the community activation campaigns we develop. Taking a kernel of an idea or audacious goal and elevating the work smart clients are already doing to increase their impact and engagement metrics is the reason why I look forward to Monday mornings. I firmly believe in the power of empathetic listening, thoughtful cultural/competitive research and continuous experimentation to help advance some of the most critical social impact projects of our time: voter engagement, racial equity and equitable access to healthcare, data and education resources.

VOICE-OVER RECORDINGFor over a decade, I have partnered with radio programs, Fortune 50 corporations and civic organizations creative campaigns to bring scripts and videos to life through professional voice-over work. They tell me I have an 'NPR voice' and it is a fun way to contribute to organizations and messages that I care about.RECIPE LISTEN PODCASTA pandemic-born passion project - I write and host a food history and recipe podcast called Recipe Listen (www.recipelisten.com) that connects culinary storytelling and ingredient deep dives fueled by extensive open source and Creative Commons research. Nerdy? Yes, totally.THE BUSINESS MAKERS RADIO SHOWI was a regular contributor to The Business Maker's Show, a nationally syndicated business radio program. No interview too stressful, no business event too intense. I still record intros and outros for The Energy Makers Show and other related media projects. THE OVERTIME SHOWFrom 2009 to 2011, I co-hosted an entrepreneur podcast call The Overtime Show - interviewing CEOs and venture capitalists from across the globe. I love storytelling in all of its digital forms, tackling the business and entrepreneurial world - one week, one story and one leader at a time.

Houston, Tx

DIRECTOR OF SOCIAL MARKETING + PUBLIC RELATIONS (May 2015 - Feb 2018)■ Corporate communications leader owning external communications, press relations, national award submissions, crisis communication, industry / thought leadership article publication and product placement projects■ Lead User Generated Content initiatives, including online brand monitoring, product ratings + reviews, Q&A program, customer referral program■ Pilot Social Sales program (led the cross-departmental project) to grow internal employee personal brands online for increased customer referrals■ Helped launch a Social Media customer service program with Social Care Salesforce CRM implementation■ Company culture evangelist, public office tour guide, trainer, writer and documentarianPUBLIC RELATIONS & SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER (January 2012 - April 2015)■ Grew Social Media Marketing and brand ambassador programs - established social KPIs, tested social advertising platforms, developed our social content marketing calendar and cross-departmental content creation■ Acted as technology evangelist launching multiple Wordpress sites and frequently testing new social marketing tools■ Launched revenue-driving, high engagement Pinterest / Houzz.com marketing programs■ Managed multi-million dollar national radio campaign creative and liaised with advertising agency

Houston, Tx

My work as Strategic Advisor covered more ground than a single description box can handle - working one-on-one with the CEO of our firm on client and vendor negotiations, HR support, public relations strategy, public speaking, reading through mountains of marketing, sales, psychology and PR tomes -- one of the most challenging and 'on-call' positions I have ever filled.

Houston, Texas Area

Marketing associate for Houston-based energy, polymer and paper product consulting and benchmarking firm. I helped with trend report creation, pitched project findings to trade publications and cut my teeth on graphic design and website marketing.

Master'S Degree, Political Science And Government

Bachelor'S Degree, Government And Anthropology