Lead a team of professionals in managing strategic communications, media relations, social media, and content creation for the agency and clients in the education and education technology sectors. Specialize in developing media strategy and communications plans that deliver coverage in top outlets and reach target audiences. Secured 119 media placements between 2021 and 2023, including coverage in The New York Times, USA Today, The New York Post, and on FOX and Friends.

As Communications Director, I oversaw strategic communications, branding, social media, and marketing efforts for NCTR and its partner network. NCTR’s mission is to better prepare teachers for the classroom through residency programs that improve student achievement and lower teacher turnover. Growth in social media following was +50% better than the industry average while I was managing the channels. Reported and wrote a weekly newsletter covering teacher preparation issues that had an open… Show more As Communications Director, I oversaw strategic communications, branding, social media, and marketing efforts for NCTR and its partner network. NCTR’s mission is to better prepare teachers for the classroom through residency programs that improve student achievement and lower teacher turnover. Growth in social media following was +50% better than the industry average while I was managing the channels. Reported and wrote a weekly newsletter covering teacher preparation issues that had an open rate that was more than double the industry average. Show less

Oversaw media relations and communications strategy for this top-ranked liberal arts college.Worked in partnership with Admissions and Development teams to craft messages and marketing materials to drive applications and annual giving. As policy advisor to the college president, I advised on emerging trends in higher education through media analyses and regular conversations with industry insiders.

GMMB is a premier political, issue and cause communications firm. Based in Washington, D.C., with staff in New York, Seattle and California. GMMB helps leading foundations, nonprofits, advocacy associations, governments and socially conscious corporations advance their missions of making this world a better place. As a VP, I helped lead our Seattle office and the firm's K-12 and higher education work with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. This work involved developing and implementing… Show more GMMB is a premier political, issue and cause communications firm. Based in Washington, D.C., with staff in New York, Seattle and California. GMMB helps leading foundations, nonprofits, advocacy associations, governments and socially conscious corporations advance their missions of making this world a better place. As a VP, I helped lead our Seattle office and the firm's K-12 and higher education work with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. This work involved developing and implementing strategic communications and issue advocacy campaigns on behalf of the foundation and its grantees that shifted conversations, built awareness and created lasting change. I advised clients on issue and reputation management, executive thought leadership, and media strategy. My team and I developed and delivered executive-level media and message training, and cultivated new business opportunities. Show less

Over a three-year period, our investigative reporting of the Dallas city school district exposed millions of dollars in fraud, incompetence and graft. Four school employees and vendors went to jail for bribery and/or embezzlement; dozens more were fired and/or disciplined by the district, including top administrators. Created the newspaper’s first “beatblog,” a website dedicated to daily news coverage of the Dallas public schools. The blog was a combination of shoe-leather reporting and new… Show more Over a three-year period, our investigative reporting of the Dallas city school district exposed millions of dollars in fraud, incompetence and graft. Four school employees and vendors went to jail for bribery and/or embezzlement; dozens more were fired and/or disciplined by the district, including top administrators. Created the newspaper’s first “beatblog,” a website dedicated to daily news coverage of the Dallas public schools. The blog was a combination of shoe-leather reporting and new media-experimentation. It was cited as one of the better new media experiments of 2008 -- which was a pretty big deal at the time but now seems rather quaint. Show less

Won national awards in 1998 for an examination of social promotion in Florida schools; in 2001 for chronicling inter-generational dyslexia; and in 2002 for exploring the growing business interests of the state’s charter schools. Stories probing corruption in a local charter school led to two arrests and a racketeering indictment against one school official.

Covered the state’s second-largest school district (Fayette County). Chronicled the warehousing of minority students in substandard alternative schools. Reported on district attempts to desegregate through an expensive system of new magnet schools.

Covered education at one of the nation’s best small daily newspapers. Published several special projects including one on technology in schools and a year-long series about life in the fifth grade. I also covered the 1996 presidential primary campaign of Lamar Alexander.