Marketing and Communications leader overseeing branding, brand re-positioning for District of City Colleges of Chicago, including each of the seven individually accredited colleges making up the district. Collaboratively work with CIO to build strategic digital tools to improve prospective and current student experience, along with the ability to better track and measure effectiveness of digital advertising and recruitment efforts.Build and deliver marketing plans, including outlining of metrics, strategy and tactics, with initial year resulting in 5% increase in applications year over year and 4% enrollment.Lead strong team of marketers responsible for digital and graphic design, video production and content development, all with goal of enhancing perception of City Colleges of Chicago and increasing applications to various programs.Oversee social media strategy for district and colleges, resulting in growing audience engagement and social followers.Consult with cross-functional teams as branding and communications expert including content recommendations for internal CRM initiatives, student communications and college initiatives.

- Led development and implementation of multicultural marketing strategy for ConAgra Foods’ Branded Portfolio- Educated and informed cross-functional teams on multicultural consumer segment using a variety of platforms including lunch and learn sessions, inter-company blog posts, email lists, among others- Utilized data, both quantitative (IRI, Nielsen, Yankelovich/Monitor primarily) and qualitative to prioritize brands within portfolio and help establish resource allocations to drive business objectives- Consulted across matrix organization to insure proper implementation of established strategies, including driving education to build competency across all levels, review of all customer/consumer facing materials, deliver insights that drive creative and executional strategies.- Managed all agency relationships, including scope and fee negotiations.

- Executed Multicultural strategy across key brands within Branded Portfolio contributing to 3% growth with these brands and leading 100% increase in multicultural investment- Managed agency day to day relationships- Consulted across Global Marketing Centers of Excellence in execution of Multicultural initiatives, specifically Hispanic focused, including reviewing of all Spanish language materials to insure relevancy and accuracy

- Developed Consumer Promotion strategy for leading brands, including PAM Cooking Spray, Reddi-Wip and Egg Beaters- Executed promotional strategy in partnership with external and internal constituents, including, shopper marketing, sales, customer teams and other Centers of Excellence resulting in incremental merchandising opportunities and driving incremental volume lifts during key promotional periods.- Managed CP agency day to day relationship

- Partnered with McDonald’s client in development of activation strategies in support of key consumer pillars – Education, Music and Sports, resulting in expanded investment and implementation year over year on behalf of owner/operators- Managed, developed and mentored account team of two contributing to corporate pipeline of future leaders- Expanded business billings by 20% in acquisition of new lines of business including development of 1st ethnically led on-package consumer promotion in support of FIFA partnership

- Led account team in delivering McDonald’s client with customizable marketing solutions to be executed across 118 countries around the world- Led the development and execution of the first global marketing online promotion for McDonald’s which exceeded pre-established measures including, country participation, entries, consumer experience, all in time and on budget- Led development and execution of customizable programming elements in support of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, including restaurant design for Olympic Village, in-store signage for all restaurants in China, and photography templates and marketing elements for participating countries

- Supporting Agency account service team with promotional/event strategic planning and executional support- Lead business development for Promotions/Events department resulting in 110% growth in billings over my tenure, with majority of growth occurring in first three years- Built and trained promotions/events team adding to agency capabilities as well as providing opportunity for cross-functional development

- Managed Good Seasons Salad Dressing Mix Brand, including P&L management, marketing planning and execution as well as distribution management in partnership with sales team- Led weekly business analysis and updates for all Salad Dressing portfolio brands- Led Channels strategy for Salad Dressing portfolio, including development and commercialization of customer exclusive products

- Managed execution of all corporate platforms programs, including development of sales materials, in store merchandising elements for such programs such as NCAA Final 4, NFL AFC/NFC Series, The Masters- Founding team member of multicultural team, establishing multicultural approach for Kraft Foods including influencing strategy, sales, recipe development, and partnerships- Led multicultural marketing sales approach by working with regional sales team in selling in dedicated Hispanic marketing programs, developing relevant in-store materials including the first edition of Food & Family in Spanish – Comida y Familia and establishing measurement benchmarks for ethnic stores

- Translated all instructional materials into Spanish and French for products distributed internationally- Assisted Office Manager with administrative tasks including, filing, coordinating meetings, answering in-coming phone calls and attending front desk/reception area

- Participated in NIKE Rotational Intern Program- Supported Central Region Sales Office in varying capacities including merchandising, training, sales, business analysis- Responsible for assisting Baseball/Football Sponsorship team by conducting audits of all sponsored athletes’ equipment and insuring adherence to contractual agreements with regards to equipment- Developed recommended strategy to help further grow branding opportunities across Baseball/Football sponsorship unit

- Conducted all safety inspections and assessments for both potential and new clients- Maintained all safety training materials up to date and led safety training classes for all new temporary staff prior to placement- Supported Risk Management team, including Workman’s Compensation group

- Supported store manager in various functions including scheduling, staffing/hiring, goal setting, inventory management and cashier management- Responsible for execution all merchandising plans and adapting to better suit clientele and store format, while still within corporate guidelines- Responsible for all store management, including opening/closing responsibilities and team management on Manager rest days