Stephanie Weiss Email & Phone Number

Manage AGRiP educational programs and events, with budget of $1.2M, including multiple annual conferences ranging in size from 100 - 850 attendees, forums, webinars, and ad hoc events. Responsible for content management including identification, development of 60 - 80 educational sessions per year. Identify, develop content to meet needs of member organizations, lift up public entity pooling innovations and solutions, expand awareness of pooling best practices, highlight timely and emerging issues, enhance knowledge of top pool executives and staff, governing body members and service providers.Coach speakers including on public entity pooling industry, language that resonates in community, methods to ensure content is valuable to key audiences. Mentor association content developers to ensure sessions meet goals, organizational needs, best practices. Identify, contract, secure high-profile keynote speakers.Event management duties including venue research, selection, contracting and performance; logistics development, implementation, management; code of conduct and registration policies.

Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area

Oversee development of key strategic messages for external and internal audiences at Augsburg College and Luther Seminary. Lead Crisis Communications, Public Relations, Digital Communications strategy for both organizations including proactive media relations at the national and local levels, measurement of program impacts. Manage the development of relationships with key national and local media to generate brand awareness and to collaborate on public policy. Responsible for internal communications strategy and driving alignment with organizational goals.Key team member for name change from Augsburg College to Augsburg University with responsibility for internal and external messaging across Augsburg communications platforms and in face-to-face meetings.

Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area

Strategic and Crisis Communications: Develop multi-year communications and project-management plans for campus partners, including Nobel Peace Prize Forum, institutional advancement and others to achieve mission-based goals while raising awareness of and influence by College on statewide, national, international issues and while being thoughtful about reputation management. Executive Coaching: Provide risk management and media relations counsel to President, President’s Leadership Team, faculty, staff to navigate internal external issues and events, provide coaching for success to ensure each is equipped to effectively communicate with media, faculty, staff and other pertinent audiences. Draft opinion pieces for daily and specialty media on behalf of President. Identify core concepts, leverage proactive and reactive opportunities, develop backgrounders.Public Relations: Agile communicator with ability to quickly build relationships. Serve as point person for crisis communication, issues management, first point of contact for media inquiries. Cultivate relationships based upon foundation of accurate information, personal credibility and responsiveness, facilitate placement of stories, shape key messages. Manage media relations for visiting international leaders including Nobel Peace Prize Winners Mohammad Yunus, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, and former U.S. President Jimmy Carter. Write feature-length articles for alumni magazine.Digital Communications: Responsible for integrated social media strategy and lead role in developing College social media policy. Consult with College community on use, impact of social media. Over time, successfully advocated for consolidating number of tools used for internal communications and using decentralized approach to telling department stories. Named to first cohort of Civic Studies Fellows of Sabo Center for Democracy and Citizenship Named "Outstanding Staff of 2015.”

St. Paul, Mn

Crisis and Issues Management, Public Relations, Media: Member of insurance trust risk-management team. Provide comprehensive strategic public relations and communications consulting for cities challenged by high-profile events involving complex insurance claims or lawsuits. Develop response strategies and counsel management, outside legal representatives, city attorneys, elected and appointed city officials on methods that maximize principles of open government and message consistency, build understanding of issues while reducing tensions among public, media and stakeholders, and that support legal strategy. Maintain, build long-term relationships with media. Serve as spokesperson, when appropriate, for member cities and the League. Draft talking points, news releases for targeted media distribution. Tracked all member conversations in association management system.Social Media: Successfully advocated development, implementation of communications strategy that utilized social media to proactively communicate with audiences; monitor and analyze public perception. Directly responsible for establishing League’s Twitter presence, and in forging successful relationships via Twitter with media, lawmakers. Developed, launched risk management podcast to build awareness of loss control issues and to deliver consistent messages.Training: Develop and deliver online, phone, and in-person training on social media, media relations and crisis communications for mayors, council members, city attorneys, and other top-appointed city staff.Writing: Write feature-length articles, news briefs for organizational publications. Develop, write, edit content for Risk Management area of organizational website, affiliate publications.Public speaking: Develop, driver training on public relations, crisis management, social media, policies. Deliver across state to elected and appointed city officials, state government conferences, and national risk management conferences.

St. Paul, Minnesota

Responsible for all aspects of annual calendar of training and conference events during time of growth and change, including management of $600,000 budget; all contracts for lodging, catering, national, state and local speakers, vendors, attendee registration for 600+-person annual conference; holistic branding, marketing and promotion strategy; management of Annual Conference Committee comprised of city officials from throughout Minnesota.Led first-ever joint legislative conference between League, Association of Minnesota Counties and Minnesota School Boards Association; responsible for programmatic and logistical duties for the Minnesota Mayors Association Annual Conference beginning in 2006; and in developing cooperative training relationship between League of Cities and its Insurance Trust.Developed multi-year project plans to align and manage all aspects of work, including internal and external staff, to work across multiple departments, and to manage “up.”Analyze, interpret data to inform attendance and revenue goals, as well as to inform program and training content on emerging issues.

St. Paul, Minnesota

Built successful relationships with State Capitol Press Corps, daily print outlets and statewide press, based upon foundation of accurate information, personal credibility and responsiveness. Responded annually to more than 335 print, television and radio inquiries on topics ranging from local government aid and the Taxpayer Bill of Rights to gun control, city employee salaries and individual city issues.Strategic content creation, including researching and drafting editorials on behalf of executive director and board president on emerging and current issues.Worked with eight-member Public Relations Committee to develop grassroots advocacy program.Led two successful campaigns of League board members to secure seats on the National League of Cities Board of Directors. Responsibilities included conceptualizing campaign, overseeing creation of campaign literature, speech writing, coaching and on-site campaign management.

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Developed and implemented integrated communications. Initiated and responded to television, print and radio media calls. Worked with media to develop and pitch stories. Created innovative and memorable, low-cost multi-media awareness campaign designed to raise brand visibility. Responsible for all aspects of print projects from concept to mailing. Took quarterly publication from subsidized to revenue generator.

St. Paul, Minnesota

Analyzed, researched, wrote and edited speeches, and monthly publication. Wrote, edited, designed HTML, SQL website and semimonthly publication in alignment with mission, brand. Integral team member of two-state visit by U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary including media relations, scheduling. Key organizer for Minnesota involvement in Rally for Rural America, largest rural rally since 1970s with more than 25 percent of all attendees from Minnesota, and Washington, D.C., legislative trips. Conducted outreach to legislators, media and public on policy issues, economic impact of agriculture. Developed, implemented statewide Grassroots Activity Toolkit. Public speaker on electric utility deregulation on behalf of National Farmers Union.

Eden Prairie, Minnesota

St. Paul, Minnesota

Ba, Journalism And American Indian Studies

Activities and Societies: Dean's List, Member of Women's Crew Team, Tutor - Soaring Eagles Indian Youth Group, Tutor - Dakota Language.

Education record

Activities and Societies: Graduated with honors. Varsity swimming, varsity basketball.

Hotel, Motel, And Restaurant Management

Academic All-American, member of varsity swim team.