I lead and support public affairs teams in strategic outreach initiatives. Our efforts have recently more than doubled year-over-year web traffic and have grown social media communities by 1,000 in six months. We have introduced new virtual interpretive programs, including self-guided nature hikes, webinars, and more, to help connect people with the programs and services of the USDA Forest Service.

As an External Affairs Specialist for FEMA Region III, I was responsible for engineering, implementing and analyzing the effectiveness of a region-wide communications plan. My duties included strategic messaging to media and congressional stakeholders throughout Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia – over 30 million people in some of the most heavily populated coastal communities in the US. Using metrics and analytics to identify approaches and target audiences, I was a leader in a team that championed new ways to educate and inform stakeholders. Our approaches included tailored: NFIP Classes; Monthly Message Spotlights; Webinars; Community Roundtables and Listening Sessions. Skills:Cision, Adobe Connect; GovDelivery; Microsoft’s Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher, Outlook and Lync; Associated Press (AP) writing style; Video / Photography (AP cut lines); Media Relations; Congressional Correspondence; Newsletters; Drupal; Diamond Media Library; Vocus and PR Newswire news distribution services; Google Analytics; Twitter; Instagram; Periscope; Managing national-level and VIP special events; video scripting; speech writing; digital photography; expertise in public affairs principles, methods and analytics

I served communities as a FEMA strategic messaging leader after Presidentially declared disasters. I was one of the first three national-level Planning and Products leads hired when the Incident Management CORE program was introduced in 2013. I led teams in projects that helped tell the FEMA story in PSAs, blog posts, fact sheets, news releases, recovery guides, community forums, VIP and Executive Leader events and more. I was recruited to FEMA after volunteering in digital communications for the American Red Cross- telling survivor and volunteer stories for the Web from recovery shelters after Hurricane Katrina.

I was a leader in FEMA creative projects after Hurricane Irene. I promoted Mitigation outreach events at big box stores throughout New England, produced news releases that provided information to the public about how to register for disaster assistance and was a creative lead on multiple projects, including a video highlighting the U.S. Fish and Wildlife's fish passage program, which was essential to recovery in Vermont.

I covered news from disaster recovery centers after Hurricane Katrina. I managed media relations in support of events, emergencies and to promote significant financial contributions.