International Cooperative Alliance

Interim Communications Director

Right as the COVID19 pandemic was closing global borders in March, 2020, I was in Brussels meeting with the International Cooperative Alliance team to take over as the organization’s interim communications director for six months. None of us expected the changes we’d all have to make in how we communicate, engage and reach our audiences. It was extremely challenging, but I got the job done. I quickly built strong relationships with the team, re-imagined important campaigns, facilitated webinars, crafted key messages for ICA leadership, increased social media following, and managed to do it from my home in Virginia.

International Cooperative Alliance

World Cooperative Congress communications manager

My tested and proven leadership as ICA’s interim communications manager led to my role as communications manager for the World Cooperative Congress that took place on December 2021 in person in Seoul, Korea, as well as online. In addition to serving as the event’s co-MC, I managed a communications team based in the UK and Brussels, worked with a team in Seoul and Canada, and implemented a strategic marketing and communications plan to promote this event to the global cooperative movement. The event was a success, attended by almost 2000 people from around the world.

NRECA International

Producer and director

After almost a year of planning, I led a team of cooperative experts, a videographer/ photographer, translators, and local liaisons to travel with me to Maji, a very remote and rural region in Northwestern Ethiopia. I was responsible for collecting enough still photography and video to produce a multimedia story on the formation of the first electric cooperative in the country. Once we arrived in Maji after two days of travel via car and plane, I had to navigate through constant changes to the best laid plans. After a very challenging few weeks, not only did we achieved all our goals, the video eventually won an award. I will never forget this experience.

 

NRECA International

Communications leader and producer

For almost 10 years, I was responsible for all communications activities for NRECA International. It was a new position, and mine to create and grow. I grew the social media following, redesigned the website, and worked with the team to establish consistent and effective messaging. During that time, I produced a dozen stories of the people impacted by the team’s work, traveled around the world to collect stories, and led multiple initiatives and campaigns. Each year, I also produced, managed and coordinated all aspects of the NRECA International Luncheon, a fundraising event held each year at NRECA’s Annual Meeting. Attended by about 2000 attendees, I produced the script, run-of-show, and worked behind the scenes with all the staff to manage and run the event. In addition, I drafted the talking points and speeches for ALL the speakers. Today, I am proud to continue supporting the team with my consulting communications services.