PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Family Futures — Communications Manager, April 2024 – February 2026

• Led the Communications department: managed a three-person team, owned budget planning, and delivered regular reporting to senior leadership and the board of directors.

• Directed the 40th Anniversary campaign end-to-end, from strategy through a public luncheon event, coordinating messaging across reports, video, and community collateral.

• Directed production of an organizational impact video and built the Thrive by Five podcast from concept to launch, establishing a new audience engagement channel from scratch.

• Wrote and directed donor- and funder-facing materials, translating complex program outcomes into content built to earn and sustain donor trust.

• Supported media outreach and served as a point of contact for press, drafting materials, and coordinating interview logistics.

• Directed organization-wide brand consistency across digital, print, video, and event touchpoints, including launch communications for the Nurture Nook initiative.

Grand Rapids Symphony — Digital Marketing Manager, June 2014 – April 2024
(promoted from Marketing Assistant, December 2015)

• Served as sole owner of digital marketing — email, social, paid, and web — within a full-service marketing department, maintaining one integrated brand strategy across every channel.

• Grew social media audience from under 10,000 to 30,000+ followers and built an email program of 20,000–25,000 subscribers sustaining 30%+ open rates, using Prospect2 (Salesforce Marketing Cloud) for segmentation and automation.

• Drove a 24% year-over-year increase in single-ticket revenue and contributed to $600K+ in holiday concert sales through integrated digital and brand strategy.

• Led the 2015 website redesign and served as sole site administrator for a decade, owning WordPress content, structure, and governance.

• Wrote and distributed press releases and served as an on-site media point of contact during high-visibility institutional moments, including a Music Director transition and a Carnegie Hall performance.

• Directed and briefed agency, vendor, and freelance creative partners, and produced short-form video content in Adobe Premiere Pro for a recurring slate of concerts and guest artists.

• Recruited, trained, and supervised 25+ interns over a decade, building a recurring talent pipeline and mentoring emerging communications professionals.

• Built and maintained relationships with corporate sponsors and community partners, producing storytelling and collateral that balanced brand needs with partner visibility commitments.