Our Team
Our crisis communicators help you:
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prepare for and respond to crises with expertise, insight, creativity, and compassion.
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keep a cool head through stressful moments and long hours.
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know how, when, and what to say to internal, external, and media stakeholders.
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remember who to notify and in what order.
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avoid missing crucial details.
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balance transparency with discretion and confidentiality.
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keep people informed without causing unnecessary anxiety.
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use lanuage and strategies that are inclusive of various abilities, cultures, religions, languages, and identities.
Our team understands the importance of public perception, but we also look critically at your messaging from our lens as human beings – parents, neighbors, friends, voters, speakers of different languages, workers, and volunteers.
We are proud to be women-owned and women-operated.
Formal Education
2023
Jacksonville State University
Master of Science
Emergency Management
The M.S. program in Emergency Management balances the conceptual knowledge in emergency management with skill acquisition in crisis management, hazard assessment, and other analytic and management skills.
2000
University of Wisconsin–Madison
Bachelor of Arts Sociology
Studied the methods of science used to explain social behavior – the interactions of individuals in families, groups, or organizations, and the institutions, social class, and shared beliefs of a common culture.
Continuing Education
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
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Incident Command: Capabilities, Planning and Response Actions for All Hazards at the Center for Domestic Preparedness in Anniston, Alabama
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IS 00100.c: Introduction to the Incident Command System
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IS-02200: Basic Emergency Operations Center Functions
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IS-0200.b: ICS for Single Resources and Initial Action Incidents
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IS-00800.d: National Response Framework
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IS-00700.b: An Introduction to the National Incident Management System
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IS-00042: Social Media and Emergency Management
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IS-00241.b: Decision Making and Problem Solving
Team Rubicon – a veteran-led humanitarian organization that serves global communities before, during, and after disasters and crises
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Recon/Advon: Reconnaissance and Advanced Echelon process for type 4 and 5 field operations.
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Site Survey: Entire damage assessment process, focusing on how different actions affect one another and the outcome of an operation.
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Core Operations 1 - Debris management, muck-out, expedient home repair, covering operational hazards and potential dangers of a TR operation worksite.
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Introduction to Logistics
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Introduction to Operational Planning
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PIO (Public Information Officer) for Field Leaders
Wisconsin School Safety Coordinators Association (WSSCA)
Dedicated to improving security, safety and health in Wisconsin schools
School Safety Coordinator Certificate:
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Module 5: Sound Risk Management Practices: Accident Reporting and Investigation Training, Chemical Hygiene Plan, Record Keeping, Safety Committee
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Module 7: National Incident Management System (NIMS) for School Officials
Professional Experience
Deputy Executive Director of Communications and Public Affairs, Public Information Officer, and Communications Manager for Wisconsin’s second-largest school district.
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Served on the district’s Critical Incident Response Team, Weather Emergency Team, Safety Team, Senior Leadership Team, COVID-19 Core Response Action Team, Refugee and Immigrant Support Team, and the Board of Education’s Safety Committee
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Led the creation of districtwide Standard Response Protocol emergency procedures training and communications plan for 27,000 students, 5,000 staff, and families in collaboration with the district’s Safety Coordinator.
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Rewrote and re-engineered the Emergency Procedures manual present in every classroom in 52 schools for clarity and usability and to incorporate the Standard Response Protocol and Wisconsin Act 143 requirements involving mandatory reporting of school violence threats and child abuse, in collaboration with the district’s Safety Coordinator.
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Led the district's communication to the public pertaining to COVID-19, starting in March 2020, including positive cases, deaths, and public health warnings. Created and managed the district’s COVID case notification and tracking system.
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Directed communications pertaining to the pandemic school closure, food pantries, testing and vaccination opportunities, virtual learning, hybrid learning, reopening schools, classroom closures, social distancing, masking, and other mitigation measures.
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Served as a media spokesperson, giving interviews to print and broadcast stations and providing media prep and coaching to key staff.
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Dramatically shifted the narrative over a period of 9 months around a large high school portrayed as a frightening, unsafe, and unstable environment during a leadership transition and in the wake of community violence, an off-campus sexual assault, student-police conflict, racism, and more.
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Oversaw communications and community engagement campaigns resulting in the successful passage of two referendums, including a $26M operating referendum that passed with a 74.2% margin and a $41 million facilities referendum that passed with a nearly 80% margin.
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Developed a crisis template library – texts, emails, web and social content – in multiple languages, significantly reducing the time between an emergency and communication to families and staff.
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Oversaw emergency and safety communications for all four comprehensive high school attendance areas including 52 schools.
Professional writer, editor, and proofreader with 25 years of experience working with creative agencies, government organizations, publishing companies, print media, radio and TV, businesses, and nonprofits
Crisis collaboration experience with local and state health departments, emergency management, law enforcement, city government, school districts, department of justice
Instructional design work for federal agencies including the Occupational Health and Safety Administration and the Department of Defense
Small business owner consulting with hundreds of clients nationwide since 2007, focusing on brand strategy, copywriting, search engine optimization, and marketing
Coordinator of a U.S. Department of Justice Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grant initiative administered by the Madison Community Policing Foundation for the City of Madison Police Department in Wisconsin
Deployable Civilian Greyshirt with Team Rubicon’s North Branch, serving on volunteer operations
Certifications and Licenses
April 21, 2023–April 21, 2025
American Red Cross
First Aid Certified
Adult FIRST AID/CPR/AED
August 2014–Present
Global Leadership College
TESOL Certified
Teaching English as a Foreign Language