Portfolio
Content Architecture and Scalable Digital Growth
Challenge
Public-facing digital content was not meeting audience demands for highly instructional, "bite-sized," and video content. The function lacked a strategic framework to align organizational priorities with measurable growth and engagement.
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Strategy
I pioneered and launched a cross-functional Content Council, creating an Integrated Marketing Campaign (IMC) structure to centralize strategy and establish shared accountability. This action broke down internal silos and formalized the webpage development lifecycle with new process templates to ensure consistent, data-driven content creation.
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Outcome
This established a scalable and efficient digital content engine that drove exponential growth and proved the value of content governance. Results in the first year included 25,000+ webpage views for a key resource and top email performance (e.g., a 56% top click rate), ensuring continuous, audience-centric digital growth.
Flagship Communications Vehicle Overhaul: Strategic Revitalization
Challenge
WIDA News, the organization’s flagship email, underperformed with an inconsistent 15% average open rate. It required a strategic overhaul to meet documented educator demand for more “bite-sized, shareable content.”
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Strategy
I partnered with strategic communications to lead a multi-month, data-driven revitalization of the flagship newsletter, narrowing the primary audience to "educators" and shifting the focus from broad updates to targeted educator value. This involved extensive A/B testing and leveraging direct feedback from educators on critical elements, including template accessibility, subject line strategy, and new high-value, scannable sections.
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Outcome
The strategic overhaul delivered an immediate and significant improvement in engagement, resulting in a 64% increase in the average open rate (moving from 15% to a 24% average). This success established a new, sustainable benchmark for data-informed communications development, prioritizing direct educator feedback.
Digital Portfolio Management: Launch, Assessment, and Strategic Sunset
Challenge
An early-pandemic initiative, the "Educator Exchange" Facebook group, scaled to 14,000 members but evolved into a high-visibility reputational risk. It became a platform for unchecked criticism of WIDA assessments and created a customer service expectation misaligned with our official service channels.
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Strategy
Recognizing the escalating organizational exposure, I led the crisis communication strategy and the charge to assess moderation options within legal constraints. This required direct partnership with the UW-Madison Office of Legal Affairs and key cross-functional stakeholders to analyze protocols and organizational vulnerability.
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Outcome
Based on a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis, I championed the strategic decision to sunset public Facebook groups. This action successfully optimized WIDA’s digital portfolio, mitigating significant future reputational risk and establishing a clearer, more controlled digital brand presence.
Keystone Event Strategy: Strategic Brand Scaling and Operational Resilience
Challenge
The WIDA Annual Conference required the marketing function to navigate three years of high-stakes operational disruption: pivoting to the 2020 free virtual eSummit, the 2021 paid eConference, and the 2022 WIDA Annual Conference hybrid launch. This demanded unprecedented agility to protect trust in the conference brand and ensure revenue goals.
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Strategy
I established an agile, data-driven strategy centered on differentiation and integrity. I led brand development to differentiate and position each event while protecting the core Annual Conference brand. I led the creation of a unique, year-specific conference identity that was infused into all collateral, signage, and digital deliverables. Sell-out omnichannel marketing plans for each format were developed, achieving sold-out status for the in-person components in record time. I’ve now successfully transitioned my role to coach and manager, delegating innovative concepts while retaining final strategic approval.
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Outcome
This continuous oversight and leadership achieved measurable results and established sustainable organizational resilience. I successfully navigated three years of radical change, institutionalizing a repeatable, high-performance process and scaling the event marketing system by empowering a new staff member.
Entrepreneurial Leadership: Crisis Recovery, Rebranding, and Operations Management
Challenge
From 2007–2019, I directed operational and communications strategy for The Cookery Inc. This was compounded by a catastrophic fire in 2008, requiring leadership through total physical loss and comprehensive recovery while preserving the brand's viability.
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Strategy
My strategy immediately pivoted to encompass crisis-era operations, rigorous financial oversight, and a total organizational relaunch. I oversaw the physical rebuilding, the hiring and training of a new staff of 50+, and a strategic rebrand executed concurrently with the new building's launch, focusing on storytelling and the brand's origin.
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Outcome
This comprehensive leadership resulted in consistent financial and organizational stability over a 12-year tenure, despite navigating a major crisis and executing a full business reboot. The successful rebuild and strategic rebrand established a refreshed, sustainable brand identity. The post-fire rehire and retention strategy successfully established a consistent core of year-over-year staff in a highly seasonal area, a testament to my growth-oriented training and staff prioritization philosophy I established.
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