Through The Noise

Pandit Wright gives us some insights on how she steers her organization to make a difference with afterschool programs for the DMV area kids. We talked about the transition from board member to executive staff, the challenges of funding programs, and measuring community impact. After almost 30 years in corporate HR and senior leadership positions around the world, in 2009 Wright became President & CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington. After having served 10 years on the organization's Board of Directors, Wright was in a unique position to embrace the challenges brought on by a tough economy, organizational mergers and rising demands in the needs of Club members – kids and teens who need us most.  BGCGW is dedicated to providing the 1200 kids and teens it serves daily with the experiences and skills necessary to help them become productive, healthy citizens contributing to their communities and country.

David Schmidt shares his story about working for Oscar Mayer to joining the Bush Administration and his appointment to the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service. Now as the head of International Food Information Council, Schmidt shares with us IFIC's communication successes and strategies for explaining food science to the public. Schmidt serves as President & CEO of the International Food Information Council (IFIC) and International Food Information Council Foundation. Previously, he held the positions of executive vice president, vice president and director and has been a frequent speaker on a wide range of food safety and nutrition issues. The International Food Information Council and its Foundation is dedicated to the mission of effectively communicating science-based information on health, nutrition and food safety for the public good.

Sacha Cohen guides us into the world of communications for small to mid-sized businesses. Her process begins by defining her clients' key communication challenges and goals for the year, and then looking to meet their goals through a multi-pronged approach. Yes, it includes social media. Cohen is the founder and President of Grassfed Media, she began her career as a business and lifestyle writer, and transitioned to the online world during the first dotcom boom. She was an early adopter of social media and continues to stay at the forefront of technology, innovation, and communication. Grassfed Media is a boutique communications firm that works with socially responsible companies on PR, marketing, and social media strategy.

Jake Lloyd talks about his work with DC SCORES. He shares his tips on how he keeps in touch with their top followers and guide them into supporting their regional and national work. As Communications Manager, Jake is responsible for all of DC SCORES’ marketing efforts, including managing eight social media networks, building relationships with traditional media, and leading online fundraising campaigns. Additionally, Jake — also a freelance sportswriter for the Associated Press — organizes the DC SCORES Cup, the Washington, DC, area’s largest charity soccer tournament. DC SCORES builds teams through after-school programs for 1,500 low-income DC youth at 47 schools by instilling self-expression through poetry, physical fitness through soccer, and sense of community through service-learning.  

Steven O'Connor brought us into the world of international development, from helping Vietnam establish regional trading standards to dealing with the unimaginably tragic crises of loosing a colleague in the field. Based in Bethesda, MD, O'Connor oversees internal and external communications for an organization active in more than 100 countries, including in some of the world's most challenging operating environments. DAI is a global development company dedicated to shaping a more livable world. At the end of 2013, DAI joined forces with HTSPE Ltd., an international development consultancy based just outside London.

Jenn Taylor Howell gives us insights into what it is like to work for one of the largest and oldest societies in the U.S., the American Chemical Society. Marketing internally between the many departments and divisions is uniquely challenging and important work for this 161,000 member society. Taylor Howell is a marketing professional at the American Chemical Society. In her current role as Program Manager of ACS on Campus, she works to promote the Society's programs, products and services to the next generation of chemical science professionals through on campus events catered to students. The American Chemical Society is a congressionally chartered independent membership organization which represents professionals at all degree levels and in all fields of the chemical sciences.

Tim Neill spends a lot of time traveling between Mexico City and Washington DC. He filled us in on what it's like to work for an international digital agency that does tactical support for companies in Mexico and in the U.S. Here's a hint: it always starts with finding out who's the buyer. Neill is an entrepreneur and executive with over fifteen years of business operations and management experience responsible for developing and executing strategic plans that drive growth and improve overall market positioning. Ingenia Group is a global digital marketing and technology agency.

Abigail Goliber gives us the scoop on the importance of developing partnerships for your organization. She also shares with us why having professional IT support can positively impact an organization's mission. Yes, we get a little techy with talk about CRMs, infrastructure, servers and data migrations. Goliber is the manager of outreach and business development at 501cTech. She is a nonprofit professional with extensive fundraising, financial, and operational experience. 501cTECH delivers sustainable technology solutions for nonprofits serving the common good.

Melissa Ovard gives insights into contracting with federal agencies and the importance of paying attention to detail when responding to Uncle Sam's RFPs. Melissa Ovard is the founder and President of Snowbird Services. She consults with small businesses on marketing communications, federal contracting, and proposal development services. Snowbird Services is a federal contractor in the environment and international development spheres as well as offers consulting services and is based in Washington DC.

Christie Gunden shares how she manages her marketing efforts with Hubspot and Ektron. From increasing traffic, to increasing conversions, these sophisticated tools makes it easy to track who is engaging your organization. Christie Gunden is the marketing manager at Syscom Services. Founded in 1986, Syscom Services has pioneered the way organizations effectively communicate with the people they rely on most.  

Melanie Spring gave us the low down on what branding is and the importance of starting with defining your core values. She also told us about her "Live Your Brand" U.S. tour. Melanie Spring is the founder and chief inspiration officer at Sisarina. She teaches senior level management and marketing professionals how to rock their content. Sisarina is a branding company based in Bethesda, Maryland.

Dennis and Julie share insights on what it's like to work in a creative agency managing projects for nonprofits - from print advertising, to websites - as part of integrated campaigns. Managing projects is sometimes about finding the balance between what a client wants and what creatives know will work. Dennis Goris is the CEO, creative director and the driving force behind strategy development for campaigns at Bremmer & Goris. Julie Smith is the director of operations working with designers, account managers, project directors, and clients. Bremmer & Goris Communications is a leading design and branding company based in Alexandria, Virginia.  

Banafsheh Ghassemi teaches about how the American Red Cross delivers unique customer experiences based on the signals we leave behind as we interact online. She is the VP of Marketing, CRM, Customer Experience & Marketing Excellence at the American Red Cross. She established the first customer experience organization at the Red Cross and lead the design and implementation of enterprise-wide CE and eCRM strategies. The American Red Cross is largest non-governmental humanitarian and disaster relief organization in the United States.

Chistopher Doscher shares some of the policy topics he covers for the restaurant industry, from healthcare and immigration issues, to patent assertion agencies and renewable fuel standards. Chris Doscher is a senior writer and editor in policy communications for the National Restaurant Association. He writes on federal and state legislative and regulatory issues that impact how the nation's nearly one million restaurants operate. The National Restaurant Association is the largest foodservice trade association in the world.

Cate Urban brings us into what it's like to work within a large, global organization, from fundraising to profiling alumni. Cate works to bring attention to the stories behind the scenes at World Learning. She shares some tips on how to improve team communications and guide program managers to understand the importance of communications. World Learning is a nonprofit organization advancing leadership in more than 60 countries.

Jennifer Mitchell Doncev talked to us about how she became a social media professional for large organizations. Her first lesson is that being the first disruptor is not an easy path, but being persistent and paying attention to how online media is changing the world, was a great start to her career. Jennifer Mitchell Doncev is an old-school PR pro who recognized social media as a communications essential in 2007. Over the last six years, she's helped brands find their online voice, share their messages with the right people, listen to (and communicate with) their customers and potential customers, and generate revenue from their social media efforts.   BRG Communications is a nationally recognized public relations agency known for award-winning campaigns that reach key influencers, creatively deliver powerful messages, and ultimately ignite behavioral change.

Melissa Robison gives us insights to what it takes to work for Time Life as a digital director. From A/B testing product offers, to being ready for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, to managing brands within brands, Melissa shares how teams prioritize planning for success. Melissa has 15 years of experience building and managing cross-functional teams in fast-paced agency and client-side environments to strategize, plan, and create large and small scale digital solutions that maximize ROI for high profile brands. Direct Holdings Global has a long history of successfully marketing unique, niche products like Time Life, StarVista Entertainment, KitchenTek, and many others.

Lauren Anderson brings us into the world of international development through healthcare. Imagine having to manage the logistics of sending a billion contraceptives to clinics overseas or ensuring the medication doesn't expire before it gets to a patient. Knowledge management is how that's done. Lauren is a health communications professional specializing in social marketing & strategic communication for application in international and domestic public health projects and health systems reform.

David is the Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Community IT Innovators. For David, Community IT stemmed from his desire to serve people and organizations working for social justice by supporting them in using technology effectively.The business model at Community IT has been recognized for its social mission and its commitment to sustainable business, and led it through a conversion to 100% employee ownership.     

Michael Manganiello talks about how being HIV positive and working with super couple Dana and Christopher Reeve parlayed his career to cofounding HCM Strategies. His unique perspective allowed him to build powerful coalitions with great outcomes. A born advocate, Michael Manganiello believes in the power of patient groups to impact major shifts in health policy. That power is amplified when groups unite around a common agenda. HCM Strategists is a firm that not only can access major stakeholders in the health care community but can bring them together and find common ground to advance positive change.