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About Me

I am a communications consultant, content strategist, writer, and editor based in Portland, Oregon. I partner with communications and marketing teams to develop strategy and messaging. Specialties include:

  • Discovery conversations with internal and external stakeholders
  • Research and analysis of peer and competitor strategies and communications
  • Reports and recommendations based on research findings
  • Developing brand playbooks (core messaging, attributes, etc)
  • Writing and editing content across communications channels

I have particularly strong experience in strategy and communications for clients in the following categories:

  • Higher education and K-12 (admissions, branding, advancement, capital campaigns, editorial, alumni relations)
  • Nonprofits and foundations (branding, capital campaigns, development, donor profiles, donor engagement across communication channels, editorial)
  • Healthcare and medical (branding, capital campaigns, editorial, grateful patient stories, impact stories, donor relations)
  • Technology (branding, web content, white papers, presentation decks, speaker notes)

Current and recent clients include:

  • 3/Thirds (working on the Pacificorp, Autodesk, Nike Grind, and Hydrostor accounts)
  • CannonDesign
  • Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation
  • Oregon State University
  • Perennial (social impact strategy firm)
  • Santa Clara University
  • Silicon Valley Community Foundation
  • Studio Mococo
  • Swedish Medical Center Foundation
  • University of Washington

Work Samples

Erika McCalpine, Executive Director of Strategic Diversity Initiatives at Oregon State University-Cascades
Oregon State University Center for the Outdoor Recreation Economy •

BLOG: The DEI Lab helps a small outdoor business build a plan for the future

Last year, as the United States grappled with some hard truths about racial justice and accountability following the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and too many others, business leaders were ready to acknowledge longstanding diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) challenges and opportunities within their organizations. For , a small business based in Bend, Oregon offering monthly or quarterly subscriptions to new outdoor products, the time had come to fully engage in an assessment of
Silicon Valley Community Foundation •

Donor Advised Funds brochure

I worked with the Foundation's VP of Marketing and Communications, VP of Development, and Creative Director to develop the strategy and write the content for this brochure. Silicon Valley Community Foundation is the largest (in terms of assets) community foundation in the world. This piece was created to efficiently educate donor prospects who contact the foundation and request information about the donor advised funds.
A recipient of Willamette University's Carson Undergraduate Research Grant works in a research laboratory
Willamette Magazine •

Carson Research Grant Recipients: Where Are They Now?

In 1988, Willamette trustee Bill Long ’59 envisioned a flexible grant program that would allow Bearcat sophomores and juniors opportunities beyond the structured curriculum. First awarded in 1989, the Carson Undergraduate Research Grant program (named to honor former College of Liberal Arts Dean Julie Carson) now celebrates its 25th year of supporting scholarly, creative, and professional projects. Six past recipients report how Carson Grants helped shape their lives and careers.
Banner, hops, wheat, and production worker pictured on the site of the Rogue Ales & Spirits Farm in Independence, Oregon
Willamette Magazine •

Going Rogue

Rogue Farms Hopyard stands on the same Willamette Valley ground where workers once picked bright green hops in the 1800s. More than a century later, Rogue Ales & Spirits is turning out some of the most inventive and delicious brews in the world. What else would you expect from an Oregon brewery that decided to “grow their own” when the cost of hops quadrupled? And the name of the town where the farm was founded in 2008? Independence, of course. Perfect spot for an operation led by Willamette alum Brett Joyce ’95, son of the late Jack Joyce, who co-founded Rogue in 1988.
Berkeley Law - Transcript •

Forensic Files

Not so long ago, daily life in El Salvador was dangerous and chaotic. During the armed conflict from 1980 to 1992, families were torn apart, children kidnapped or sent away to escape danger. Those separated from their parents were often funneled to corrupt adoption agencies seeking profit from placing children in homes, sometimes thousands of miles away. Fortunately, Boalt’s Human Rights Center (HRC) is part of an effort to demand answers and accountability through the use of forensic science.
Berkeley Law - Transcript •

Renaissance Man Wears Many Different Hats, Comfortably

In the 2008 movie Taken, kidnappers meet their match in the form of Liam Neeson’s protagonist—a growling, intimidating, retired CIA agent with, as he says, “a particular set of skills.” Garner Kropp ’16 doesn’t growl. He doesn’t intimidate. But he has acquired an intriguing set of skills and experiences on his path toward a dual degree (Berkeley Law JD and Master’s in Public Policy).
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