Strategic Communications + Creative Leadership
I’m a strategic communications professional and creative leader who brings together storytelling, design and strategy to create meaningful communications. I enjoy leading teams and creative projects, working collaboratively and finding thoughtful ways to connect audiences with stories and ideas that matter.
Goal
Create a multi-dimensional social media presence that recruits prospective students, recognizes current students, fosters internal pride, and strengthens the college’s reputation with external audiences.
Strategy
I developed and implemented a people-first social media strategy grounded in authentic storytelling, student voices and consistent brand alignment.
Established clear content pillars tied to recruitment, student success, research impact and outreach.
Launched signature campaigns, including Why I Chose Mizzou, and student-led Instagram takeovers.
Partnered with Recruitment and Advising to build a pipeline of new student followers through campus tours and Summer Welcome.
Implemented regular analytics reviews and performance-based content changes.
Coached staff on content planning, expectations and platform best practices.
High-Impact Social Media Presence
Results
2.67 million impressions across platforms in the past year.
Engagement rate of 3.36%, consistently above higher-education benchmarks.
Instagram growth from 400 followers (2020) to 4,300 (2026).
Facebook growth from 4,780 (2022) to 7,187 (2026).
LinkedIn growth from 535 (2024) to 983 (2026).
Scalable Campaigns for Recruitment and Retention
Campaign: Why I Chose Mizzou
Goal
The college needed a sustainable recruitment campaign that could showcase the student experience while supporting ongoing recruitment efforts across multiple platforms.
Strategy
I launched the Why I Chose Mizzou campaign to center student stories through short quotes paired with professional photography and a modular layout. The campaign was intentionally designed to be easy to sustain, adaptable, and grounded in student voice.
Results
Campaign launched in 2017 and continues today.
Published 35 Why I Chose Mizzou posts in the past year.
Average reach of 1.2K per post with 2.19% engagement.
Replicated by other colleges across campus.
Campaign: Dean’s List
Goal
Promote student achievements on social media platforms.
Strategy
Student achievements present a unique moment to celebrate their success, reinforce belonging, pride and retention with both students and family members. The Dean’s List campaign was launched in 2021 in collaboration with Advising and Academic Affairs to ensure accuracy, timing and consistent posting across platforms.
Results
Fall 2025 Dean’s List post reached 61K+ users with 13%+ engagement.
Highest engagement post for the college in the past three years.
Generates strong positive sentiment and supports recruitment and retention efforts.
Campaign: Student Takeovers and Day-in-the-Life Reels
Goal
Enhance student and prospective student engagement on social media through authentic, first-hand perspectives of college life and academic experiences.
Strategy
After researching best practices and consulting social media experts across campus for integrating student-led content, I launched Instagram takeovers in 2022. Students are prepared throughout the process from planning, execution and follow-up to ensure both authenticity and brand alignment. As social media platforms continued to evolve, student takeovers were transitioned into day-in-the-life reels.
Results
37 student takeovers reached 9,000+ accounts.
Takeover content repurposed in recruitment emails sent to 1,000+ prospective students in 2023 and 2024.
Current day-in the-life reels highlight field and clinical experiences across programs.
Communicating Complex Research and Data
Goal
Communicate the college’s innovative research, data and large-scale initiatives to broad audiences in ways that demonstrate impact and connect research to practice.
Strategy
Translate research and data into clear, visual narratives that help audiences quickly understand impact, outcomes, and relevance.
Results
Missouri Impact campaign and statewide map used consistently since 2017.
Research Impact Report presents college grant funding data in a clear, accessible format.
MO SW-PBS Annual Report communicates training and statewide support for participating districts.
Goal
As programs, initiatives, and audiences expanded, college websites needed to evolve to better support users, reflect institutional priorities and meet current design standards.
Strategy
I completed multiple full-site redesigns from 2016-2021 focused on:
Clear navigation and intuitive structure
Content planning driven by user needs
Consistent templates and standards
Strategic consultation with departments during content rewrites
Website Usability and Strategic Redesigns
Mizzou Academy website redesign 2021
Adventure Club website redesign 2021
ParentLink website redesign 2021
Results
Improved consistency and usability across departments.
Repeated feedback such as “This is much easier to navigate” and “This is clearer.”
Stronger alignment with institutional brand standards.
Goal
To strengthen strategic communications planning and align communication efforts with organizational priorities.
Strategy
Developed a marketing and communications plan organized by audience and strategic priorities.
Conducted a comprehensive review of website news posts and social media activity across other academic units to benchmark frequency, content types, and strategic focus.
Met with directors of strategic communications from other academic units to better understand their workflows, priorities and initiatives.
Shared branded templates and resources college-wide to support self-service.
Transitioned frequently requested materials to formats departments can maintain independently.
Expanded long-form storytelling on the website to highlight impact and outcomes.
Collaborated with Mizzou News & Information to increase visibility for research, outreach and feature stories.
Strategically determined when to cover stories internally if central coverage was not available.
Expanded storytelling to include alumni spotlights and outreach unit impact.
Building a Strategic Communications Framework
Results
A communications plan aligned with leadership goals and organizational priorities.
Increased emphasis on impactful storytelling, research visibility and cross-campus collaboration.
Expanded self-service resources and processes that improved efficiency and created greater capacity for high-impact communications initiatives.
Notable Contributions
Campus brand recognition: Recognized with the Brand Wagon Champion Award from Mizzou’s Licensing & Brand Management Office in 2020 and 2024, honoring excellence in brand stewardship and storytelling.
GIPHY channel: Launched and managed the College of Education & Human Development’s GIPHY channel, creating brand-aligned stickers and assets that have generated 6+ billion views, extending the college’s reach through organic, student-driven sharing.
Cross-campus collaboration: Initiated and facilitated regular meetings with strategic communications staff across academic units, creating space to share best practices, align approaches, and strengthen campus-wide communications.
National higher education communications network (COVID-era): Founded and led a multi-institution College of Education strategic communications group during COVID, connecting professionals from universities across the country to exchange ideas, troubleshoot challenges, and support one another during a period of rapid change.