Communications Consulting

Find your audience.
Tell your story.

I help people, organizations, and movements turn complicated ideas into story-driven messages that resonate with target audiences, move people to action, and create positive change.

For more than 10 years, I have led strategic communications campaigns for leading institutions like Open Society Foundations and Johns Hopkins University. Before that I was a journalist, serving as editor in chief of Baltimore City Paper and senior editor of Baltimore magazine. My work has been published in the New York Times, Rolling Stone, the Daily Forward, and the Baltimore Sun, among many other outlets.

I bring a communications leader's expertise in building brands and developing strategic plans and a journalist's eye for a good story. Let's talk about how I can help you find and grow your audience and tell your story.

10+Years leading strategic communications campaigns
Editor in ChiefBaltimore City Paper
NYT · Rolling StoneBaltimore Sun, the Daily Forward & more

Four ways to work together.

01

Strategic Communications Consulting

Message strategy, brand positioning, and communications plans built around what your organization actually needs to say.

02

Media Outreach

Press strategy, pitching, and reporter relationships built on years spent on the other side of the byline.

03

Writing and Editing

Op-eds, press releases, reports, and website copy — written or sharpened by a former newsroom editor.

04

Community Engagement

Stakeholder outreach and public-facing campaigns that build trust with the audiences who matter most.

A track record of success.

01

Strategic Communications Consulting

I can help with anything from project outlines to multi-year campaigns and organizational strategic plans.

Baltimore Votes by Mail campaign graphic

Baltimore Votes by Mail

When COVID hit and Maryland quickly shifted to vote-by-mail, I coordinated campaigns with OSI-Baltimore, Black Girls Vote, and Baltimore Votes to inform Baltimore City residents. We created radio, TV, and web spots featuring local celebrities and residents and the Party at the Mailbox campaign, contributing to Baltimore City having the highest rate of mail-in voting in the state.

#BmoreVaxxed campaign website

#BmoreVaxxed

To ensure historically marginalized communities had equitable access to COVID vaccines, I coordinated the #BmoreVaxxed campaign, including a web hub, video interviews with Baltimore young people and adults, and monthly live events, resulting in one of the highest urban vaccination rates in the country and a presentation at the White House Summit on COVID-19 Equity.

02

Media Outreach

With extensive connections and expertise in crafting the perfect pitch, I can get your story the placement it deserves.

WYPR On The Record segment: Bloomberg's City Data Alliance: Lessons in Better Data Capture, Decision Making

Bloomberg Philanthropies City Data Alliance

For the Bloomberg Philanthropies City Data Alliance 2024 mayoral convening at Baltimore's Peabody Library, I secured key media placements, including a detailed story in the Baltimore Sun and this interview with Bloomberg Philanthropies' James Anderson on Baltimore's NPR affiliate.

Washington Post story: In Baltimore, Watch These Candidates Try to Tell Stories Instead of Make Speeches

Mayoral Stoop Storytelling

To promote resident engagement in Baltimore's 2016 mayoral primary, OSI-Baltimore collaborated with the Stoop Storytelling series to host an event at the War Memorial Building, where each candidate told a story about their first job. I secured high profile coverage in the New York Times and this piece in the Washington Post.

03

Writing and Editing

I write and edit everything from op-eds to press releases — and can get your work placed in prominent outlets.

Governing story: How the Most Significant Advancement in Government Transparency Came About

DATA Act 10th Anniversary

For the 10th Anniversary of the DATA Act in 2023, I worked with Amy Edwards Holmes, then executive director of the Bloomberg Center for Government Excellence at Johns Hopkins University, on a piece reflecting on the work that went into creating and passing the bill and what it would take to pass bipartisan data and AI legislation today. We placed the piece in the leading government trade publication Governing.

Chronicle of Philanthropy story: Sharing Philanthropic Power With Grantees Is Messy and Challenging but Worth the Effort

Bmore Invested

In 2022, OSI-Baltimore and Baltimore's Promise created Bmore Invested, a ground-breaking initiative that centered community voices in the grantmaking process and advanced the principles of racial equity, community transformation, and collaboration. I worked with the leaders of both organizations on an op-ed about the strategy's benefits and lessons learned, then placed it in the Chronicle of Philanthropy.

04

Community Engagement

I have a personal passion for bringing communities together to advance positive change. Let's make it happen.

Blueprint for Baltimore 2020 and Beyond event collage

Blueprint for Baltimore

In an effort to amplify the voices of historically under-counted Baltimore residents and increase civic engagement, I led OSI-Baltimore's Blueprint for Baltimore project, partnering with community-based organizations like CASA and the No Boundaries Coalition to conduct a door-to-door survey of Baltimore City residents, and hosted a series of mayoral forums where candidates responded to the results.

OSI Solutions Summit event graphic

Solutions Summit

To promote community-based solutions to pressing problems, I conceived and coordinated OSI-Baltimore's Solutions Summit, a series of convenings focused on three crucial areas—jobs, justice, and behavioral health. At a capstone citywide convening, 700 city residents voted on their top priorities and incoming Mayor Catherine Pugh was on hand to pledge she would follow their lead. We followed up with regular reports on her progress.

Have something worth saying?

Tell me a little about what you're working on. I typically respond within two business days and take on a limited number of engagements at once.

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