Alpharetta, Georgia, United States
As a skilled advocacy and communications professional with a passion for proactive stakeholder engagement, I understand the importance of story-telling, building strong relationships, and cultivating strategic alliances and partnerships. I'm an innovative, critical-thinker with strong emotional intelligence and exceptional political acumen. I believe we're all leaders, regardless of our position or organizational stature, and that mission and shared values can propel an organization to success. My greatest lessons have come from personal and professional failures and can attest that I've experienced the most growth during those challenging events. Specialties: Communications, public relations, stakeholder engagement & public involvement, legislative & policy analysis, external affairs, government relations, operations management, social media, public engagement, program management, strategic planning, and strategic & tactical marketing.advo
Lead regulatory and federal affairs initiatives supporting Georgia’s electric membership cooperatives (EMCs) by monitoring policy developments, analyzing legislative and regulatory impacts, and advancing advocacy strategies at the state and federal levels. Serve as a key liaison to policymakers, regulators, state agencies such as GDOT and GEMA, industry stakeholders, and internal leadership to protect member interests and influence energy and broadband policy outcomes. Provide administrative support for financing petitions and other required Georgia Public Service Commission filings.
Providing policy analysis and legislative advocacy for 501c4 nonprofit think tank and political advocacy organization, focused on the economy, access to healthcare and healthcare policy, and democracy & elections. Responsible for the comprehensive communications and engagement strategic planning for the organization. Serve as key advisor to founder/executive director and nonprofit board of directors. Develop presentations, craft talking points, speech-writing, script-writing, copy-writing, white papers, ghostwriting, & various thought leadership (articles, guest columns, & Op-eds). Direct all public relations and media efforts (media releases, press events, & social media management). Develop and deliver public testimony and comments before state, local, and regulatory authorities. Contribute to legal document development including amici briefs. Lobby at the state-level and responsible for statewide municipal/county outreach and engagement across policy areas.
Led public involvement and stakeholder engagement team serving Southeast & Midwest territory clients such as American Electric Power, Appalachian Power, Santee Cooper, El Paso Electric, and Enstor; directed public involvement and stakeholder engagement planning, including but not limited to project-specific communications plan development, key stakeholder outreach, & legal and regulatory notification requirements, for primarily large transmission projects and one Mississippi FERC-regulated natural gas expansion project; team member for Department of Energy grant proposals; provided business development and proposal support to national director; and provided communications plan support services to National Grid counterparts.
Provided policy analysis and legislative advocacy for 501c4 nonprofit (start-up) think tank and political advocacy organization, focused on the economy, healthcare, and democracy & elections. Responsible for the comprehensive communications and engagement strategy for the organization and founder/executive director. Directed all public relations and media efforts (paid, owned, & earned). Delivered public testimony and comments before state, local, and regulatory authorities. Responsible for statewide grasstops and grassroots outreach and engagement planning.
Served as the stakeholder engagement manager for a six-member team on a multi-year, multi-billion-dollar infrastructure program (the Georgia Power Grid Investment Plan), designed to enhance service and reliability through statewide concurrent Distribution and Transmission projects with work performed by three design-build contractors (Black & Veatch, Pike, & Quanta). Responsible for stakeholder engagement and communications scope of work provided by the Program Manager contract to Burns & McDonnell, also serving as a contract employee to the utility. Provided statewide communications support to Georgia Power's external affairs team, corporate communications, and other region personnel.