Brand Marketing and Campaigns
I am passionate about storytelling as a means to build brands, connect audiences and engage stakeholders. A collaborative marketing, communications and program director, I have a background in content strategy, PR, marketing, social media, lead generation and conversion, as well as executive, crisis and internal communications.
My career spans work at start-ups and large institutions leading communication for media and technology, science and engineering, research, industry engagement and higher education.
I have extensive training in intercultural communication which informs my dedication to inclusive communication and leadership and to developing teams that understand and embrace diversity, equity, inclusion and justice.
I've always been enchanted by stories. As a child, I was told to shut my books and go outside. I spent many years traveling, learning languages and meeting strangers for the chance to learn their stories. Today, I share stories. I ask questions, listen closely and uncover the gems — the stories. I use this same approach whether I'm working with colleagues designing programs for students, researchers and community members or if I'm interviewing donors and alumni. Every person, every event, has a story—let's share it!
Brand Marketing and Campaigns
I led a team to develop the creative suite and toolkit to launch the University of Colorado Boulder inaugural giving day.
This is a thank you video from our inaugural giving day produced on a slim budget.
I led the team that partnered with an agency to develop the new Homecoming creative suite. The in-house team fully developed collateral, toolkits and a creative system to unify all signature homecoming events.
This is the main video in a 6-video series promoting Homecoming 2023.
The project goal was to increase the diversity of applicants to the College of Engineering and Applied Science. Working with an integrated marketing team of teams across four offices, I led the RFP process, secured funding, developed roles and responsibilities and was the project point person to align the marketing strategies and tactics with the enrollment goals. To achieve the enrollment goals, I led the following: • social media campaigns with unique UTMs, RFIs and email drip campaigns...
Michelle is an undergraduate of Aerospace Engineering & Applied Mathematics at CU. Her research focuses on the design and implementation of spacecraft living environments. She believes that her work will create space travel accessibility for everyone.
Philanthropic Communication: Donor Engagement, Media and Impact Projects
Every gift donated to CU Boulder makes a difference for the campus community-check out a video showcasing the remarkable impact of philanthropy.
Using data insights to identify this as a top donor fund, our team created a custom, digital impact report to steward donors who contributed to it.
These templates allow our team to work at scale producing branded proposals, impact reports and case statements.
This is "2023 Chancellor's Celebration of Donors" by CU Boulder Advancement on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.
A donor's support can make all the difference when it comes to helping a professor create impact. Just ask Yonca Ertimur. Before taking on the role of acting dean of the Leeds School of Business, Ertimur benefited from the generosity of Tandean Rustandy (Fin'87), who established the Tandean Rustandy Esteemed Professor position that has enabled her to become one of the most prolific researchers at the school.
Consistent access to mental health and wellness support is critical for youth development-and at CU Boulder, Forever Buff and CU Foundation board chair Jeremy May is taking action to make a positive impact.
Header image: Graduate students Michael Klonowski, left, and Daniel Aguilar-Marsillach, right, work in the Raytheon Space & Intelligence Vision, Autonomy, and Decision Research Lab at CU Boulder, which studies new methods for tracking and managing satellite traffic in space.
University of Colorado Boulder performing arts students will benefit from a $5 million donation from graduate and donor Roe Green, whose gift will renovate the University Theatre, provide an endowed fund for its upkeep and support student scholarships and programs. Green, who graduated from CU Boulder in 1970, previously donated funds for an endowed chair in the theater department and an artist residency program.
John and Ann Harsh are creating a scholarship for first-generation and underrepresented students studying integrative physiology, as well as a bequest to establish the first endowed faculty chair in the Department of Integrative Physiology and directorship of the Health Professions Residential Academic Program.
In spring 2018, DU will break the ice—on the new Miller Hockey Complex designed by sports facility giant JLG Architecture. The new complex is a long-awaited feat made possible by the generosity of more than 140 donors, including 70 former DU hockey players and DU alumnus and board of trustee member, John Miller.
I interviewed Darby Pappas and wrote her story, plus I copy edited the entire report.
Coloradan Alumni Magazine
It’s Prime Time in Boulder! The summer issue of the Coloradan alumni magazine features Coach Prime and the non-stop buzz since he landed in Boulder last December. Coach Prime reveals his thoughts on leadership, motivation and coaching in our Q&A, and the “Prime Effect” feature delves into the impact felt on campus, in Boulder and beyond. Other stories feature research on reducing gang violence, how art is made in the Brain-Music Lab and a look at upcoming Old Main renovations.
This spring, the Coloradan magazine delves into politics. The magazine’s cover story explores why certain topics — including climate change, voting rights and abortion — become politicized, and how identity, the Supreme Court and private money can all play into this process. Beyond politics, this issue also features an alum working to reduce the amount of space junk, a look into the university’s new land acknowledgment and memories related to The Sink, which turns 100 later this year.
This issue looks to the future of mental health. CU researchers envision therapy that could treat the whole person based on their genetics, as well as unique ways of predicting mental illnesses before they arise. The issue also highlights the history of CU’s Vetsville from the late 1940s to the ’70s, shows what it’s like to be in charge of the biggest day in football and explains how declining snowpack can affect the ski industry — and the world.
This issue focuses on our changing climate and its disproportionate impact on human rights and vulnerable populations. Eight stories share some of the work CU Boulder students, faculty and alumni are involved in to try and initiate lasting change. It also explores the reasons more people are staying single, research on emerging viruses and why Wordle is so popular.
This Coloradan highlights the ways work has changed — in eight short, mini stories whimsically illustrated by New York Times illustrator Brian Rae. The issue also explores the impact the Marshall Fire had on Boulder County, and Forever Buffs.
The Fall 2021 issue of the Coloradan recounts stories of CU Boulder students. Read how they sought strength — or reprieve — over the past year and a half, while finding ways forward in schooling, work and interests through their relationships with each other.
This summer, the Coloradan focuses on leadership — in research, education and practice. Read how the university is priming the next generation of leaders through its new Center for Leadership. The Coloradan explores the evolving nature of leadership through the insights of CU faculty and students from across the university.
The Coloradan explores climate change through stories of researchers who froze themselves in the Arctic ice and another who collects air samples from airplanes flying over wildfires.
The Coloradan features eight personal essays and audio recordings by their authors to explore and highlight the experience of Black students and alumni on the CU Boulder campus. Amidst global events reshaping the world, CU Boulder and Forever Buffs get involved. The COVID-19 pandemic and protests for racial justice are defining 2020 and setting new trajectories for campus and beyond. Read stories from this issue to learn how CU is responding.
Alumni and Student Profile Stories
Read Coach Prime's winning mentality and leadership philosophy
When he started as a faculty member at the University of Alaska Anchorage, Herb IIisaurri Schroeder (PhDCivEngr'91) spent time researching rural sanitation in 100 Alaska Native villages. Because many still relied on portable toilets rather than sewer systems, the villages had higher occurrences of disease and infant mortality, since pathogens live longer in the cold climate.
On CUE sits down with Connie Childs. Connie is a fourth-year aerospace engineer studying at CU Boulder College of Engineering and Applied Science. After years of contemplating life as a woman, Connie began to transition from her assigned at birth male identity to the woman she is today.
Capt. Avery (Denney) Crisp (BSBA '12) always dreamed of flying planes, but she never imagined DU would put her on a path to making that dream a reality. She was raised in western Colorado, where she skied with her family and played volleyball, basketball, soccer and track throughout high school.
Food Containers: Compostable On CUE sits down with Dana Stamo. Dana is a fifth year chemical biological engineering student who is currently taking graduate classes and doing research with Professor Chatterjee. Dana is a recipient of the Chancellor's scholarship and a BOLD scholarship from the College of Engineering and Applied Science.
Amidst a fruitful career as a language professor and technologist, Sarah Withee joined Gen Z and Millenial students to become an electrical engineer. From a very young age Sarah Withee was intrigued by astronomy, black holes and quasars. In high school she followed a math and science track, but in college pursued a very different direction-education and linguistics.
News Articles
The College of Engineering & Applied Science is just a few percentage points away from achieving one of its major diversity, equity and inclusion goals. Three years ago, the college publicly announced its goal to become the first public engineering school with an undergraduate population that is 50% female* while while reflecting the demographics of our state's high school graduates.
Impact in the classroom. Diversity of minds and resources. Leadership training. Building community. These are some of the reasons that the 2019 ACTIVE participants gathered at CU Boulder College of Engineering and Applied Science this week.
CU Engineering recognized nationally for commitment to diversity in the college, community and state.
This week an inflatable version of Go For It , a creation of the Chicago-based, internationally recognized artist Matthew Hoffman, is on display in the south quad of the Engineering Center at CU Boulder. Hoffman, who became famous for the You Are Beautiful project, was invited to CU Engineering as part of the Art is Engineering program run by STEM educator and lecturer Elisabeth Stade.
On Nov. 9, 170 students and their families, alumni, faculty, staff and supporters gathered at Boulders Rembrandt Yard Art Gallery to celebrate the BOLD Center's 10th anniversary. Created in 2008, the BOLD Center continues to lead the nation's engineering programs supporting women and minorities in engineering.
Last week the University of Colorado Boulder College of Engineering and Applied Science was awarded its second National Science Foundation (NSF) grant this month to build new connections with Colorado community colleges. The newest project is a three-year grant for $600,000 awarded through the NSF Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) program.
With a $10 million federal grant and an eye on community colleges, CU Engineering and partners aim to diversify engineering in Colorado-and coast to coast. CU Boulder will take a leading role on a new $10 million federal grant to boost the number of community college students who go on to study engineering at four-year colleges, a move intended to help pave the way for a more diverse engineering workforce.
Last year The BOLD Center launched a new fellowship aimed at supporting diversity across the curriculum and the college. Recipients are awarded up to $10,000 to launch projects or initiatives that support and encourage diversity and inclusion at CU Engineering.
Collaborative Network for Engineering and Computing Diversity (CoNECD) honored The BOLD Center as Program of the Year at their inaugural conference in Washington D.C. on May 1. The BOLD Center was honored for developing programs that have significantly enhanced the participation of students from diverse populations that are historically underserved in engineering and computing, while enriching the students' learning experience in engineering and computer science.
This week, five CU Engineering students will compete against 14 other teams at the Ninth Annual First Nations Launch in Wisconsin sponsored by the Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium. The team, led by junior Alyvia Hildebrand (MechEngr'19), first heard about the competition in late September.
Virtual Events (Program Development and Marketing)
The community-led dialogue series Coloradan Conversations launched its 2023 season with a highly relevant topic: Transforming Treatment for Mental Health, featuring a conversation centered on new ways to diagnose and treat mental illness using brain imaging, genetics, telemedicine and community-based intervention-particularly among college-aged students.
From increasing droughts and wildfires to polluted air and deforestation, natural disasters have an enormous impact on humans, including Indigenous ways of life. Inspired by a recent story collection in the Coloradan, " Justice for Earth, Justice for Humans," CU faculty shared insights and research at the recent related event, Coloradan Conversations: Climate Change and Its Impact on Human Rights.
One thing is clear - the pandemic upended the way we work. As many organizations transition to hybrid workplaces and collaborate over Zoom, how should we prepare for a shifting workplace landscape? Join CU Boulder faculty for an insightful dialogue inspired by the Coloradan article, "8 Ways Work Will Change Forever."
Skip to Content We're so glad you joined us for the Coloradan Conversation on climate change. Now, it's time to move discussion into action. Take a look at the array of opportunities and resources available - from giving to volunteering to learning. Your participation matters.
As editor of the Coloradan I am part of the team that brings this event from concept to fruition three times per year.
The inaugural Coloradan Conversation was a conversation about the future of anti-racism at CU Boulder with Theodosia Cook, University of Colorado Chief Diversity Officer and Benilda Samuels, Vice President of Programs at Rose Community Foundation, hosted by Albus Brooks, national speaker and Vice President at Milender White.
Videos
I used a one-hour, escape room creative session technique to guide our team from request to storyboard in under 60 minutes. Wherever you go, show your Buffs pride with a CU Boulder license plate! Anyone is eligible for CU plates - you do not have to be an alum. Plates are currently available in Colorado, Texas and Maryland. When you purchase a CU specialty plate, you'll be contributing $50 toward the Alumni Association's student scholarship fund.
The fall 2020 issue of the Coloradan uplifts the voices of the CU Boulder community to address racism and anti-racism on and around campus. Through the personal essays written and audio recorded by students, alumni, faculty and staff you are invited to read, listen, learn and reflect. This video is a compilation of their voices and stories. Join to listen and honor their experiences and vision for the future. Then visit colorado.edu/coloradan to read and listen to all the essays.
I produced this video alongside Fireside Productions who we hired as freelance videographers. I led story development, speaker identification and scheduling, script review and approval and stakeholder management. The BOLD Center is part of the College of Engineering and Applied Science’s commitment to creating a diverse environment where all engineering students are welcome, and where students who are traditionally underrepresented in engineering—women and underrepresented minorities—are...
I led the creative storyboarding and production of this video...and appeared as the CC Tiger upon my team's behest.
I produced, directed and wrote the storyboard and script for this video. It was created in collaboration with a videographer who I hired to capture b-roll and do all editing.
Academic Research Projects
Since 2008, there has been a surge of interest in and research on the relationship between news media and economic reporting, particularly as it concerns financial crises. The 2008 U.S. subprime mortgage crisis, quickly followed by the economic crisis that began to unfold in Greece in 2009, spurred researchers to examine how newspapers around the world report on the complex, globalized economy.
""This article explores how the communication theory of identity originally articulated by Hecht, Collier, & Ribeau (1993) can be usefully expanded in the era of social network sites. Utilizing Urban and Orbe's (2010) related discussion