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Janda Black |
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Janda Black
You could say that Janda invented public relations—at
the very least, she created a curriculum for PR at Western
Washington University because she wanted to major in the
subject. A dynamic innovator, she has spent the past
15 years practicing public relations and marketing communications
at the local, national and international levels for issue-based
projects and clients. Her expertise in delivering coveted
national media placements, managing international media efforts
and winning over influencers has earned her industry accolades.
She has provided strategic counsel to online companies,
education associations and public health organizations including:
PATH, The Washington State Department of Health/Hanford,
The David and Lucile Packard Foundation; and humanitarian
organizations such as CARE and Mercy Corps. Janda has cultivated
a broad range of high level media contacts and has a long
history of placements in The Wall Street Journal, The New
York Times and The L.A. Times, and on ABC, CNN and NBC, as
well as in local media from the Seattle Times to the Post-Intelligencer,
KUOW, KOMO and KING.
Janda's passion for engaging journalists in issues and causes
has led her to take reporters to the jungles of Central America
for a micro-credit organization, to the deserts of Mongolia
for the International Snow Leopard Trust, to rural villages
in Ethiopia and India for the David and Lucile Packard Foundation's
population program.
At home Janda enjoys time with her husband, Brent, toddler,
Chase and Bart – the
affable Pug. She’s currently at work on a way to make scheduling
everyday life as effortless as wielding her Tivo remote, which she does with
consummate skill.
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Christine Stepherson |
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Christine Stepherson
Christine has more than 15 years experience in communications,
media relations, marketing, community involvement and public
information campaigns. She comes from an agency background,
having worked in two Seattle public relations/public affairs
firms for ten years. Christine has designed and implemented
communication strategies for numerous corporations, small
businesses, foundations, and non-profit organizations. Additionally,
she has provided counsel on three city-wide initiative campaigns
and served as Communications Director for the 1995 Seattle’s
Low Income Housing Levy.
She has spent the last decade raising awareness for issues
that span economic development, low-income housing, school
finance reform, funding for mental health services, discrimination,
breast cancer and more. Her expertise is in working with
media and community leaders, developing messaging to help
people understand issues, and even ghost writing for mayors,
major CEOs and other thought leaders. She connects with the
metropolis and feeds her love for food, wine and travel by
working with businesses and organizations connected to tourism
and hospitality. A favorite campaign involved promoting
Island County tourism in the off-season.
A news junky, magazine addict and book lover, Christine
also loves to be in the mountains and in the water. When
atmospheric conditions aren’t right for her Burton
snowboard, she happily dons backpack and boots or bike helmet
and panniers. Her newest adventures include introducing her
son, Dylan, and daughter, Eva, to the great outdoors.
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Lynn Dixon |
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Lynn Dixon
Lynn got her start with PR doing media and events
for the Pike Place Market Foundation. Her job description
ranged from writing and placing articles on Pigs on Parade and
the foundation’s annual report to bussing tables at
fundraisers and wearing a pig snout during the Market’s
Centennial celebration.
Lynn’s passion is for great story-telling—stories
that change the way people think and act. She wants
to use the skills she learned writing about her own life
to tell stories that matter to the entire community. As
a freelance writer, Lynn won numerous writing awards and
residencies and published her work in an anthology of travel
writing reviewed on CNN.
Lynn started her career as a victim’s rights advocate
in the Chicago courts. As a Big Sister and a former
foster parent for homeless dogs, she believes change happens
one relationship at a time. Her favorite three people
in the world are her husband, Paul, her mom and her dog,
Alley, although not necessarily in that order.
Lynn graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in English
and History from Wheaton College in Illinois. To further
hone her PR skills, Lynn recently graduated from the University
of Washington public relations certificate program.
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Leigh Sims |
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Leigh Sims
Leigh has 13 years experience with non-profits, small businesses,
and artists in communications, media relations, and fundraising.
She has worked on issue-based media and policy campaigns
throughout the Northwest, developing teams of diverse supporters
and spokespeople to get those messages out.
For the past six years, Leigh has been earning media coverage
to help build community support for change at Sightline Institute,
a think tank on sustainability issues. There, she crafted
messages for projects from encouraging health through walkable
neighborhoods to a state-wide ban on a toxic chemical. Leigh
previously worked on a multi-million dollar capital campaign
for public television, where she also had the privilege of
producing events with the Cookie Monster.
Involvement in the local music scene led Leigh to the board
of The Vera Project, a music venue run by youth, and to co-own
a music and event production business. When she’s not
at a show, Leigh lives with her husband and two unbelievably
loud cats in a very walkable neighborhood.
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Margaret Larson |
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Margaret Larson
Reporter, news junkie, cause advocate, carpool mom—Margaret
Larson arrives at Soapbox after a dynamic, Emmy-award winning
television news career that included the Today Show, a foreign
correspondent’s position for NBC News London, and Dateline
NBC. After witnessing tragedies in the developing world,
she began volunteering at international aid agency Mercy
Corps, later joining their team as VP for Communications
and handling press relations during major humanitarian emergencies
such as the Iraq ground war, the Kosovo crisis, and the South
Asian tsunami.
In 2003, Margaret launched her own communications
practice to assist nonprofit organizations with messaging,
strategy, press relations, and video production. Her
clients have included Mercy Corps, World Vision, PATH, and Global Partnerships,
and her travels as a journalist and humanitarian worker have taken her to more
than fifty countries. In 2005, the Seattle Weekly newspaper named her the
Best Voice for Humanitarianism.
Margaret’s long-term media experience makes
her a go-to media coach. She’s
prepared clients for book tours, and national/international print, radio and
television interviews with journalists from Good Morning America, NPR, CNN, BBC,
the Guardian, the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, ABC and NBC, among others.
She has a contagious passion for helping good people with good causes put their
best media foot forward.
Home life for Margaret includes husband Tim, with whom she
recently celebrated a 25th wedding anniversary, and guitar-
and baseball-playing 15-year old son Kyle. Ruling the
roost, though, is Molly, a Jack Russell terrier who remains
on near-constant alert against the household vacuum cleaner.
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Susan Ward |
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Susan Ward
With more than 20 years of experience in marketing and public
relations, Susan brings a range of expertise, from crisis
communications and community affairs to corporate positioning
and issues management. With a specialty in media relations,
she has taught media relations courses at the University
of Washington and has placed stories internationally and
in all the major US media.
Susan spent more than four years
at Soapbox working to raise the profiles of a variety of
Seattle-based non-profits, including global health organization
PATH and the Social Justice Fund. When the Women’s Funding Alliance
prepared to release its landmark study on the status of women and girls in the
Puget Sound region in 2007, Susan led the team’s messaging and positioning
efforts. Susan also worked to further the Community Health Network of Washington’s
legislative agenda throughout her tenure at Soapbox, and was part of the team
that has helped to make considerable advances in the realm of health care for
children and adults throughout Washington State.
Before joining Soapbox, Susan
spent 10 years at DDB Seattle, ultimately as a vice president
of the agency’s
issues and advocacy practice. There
she managed a client portfolio that included start-ups, multi-billion
dollar corporations and foundations.
Susan was an account manager and then client services
director at The McConnell Company for six years, before the
company was acquired by DDB. She began
her career in Denver, where she earned a B.S. in marketing and advertising from
the University of Denver.
Susan believes that all our problems can be traced to
our families, so she recently completed her Master’s in Psychology at Antioch
University, focusing on child, couple and family therapy. When she asks you about
your parents, you’ll
know why. You can find her counseling at Atlantic Street Center, relaxing
at her Ballard cocktail lounge, the BalMar, or cozying in with her husband and
son.
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Josh Stepherson |
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Josh Stepherson
Josh Stepherson is the founder and principal of Stepherson & Associates
Public Affairs, which was formed in 2006 to assist organizations
in working with the public and local government.
Josh has over 12 years of experience working with organizations
to engage communities, key stakeholder groups and policy
makers around high-profile and often controversial issues/projects. Over
the years, Josh has built a solid reputation as a strategic
and creative thinker who is able to effectively work with
diverse constituent groups to identify problems, develop
solutions and gain the needed support to successfully meet
critical project milestones and advance organizational goals.
Professionally, Josh has coordinated communication and public
engagement efforts for elected officials, governmental agencies,
campaigns, non-profit organizations and for-profit businesses. Additionally,
he has spent much of his career working on some of the regions
most high-profile transportation projects. These include
the $1.7 billion Seattle Monorail Project, $544 million Bridging
the Gap Initiative and $52 million South Lake Union Line
of the new Seattle Streetcar.
Josh is a graduate of Washington State University. Go
Cougs!
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Kristin Adams Litke |
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Kristin Adams Litke
Kristin has six years of experience in graphic design, communications,
marketing and fundraising. Before starting her own design
firm, she worked as the in-house designer at Plymouth Housing
Group as Communications Manager. She is passionate about
helping to raise awareness for nonprofits through her branding
work and creation of print and web-based marketing pieces.
Kristin also works with a variety of business clients ranging
from restaurants to large corporations.
Whether her client is an established organization or a budding
twinkle in its owner's eye, Kristin brings creative innovation
to help mold the face of a brand and make it shine. Soapbox
and Adams Litke Design Co. have previously worked together
on a number of projects for nonprofit clients, including
work for Plymouth Housing Group and the Fremont Public Association,
and share an understanding of their needs and audiences.
A transplant from the Boston area, Kristin graduated from the
University of Virginia.
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