Experience

• Launched Chicago Foundation for Women’s SHEcovery™ report and initiative in September 2021, focused on an equitable recovery for Chicago area women and girls, centered on Black and Brown women and their families, the most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The initiative included a report, website, video, and social media campaign
• Worked to uplift the profile of the president and CEO and Chicago Foundation for Women, positioning them as thought leaders in the fight for gender equity through community outreach, speaking engagements, and media relations
• Created a comprehensive editorial calendar for Chicago Foundation for Women to ensure all communications efforts were coordinated and cohesive, reflecting consistent tone, voice, and creative composition
• Produced and implemented an integrated communications plan for Benefit Chicago utilizing public relations, community engagement, and executive positioning to raise the profile of the initiative in the impact investing and economic development sectors, mobilizing $100 million in impact investments for social enterprises across the Chicago region
• Managed and maintained relationships with communications teams at Benefit Chicago’s collaborating institutions – The Chicago Community Trust, the MacArthur Foundation, and Calvert Impact Capital
• Established processes and protocols for all of Benefit Chicago’s communications activities, including producing reports distributed to the leadership team and advisory committee
• Managed and maintained ongoing communications with Benefit Chicago’s portfolio members to ensure continuing awareness of newsworthy activities
• Provided on-site event marketing and sponsorship services management at Viva Marketing Group/Viva Entertainment Network for clients such as MillerCoors, Verizon, Azucar Enterprises, Jarritos, State Farm, Lopez Negrete, Fire Advertainment, and Marketing Werks
• Collected and curated data for event recaps at Spanglish Ideas, including venue maps and layouts, event promotional materials, inventory of giveaway items, and local media coverage, as well as customer impressions
• Created program manuals for staff and clients pertaining to the function of each manager and staff member at Spanglish Ideas, including setup and teardown guides for each of the assets related to national sponsorship campaigns
• Managed event marketing services at Spanglish Ideas for NAPA Auto Parts, Sección Amarilla USA, Pollo Campero, Chicago Beach Soccer Festival, Chicago Trophy Soccer Tournament, Shriners Circus, and more

• Continually sought media opportunities to highlight Chicago Foundation for Women’s more than 160 grantees, seven geographic and affinity-based Giving Councils and Circles, and annual investments of up to $3.4 million impacting over 226,000 women, girls, and gender-expansive individuals across the Chicago region
• Represented Chicago Foundation for Women as a spokesperson on Univision for International Women’s day in 2022 and on ABC7 Chicago in response to the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team’s pay equity lawsuit settlement
• Regularly updated the expert memorandum to share with media to ensure the president and CEO and Chicago Foundation for Women were top of mind for various topics related to gender and racial equity in coordination with the Foundation’s communications consultant
• Secured annually, on average, 41 media mentions for Chicago Foundation for Women, and its president and CEO
• Developed materials for internal and Benefit Chicago’s external audiences, including press releases, blog stories, newsletters, and articles
• Managed targeted media relations for Catholic Charities, in English and Spanish, including special projects like the annual health fairs and summer food service program
• Maintained and managed relationships with existing Spanish media and scheduled appearances, including an ongoing relationship with Radio Maria Chicago, which included a monthly radio show about Catholic Charities’ programs and departments
• Served as Catholic Charities’ spokesperson for Spanish media
• Worked closely with interns and volunteers for various ongoing projects, including special projects and annual fundraising events at Catholic Charities
• Partnered with local media on retail promotions at Spanglish Ideas linked to the national sponsorship campaign

• Produced an award-winning 2021 Annual Luncheon video, Forward Together, featuring Chicago Foundation for Women’s grantees, Communities United and Sista Afya Community Care
• Enhanced Chicago Foundation for Women’s social media presence through consistent content highlighting its work, staff, and grantee partners, increasing followers and engagement by nearly 75 percent across channels, most significantly on LinkedIn and Instagram
• Redesigned and launched a new website and branding materials for Benefit Chicago. Managed external design and communications consultants to develop a website and branding materials and guidelines that reflected the latest phase of the initiative
• Created, launched, curated content, and managed all social media platforms for Benefit Chicago, maintaining a consistent voice, messaging, and images that resonated with stakeholders

• Generated presentations and talking points for Chicago Foundation for Women’s president and CEO’s speaking engagements to various audiences focused on gender equity, issues impacting women, as well as diversity, equity, and inclusion
• Managed more than 40 speaking engagements annually for Chicago Foundation for Women president and CEO and staff
• Actively sought out speaking engagements in the impact investing and social innovation sectors for Benefit Chicago, executing over 50 commitments annually
• Ideated, planned, and executed events and workshops for Benefit Chicago, focused on community improvement and access to capital conversations, bringing together more than 150 community leaders throughout quarterly gatherings
• Represented the initiative in meetings, community events, and speaking engagements on a variety of occasions
• Presented a social media for nonprofits workshop at the National Catholic Charities USA Conference in 2015

• Ideated and executed Chicago Foundation for Women’s Annual Luncheon in 2021 and 2022. The 2022 Annual Luncheon featured renowned authors and activists Margaret Atwood and April Ryan in conversation, bringing together nearly 1,200 guests in person, the largest post-pandemic gathering for the Foundation, and raising more than $1.15 million for its grantmaking. The 2021 Annual Luncheon was the first hybrid Luncheon for the Foundation, which gathered nearly 1,000 guests both in-person and virtually and featured political leader and voting rights activist Stacey Abrams who joined virtually
• Successfully led more than ten virtual events annually, gathering local leaders to discuss pressing issues impacting women as part of Chicago Foundation for Women’s public events initiative
• Hosted Chicago Foundation for Women’s first Girls Summit in partnership with the Office of the City Clerk of Chicago in 2020. A virtual da-long summit focused on safety across various sectors and gathered nearly 400 young girls and female-identified individuals for conversations, penalties, and workshops. Also hosted three virtual gatherings focused on specific topics led by the Youth Advisory Council in the spring of 2021
• On-site liaison with client staff for setup and teardown of sponsorship setups at Viva Marketing Group/Viva Entertainment Network
• On-site festival manager for Viva Marketing Group/Viva Entertainment Network, managing event staff, coordination with talent personnel and vendors

• Managed content updates and translations of Catholic Charities’ service directory
• Updated communication materials and translation documents for various Catholic Charities’ departments and programs.
• Translated Catholic Charities’ documents into Spanish as needed, especially client-facing materials.
• Managed relationships with external translation services to manage the translation of Catholic Charities’ documents for various print and digital materials in languages other than Spanish.

• Member of Chicago Foundation for Women’s Anti-Racism Transformation Team since February 2021
• Former member of the Committee for Racial and Ethnic Equity at The Chicago Community Trust, an employee-led internal group supporting the advancement of equity in racial, ethnic, gender and ability within the organization and in its everyday external work
• Member of the Chicago Latinos in Philanthropy affinity group
• Board member of the Publicity Club of Chicago
• Member of ColorComm
• Member of the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network
• Member of the Hispanics in Public Relations Association
• Member of the Public Relations Society of America
• Member of the American Translators Association

Lead the public relations efforts for various clients in the transportation, health, and public services sectors.

Manage the overall communications and marketing efforts for the Foundation. Develop marketing materials for internal and external audiences, including press releases, newsletters, and social media campaigns. Work to uplift the Foundation’s profile through community outreach and media relations.

Mobilize $100 million in impact investments for social enterprises in the Chicago region as director of communications, marketing, and community outreach efforts for Benefit Chicago.

Managed the overall communications and marketing efforts for Benefit Chicago, growing the role from a management function to a director position. Recognized by Chicago Innovation with a Chicago Innovation Award for Collaboration in 2017. Developed marketing materials for internal and external audiences, including press releases and newsletters. Managed the day-to-day administrative activities for the initiative.

Managed all website content, social media, Spanish media relations and translations for the Agency. Worked with junior staff, interns, and volunteers, on a variety of projects, including social media management and English to Spanish translations.

Worked across departments to provide English to Spanish translations including ads, promotional materials, and service agreements. Supported the communications department with Spanish media relations, in the creation of press releases and the writing of news stories published in the internal publication for seniors, Keenager News. Received the Employee Recognition Award in April 2014 for exemplary service in fulfilling the agency’s mission. My responsibilities grew to include the management of all digital media for the agency.

Managed multiple event marketing and sponsorship programs for a variety of clients. Updated clients on project timelines through conference calls and project logs on a weekly/daily basis for all ongoing and future programs.

Managed numerous projects from ideation to execution, including charitable events, film festivals, grand openings, sporting events – triathlons, 5K & 10K races.

Managed multiple Fortune 500 companies’ experiential marketing programs from ideation to execution. Participated in all aspects of the program planning process with the client as well as post-program recaps.