FREESTYLE STRATEGY

American Diabetes Association (ADA)

Diabetes kills more Americans every year than AIDS and breast cancer combined. Over twenty-nine million people suffer from diabetes. Yet, despite that level of societal impact, activating the public and corporations to take action and donate is a constant challenge. For nearly 12 years, I served in a strategic role to the development team. My work was focused on attracting corporate partners to raise awareness and funds through cause marketing activations. One key insight we uncovered was the need to personalize the fight against diabetes. With that, I developed a signature program called I DECIDE TO FIGHT DIABETES. I also helped to ideate and sell-in numerous corporate partnerships over the years. Other key accomplishments include Women's Platform ideation, Advocacy/corporate partnership extensions, strategic lead on the creation of the Wellness Lives Here platform including content creation and development of a 360-degree plan, sponsorship activations and affiliates implementation.

America on the Move

America on the Move discovered a simple and easy way to help people stop weight gain: move more and eat less. Research showed that making two small daily changes, taking 2000 more steps (the equivalent of about one mile) and eating 100 fewer calories, stopped the average weight gain (one to three pounds every year). While this may sound obvious now, when the research first came out in 2004, it was big news. The issue of obesity was front and center – food manufacturing companies, parents and the government alike – were all hungry for a quick fix and America On the Move served it up. As the lead strategist, I wrote the plan to evolve the foundation from an organization with research to a national nonprofit. A core part of the work I did was to formulate the launch of their new movement. This work included the development of a national and affiliate structure for the organization, advisory board development, and the creation of a comprehensive brand identity. Other key highlights included the creation of a sponsorship model, consumer engagement activation, and the development of a public relations strategy. Importantly, I built the sponsorship packages from scratch, prospected and pitched. My efforts resulted in securing PepsiCo (Wellward Choices) as a founding sponsor. PepsiCo donated millions in start-up money and made a companywide commitment to “walk the talk”. 

Epilepsy Foundation

Epilepsy affects almost 3 million people in the USA and 65 million people worldwide. More people live with epilepsy than with autism spectrum disorders, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, and cerebral palsy combined. According to the World Health Organization, epilepsy is the most common serious brain disorder with no boundaries for age, race, social class or national origin. Despite all of this, Epilepsy is hidden, overlooked and misunderstood. As an organization, the Epilepsy Foundation has some visibility within the epilepsy community but limited to no visibility among the general public. The Foundation’s goal is to bring epilepsy front and center – to create a seismic shift, raise funds and awareness for this long overlooked and underfunded cause. As a part of the senior team’s re-branding effort, I work with the Development Team and I also help to manage the agency's re-branding process. 

JDRF

Guided the strategy that led to a new signature campaign called “Unite to Cure Diabetes” and sold sponsorships. My work included cause landscape evaluation, analyzing JDRF’s current sponsorship offerings and assets, creating the new sponsorship model/pricing. I created customizable partnership packages, uncovered and solicited sponsors. Through this process, I worked closely with JDRF affiliates and volunteers.

March of Dimes

While the March of Dimes name has always had tremendous recognition, its roots in polio prevention were clouding its current mission, which is focused on premature babies. People knew the name, March of Dimes, but they did not know what the organization’s mission was and what the organization stood for. My work was focused on creating a theme that leveraged their past and present work in celebration of their 50th anniversary. 

Moffitt Cancer Center

Strategic advisor to C-level staff regarding fundraising and partnership opportunities. The Moffatt Cancer Center, which is Tampa-based, is respected globally as a leading comprehensive cancer center. My work focused around creating partnership support both locally and nationally. I developed strategies to strengthen existing revenue streams and create new ones. This work included a comprehensive asset review of its main signature event, Miles for Moffitt, and providing qualitative and quantitative recommendations, including SWOT, marketplace demographic study, revenue growth model, staff plan, budget projections, and more. 

STOMP Out Bullying™

The face of what bullying looks like today has changed dramatically over the last decade. Gone are the days when an encounter with a bully ended with name calling or a push. Today's students are at risk, and that risk grows more and more everyday as the popularity of the Internet increases. And years ago, when a kid or teen threatened to kill someone, they didn't mean it. Today, students have access to guns and the threat to kill someone is no longer idle. I provided ongoing strategic advice to this leading national bullying and cyberbullying prevention organization. Key accomplishments include securing a national retailer to sponsor Blue Shirt Day® World Day of Bullying Prevention™ and forming corporate partnerships including Planet Fitness and NY Jets.