Local Government Professional specializing in strategy and marketing.

Currently the Director of Neighborhoods in Hamilton, Oh.

I have been tasked with leading departments and cross-functional teams to achieve key outcomes for the past dozen years. Some of these initiatives include:

  1. Facilitating strategic alignment and prioritization within all departments

  2. Building out a network of community champions and organizers to build a more connected city

  3. Mass vaccination process in 2020-21, from promotion and inventory through to scheduling and intake

  4. Improving the quality of our service request system with residents

  5. Marketing, communications, and media relations

  6. Improving or removing blighted properties within the city

Career Highlights & Results

City Economic Growth

The city has experienced continued growth since the economic depths following the Great Recession. That growth has continued through the COVID-19 Pandemic to today.

This represents a significant reversal from the trend of the waning decades of the 20th century. We’ve been able to build a marketing and sales apparatus that has challenged external perceptions, expanded internal pride, and laid a foundation for continued growth.

Income Tax: The primary source of funding for general services has grown each of the last 10 years with a total of 44% growth over last decade.

Private Investment: In just the past 5 years, we’ve seen over $250 million in private investment in the downtown area alone.

Small Businesses: Over 100 net new small businesses opened over the last decade.

Service Quality

After six consecutive quarters of declining or flat growth in Net Promoter Score (NPS) of the City’s service request system available to residents, we conducted an interdepartmental audit in Q2 of 2022.

With only partial implementation of the recommendations from the audit report, we have achieved >20% improvement to our NPS. It has continuously risen since our improvement process started.

17 Strong Neighborhoods

The pride of my career has been the development and growth of the 17 Strong movement. This altruistic movement among Hamilton’s 17 neighborhoods is led by an advisory board of residents who are tasked by City Council to build engagement and pride in Hamilton neighborhoods.

I have played the lead role on the staff-side of this initiative, regardless of my position with the City, since its inception. We have effectively built a bigger table for residents to get involved in making a better future for their corner of our City.

This is the only advisory board or committee of Council that receives annual funding where the resident-led board has designed and administered a microgrant program to help provide seed funding to support resident-led projects and ideas.  This funding has amounted to $400,000 in funding to support engagement and pride in our neighborhoods since 2016.

We have started to look at engagement as a marketing funnel, from passive to active engagement along the following steps:

  1. Awareness of Place

  2. Read & Stay Informed

  3. Communicate Issues & Concerns

  4. Attend Meetings & Events

  5. Volunteer

  6. Lead

Presenting in Paris, France

I was invited by faculty of Paris-East Créteil University to present at an international symposium on urban revitalization strategies in 2018 at the Palais du Luxembourg in Paris, France.

I was the only American on the panel which included individuals from Dresden, Germany; Lisbon, Portugal; Ukraine; and the Louvre.

Skills

  • Strategy

    Over ten years experience with strategic planning and facilitation, primarily using OGSM methodology. Additional experience with Impact Mapping and similar prioritization exercises.

  • Data, Research, & Analysis

    Led organization-wide efforts for performance measurement and research and analysis. Helped define measurements of primary objectives for the organization.

  • Engagement & Relationships

    Strong history of building quality connections within and between organizations and communities.

  • Leadership

    Have been a member of the Executive Leadership Team of my organization for over 8 years. Have directly led teams upwards of 17 FTEs. I have indirectly led many small and large cross-functional teams.

  • Marketing Communications

    Possess diverse experience as a communications professional, ranging from public information officer and media relations to writing and designing for print and digital.