The Firm
Staff
Lauren Brisbo Account Executive
Ms. Brisbo brings experience in public relations, event planning and editorial writing to PRR. Skilled at creatively tailoring messages to the general public, she strives to get every client's story told though a variety of media venues. With over three years of writing and public relations experience, Ms. Brisbo supports the media relations team with her writing and pitching efforts. Her diverse program experience includes implementing a national corporate product launch, re-branding a non-profit campaign and developing successful communication tools for a small local business. Ms. Brisbo has helped develop, pitch and execute media campaigns for clients including U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington Traffic Safety Commission and Seattle Public Utilities. She currently provides media relations and communications support for the ENERGY STAR Commercial and Industrial Buildings Program which awards commercial buildings for improving their energy efficiency. She also assists with media outreach efforts for the Washington State Department of Transportation's I-90 Snoqualmie Pass East Project. Ms. Brisbo studied at the University of Washington and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in communications, with a minor in international studies.
Amy Danberg Associate
Ms. Danberg has more than five years of media relations, community relations and public affairs experience—three of those in the transportation industry. At PRR, she served as deputy public information officer for the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) I-405 Congestion Relief and Bus Rapid Transit projects, and currently manages communication strategies, public outreach and government affairs for WSDOT's I-90 Snoqualmie Pass East Project. As part of an innovative approach to managing a large public works project, Ms. Danberg is co-located with the project team to ensure strong professional relationships and open communication between the public, engineering consultants and WSDOT. She currently manages public and media relations (including events), develops public outreach materials, creates strategic presentations for key project members, oversees the project websites, facilitates the production of design visualizations and leads a team of four communications professionals on the project. She completed WSDOT's Reader-Friendly writing training and is skilled at crafting public documents that clearly communicate complex information to a variety of audiences. Active in the community, Ms. Danberg volunteers for the Municipal League of King County, ASCE Seattle Section and Auburn's White River Valley Museum. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and a certificate in public relations from the University of Washington.
Rachael Darden Account Executive
Ms. Darden has more than five years experience in public relations, writing, event planning, promotions and marketing. She is skilled in organizing large-scale community involvement programs, drafting public outreach materials and developing project collateral and press materials. Ms. Darden provides project management and implementation support for King County's Northwest Natural Yard Days and Wastemobile programs and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's SunWise program. She previously led community outreach and public involvement for Sound Transit's East Link high capacity transit project. She has worked with clients such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Washington State Department of Transportation and Washington State Department of Health. Her vast experience with technical and creative writing, editing, and innate awareness of written and oral communication allows her to utilize the written word to its greatest potential based on each client's specific needs. Ms. Darden holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature with an emphasis in creative writing from Seattle Pacific University.
Katherine Diers Account Director
Ms. Diers is an expert in marketing, communications and promotions. With more than ten years of experience, she is versed in multiple aspects of marketing including event planning, public outreach and project management. Ms. Diers recently organized a tour of British Columbia product stewardship programs for elected officials and high-level decision makers from Washington and Oregon. She has coordinated the Northwest Natural Yard Days program for over eight years, working with national and local retailers to promote the sale of natural yard care products. Ms. Diers also launched an award-winning electronics recycling program with Staples, a national office supply retailer. The program gained national recognition, exceeding its three-month recycling goals in the first six weeks. Ms. Diers acts as program manager for a variety of King County projects covering topics such as electronics recycling, mercury recovery, behavior change marketing and hazardous waste management. Her experience in special events management and promotions includes a diverse range of clients such as Sound Transit, Seattle Public Library and Vulcan, Inc. In addition, she facilitates the Northwest Product Stewardship Council, a group leading producer responsibility efforts across the nation. Ms. Diers' work has received national Silver Anvil and regional Totem Awards for excellence from the Public Relations Society of America. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in business administration and marketing from Washington State University.
Leigh-Ann Eng Account Manager
Ms. Eng has over eight years of experience in marketing and is well-versed in media planning, media buying and project management. Her recent projects include media planning and buying for King County’s Take it Back Network, Northwest Natural Yard Days and Illegal Dumping programs. She has leveraged her media relationships and negotiated for Metropolitan Washington Council of Government's Go Recycle Campaign and Clean Air Partners Code Orange and Code Red Days Campaign—a program that targeted caregivers to the young, those with high risk health ailments and the elderly. The Clean Air Partners' campaigns were designed to increase awareness of preventative actions that people can take to remain safe on unhealthy air days. Ms. Eng leveraged the Clean Air Partners radio and print buy budget by over 177 percent with added value. She is experienced in print, radio, outdoor, online, television and non-traditional forms of advertising. Ms. Eng is skilled at efficiently and effectively reaching campaign objectives and target audiences by balancing the right mix of media. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in business administration with a concentration in marketing from Seattle University.
Demis Foster Account Director
Ms. Foster has 13 years experience managing marketing and media campaigns; executing major events and conferences; and coordinating communication between agencies, organizations, businesses and citizens. She is known for her innovative approach to outreach and ability to leverage a variety of resources to broaden awareness and inspire action for environmental and social issues. Ms. Foster is responsible for recruiting 10,000 members to the regional forest campaign, the Cascades Conservation Partnership, with creative strategies and ground-breaking collaborative sponsorships that earned her a nomination with the King County Event Producers Awards for sponsorship of the year. Ms. Foster has produced and promoted several regional environmental film festivals—collaborating with filmmakers, government officials and organizations working on a broad range of issues ranging from environmental justice to global warming. At PRR, she serves as a communication liaison between agencies and citizens for the Washington State Department of Transportation's I-405 Congestion Relief and Bus Rapid Transit projects. Ms. Foster is responsible for developing strategies to inform, educate and engage residents, businesses and other stakeholders in the I-405 corridor. Her work includes overseeing communications that support the NEPA/SEPA Environmental Assessment process, as well as managing and facilitating public meetings and special events. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in English with a creative writing emphasis from Boise State University and a certificate in editing from the University of Washington.
Kirsten Hauge Senior Associate
Ms. Hauge has an extensive background in communications, public relations, community outreach, campaign management and public affairs. Her experience includes planning public involvement programs, providing strategic advice, creating public outreach materials and managing public events for a number of significant transportation, planning and capital improvement projects. In addition, she is skilled at crafting and editing public documents to clearly communicate complex information to a variety of audiences. Ms. Hauge provides public involvement services for clients such as the Washington State Department of Transportation, Washington State Ferries, King County and City of Bellevue. Prior to joining PRR, Ms. Hauge worked for State Representative Deb Wallace, where she organized town hall forums and district events, and helped facilitate communication between Representative Wallace, constituents and stakeholders in the development and advancement of legislation. In previous positions, Ms. Hauge has managed a successful legislative campaign, created a public relations campaign proposal for the Evergreen School District and coordinated newsletter production and event planning for Pacific Lutheran University. She holds Bachelor of Arts degrees in psychology and communications from Pacific Lutheran University.
Amanda Hickman Associate
Ms. Hickman serves as a communicator for the Washington State Department of Transportation I-90 Snoqualmie Pass East project. She is co-located with the I-90 project team to execute community outreach, public affairs events, conferences and on-site communications. Ms. Hickman has a background in technical and creative writing, editing, publishing and communications planning and implementation. Her results-driven work ethic and diverse career history enable her to offer clients a variety of campaign ideas and services to meet their promotional goals. Ms. Hickman's professional experiences include writing, designing and publishing for trade publications; non-profit media relations planning; and managing and designing promotional campaigns for advertising specialty accounts. She also completed an internship with the public affairs department at Energy Northwest and created several community awareness and media campaigns for non-profit organizations, including the Victim-Offender Mediation Project of Kittitas County, Miss Yakima Association and Mid-Valley Television. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in public relations from Central Washington University.
Susan Hoffman Senior Associate
Ms. Hoffman brings more than nine years of unique experience as a public policy analyst in the public sector to PRR. She is proficient at analyzing programs and issues and developing and communicating workable solutions. She has an extensive background in analytical methods and the design and execution of analytical research projects. Ms. Hoffman is also highly skilled in providing effective oral and written presentations of project results to diverse audiences. She accomplished the majority of her experience with the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), where she worked on a diverse group of policy issues including transportation, health care, forestry, cargo shipping, food aid programs and the U.S. Navy. Most recently she managed the transportation issues group in GAO's New York regional office where her team developed recommendations to Congress on seat belt safety, Amtrak northeast corridor financing and highway construction financing. Ms. Hoffman manages special projects for the Washington State Department of Transportation. She earned Bachelor of Arts degrees in history and political science and a Master of Public Administration from the University of Washington.
Craig Kanaya Associate
Mr. Kanaya brings more than six years of experience in community outreach and construction communications to PRR. Currently, he coordinates communications and public involvement for the Washington State Department of Transportation's (WSDOT) I-405 Congestion Relief and Bus Rapid Transit projects. His role is to integrate with WSDOT's communications team to manage the contractor's construction outreach. Prior to joining PRR, Mr. Kanaya spent nearly four years working for Parsons, a transportation engineering firm, as a community outreach specialist where he provided communications for Sound Transit's Central Link Light Rail project. Mr. Kanaya coordinated construction activities between Sound Transit and residents, business owners and other stakeholders along the alignment and in the community. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism and public relations from Western Washington University.
Shannon Lucas Office Manager
Ms. Lucas is an expert in office management and customer service, providing PRR with an exceptional level of organization, clerical support, communication and management skills. Prior to joining PRR, she worked as the office services specialist for a national advertising agency. Ms. Lucas is dedicated to serving clients and co-workers with diligence and optimism and thereby provides an exceptional work environment for all PRR employees.
Jennifer Lynch Marketing Coordinator
Ms. Lynch has diverse experience in marketing, graphics, event planning and database management. Prior to joining PRR, she designed and coordinated publications, created and managed databases, maintained websites, conducted marketing and media relations campaigns and planned fundraising efforts for several local nonprofit organizations. Ms. Lynch earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Washington in business administration with a concentration in marketing.
Joe Martin Account Executive
Mr. Martin is a skilled communications outreach professional with four years of experience in marketing and promotions. He has negotiated public-private partnerships with QFC and Papa John's Pizza for King County's Recycle Food: It's Easy To Do campaign, and has secured national media placements with AOL and "The Money Pit" for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's ENERGY STAR program. He currently provides communication and media relations support on a variety of social marketing projects including King County's Northwest Natural Yard Days and Take it Back Network programs and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's SunWise program. Mr. Martin also assists on projects for the Washington State Department of Transportation, Baltimore Metropolitan Council, Remington Power Tools and Clean Air Partners. Previously, he worked as an office manager for a marketing research firm where he helped execute research studies for Microsoft. He also spent three years as a radio promotions representative for Universal Records. Mr. Martin approaches every project he works on with the vision that he can make a positive impact in his community and on the environment. Mr. Martin holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in business marketing, with a minor in music, from Seattle Pacific University.
Ginger Nuss Contract Administrator
Ms. Nuss has more than 15 years of contract and financing experience specializing in federal contract management. She is familiar with the various areas of contract administration, from the development of requirements to the completion and closeout of contracts. She is responsible for account receivable transactions and PRR's contract administration. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from the University of Washington.
Steve Peer Senior Associate
Mr. Peer comes to PRR from the insurance industry where he led internal strategic communications, managed projects, and implemented special events during his 12-year tenure. He is currently a construction communications project manager for the Washington State Department of Transportation's (WSDOT) I-405 Congestion Relief and Bus Rapid Transit projects. Mr. Peer's role is to integrate with WSDOT's communications department to manage the contractor's construction outreach. He specializes in communications and public outreach for construction projects; developing strategies to inform, educate and engage residents, businesses, and other stakeholders in the I-405 corridor; and managing and facilitating public meetings and events. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in public communication and human relations from Western Illinois University.
Miles Pomeroy IT Manager
Mr. Pomeroy brings strong network administration experience and problem solving abilities to PRR. His experience with hardware and software technical support make it possible for PRR staff to have total access to state-of-the-art services to help us best serve our clients. As an IT Manager at a private company in California, Mr. Pomeroy was responsible for managing more than 50 users in three locations and handled all IT maintenance and infrastructure upgrades. At PRR, he is responsible for design, implementation and administration of servers, desktops and the network. Mr. Pomeroy is a Microsoft Certified Professional for both Microsoft Windows XP Professional and Microsoft Windows Server 2003. He earned a Bachelor of Science in math and computer science at Loyola University Chicago. He has continued his education taking classes at Santa Barbara City College focusing on Microsoft system administration and Cisco networking.
Joy Radford Account Manager
Ms. Radford brings diverse experience in writing, editing, public relations, marketing and strategic planning to PRR. With over seven years of writing and editing experience, her keen understanding of the written word allows her to communicate the client's message with clarity and style. Ms. Radford is skilled at developing, pitching and executing media events, and organizing and launching campaigns. Her extensive project experience includes organizing a large-scale government pilot program, launching a corporate re-branding campaign and authoring content for a state-wide website on domestic violence. Ms. Radford has developed, pitched and helped execute award-winning media and marketing campaigns for such notable clients as King County, Washington State Department of Health, Northwest Weight Loss Surgery, Sara Gabriel Custom Veil Design and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Her organization and strategic approach assures that projects are completed on time with the best use of budget. Ms. Radford holds a Bachelor of Arts in English literature and creative writing from Seattle Pacific University and was Puget Sound Public Relations Society of America's 2007 Young Professional of the Year.
Jennifer Sandberg Project Coordinator
Ms. Sandberg brings over three years of public affairs, writing and event planning experience to PRR. As a part of the PRR public affairs team, she serves as a public information liaison to the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) on several major improvement projects. Ms. Sandberg currently dedicates most of her time to the I-405 Congestion Relief and Bus Rapid Transit project, and is co-located at the I-405 project office in Bellevue where she coordinates communication between the public, engineering consultants and WSDOT. Ms. Sandberg's duties include maintaining the citizen correspondence database, coordinating environmental meetings, managing project ground breakings and media events, drafting public outreach materials, creating strategic presentations for key project members and overseeing the I-405 project website. Active in the community, Ms. Sandberg volunteers for the ASCE Seattle Section where she assists with media and event efforts. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in communication from the University of Washington.
Kathy Schomer Research Associate
Ms. Schomer brings twelve years of experience in market research and research coordination to PRR. She has extensive experience conducting both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies for various industries. Ms. Schomer's expertise has been implemented in PRR projects that have won regional and national awards (Totem Awards and Silver Anvil Awards). Prior to joining PRR, she was involved in customer satisfaction and retention research, customer and public opinion polling, and research for new product development. These projects integrated a variety of research methods including questionnaire design, online surveys, focus groups, database administration and data analysis. Ms. Schomer also teaches research methods and statistics to undergraduates in the Applied Psychology program at a local university. Ms. Schomer's past experience also includes investigative research, writing case studies and drafting legislation on environmental issues. She holds a Master's degree in sociology from the University of Cincinnati and Bachelor of Arts degrees in sociology and political science from Gonzaga University.
Steve Smith Associate
Mr. Smith brings nearly ten years of experience in public policy, government affairs, community outreach and media relations to PRR. He coordinates communications and public involvement as well as local agency agreements between WSDOT and cities along the I-405 Corridor for the Washington State Department of Transportation's (WSDOT) I-405 Congestion Relief and Bus Rapid Transit projects. Mr. Smith also provides policy analysis, writing and technical support to the WSDOT Aviation Division's Long-Term Air Transportation Study and the Washington State Aviation Planning Council. He has also provided strategic guidance to the Snohomish County Public Works Department as part of their planning for development of the Cathcart Way Recycling and Transfer Station. Prior to joining PRR in 2006, Mr. Smith spent nearly five years working for Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon, most recently as a policy advisor managing state and federal government affairs activities. He also spent time working for Mr. Reardon as a legislative aide in the Washington State House of Representatives and as a chief of staff in the Washington State Senate. Before moving to Washington State, Mr. Smith was a research analyst with the National Conference of State Legislatures in Washington, D.C., where he specialized in the areas of workforce development, education, agriculture and international trade. Mr. Smith holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Penn State University.
Jamie Strausz-Clark Senior Associate
Ms. Strausz-Clark has more than 12 years of experience in public policy, legislative advocacy, media relations and social marketing. Her expertise is in serving as the bridge between government and citizens, policy analysts and the people, and transportation engineers and the community. Ms. Strausz-Clark also specializes in environmental justice and transportation demand management (TDM)—strategies that result in more efficient use of transportation resources. At PRR, she oversees communications and public outreach for WSDOT and Urban Mobility Group TDM programs. She is also writing the Social, Public Services, Utilities and Environmental Justice Discipline Report for an Environmental Assessment. Prior to joining PRR, she served as public information officer for the City of Redmond, coordinating press relations and providing strategic communications guidance to department heads. Ms. Strausz-Clark also developed residential and small business TDM programs and created marketing materials for Redmond's nationally-recognized employer-based TDM program. She holds a Master of public policy from Duke University and a Bachelor of Arts in political science from the University of California, San Diego. Ms. Strausz-Clark is a member of the Association for Commuter Transportation and active in the Puget Sound Chapter of the Women's Transportation Seminar. She also serves on the board of the Joseph Pedott Endowment, a foundation that supports low-income young people in achieving their educational goals.
Andrea Wedderburn Account Director
With more than eight years of experience, Ms. Wedderburn has overseen public relations, corporate communications and crisis communications for consumer, government, technology and non-profit organizations. She previously led a private consulting firm focused on high-tech public relations. Prior to that, Ms. Wedderburn was a senior account executive at a public relations firm in Washington D.C., where her clients included Motorola, Honeywell, the U.S. Army, Takeda Pharmaceuticals and the League of Women Voters. At PRR, she provides media relations for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Remington Power Tools, Washington State Department of Transportation, Washington Traffic Safety Commission and Washington State Coalition for the Homeless. Ms. Wedderburn is adept at developing national and regional media campaigns, using her communications expertise to help organizations outline their key messages and influence target audiences through national and regional press. She has reached more than 250 million people by placing news stories with leading media outlets, including The New York Times, Associated Press, Reuters, USA Today, TIME, "Good Morning America", "Primetime", "20/20", "Dateline", "Anderson Cooper's 360°", O: The Oprah Magazine, Glamour, Men's Health, Essence, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, The Seattle Times, Popular Mechanics, San Francisco Chronicle and Los Angeles Times. Ms. Wedderburn received her Bachelors of Arts degree from Denison University in Ohio.
Kimbra Wellock Associate
Ms. Wellock brings seven years experience in planning, public involvement and community development to PRR where she develops innovative public involvement strategies for challenging transportation, land use and community planning projects. Her clients include the City of Seattle, City of Everett, Washington State Department of Transportation, Seattle Department of Transportation and Sound Transit. Prior to joining PRR, she worked as a planner for the Town of Framingham, Massachusetts where she initiated and managed the town's brownfield redevelopment program and worked on downtown revitalization projects with an emphasis on transit-oriented development, mixed-use housing strategies and pedestrian mobility issues. She also assisted with the development of the town's housing plan and staffed citizen committees working on economic and industrial development and downtown revitalization. She previously worked as part of Freddie Mac's Housing and Community Investments group where she partnered with non-profit agencies and financial institutions to create homeownership programs targeting low income and minority communities. Ms. Wellock holds a Master of urban planning and policy from the University of Illinois at Chicago and a Bachelor of Arts degree from American University in international studies with a minor in Russian language.