|
Carrie Collins
Principal
Carrie Collins draws on twenty-eight years of experience in public relations, the media, and public affairs to direct the firm’s branding and marketing initiatives for its non-profit clients. Carrie works with groups’ stakeholders to guide them through a messaging process that defines the core identity of their brand and creates a unique position for that brand in their audiences’ minds. She then designs and implements communications strategies that promote the brand and help these organizations achieve their programmatic and fundraising goals, educate and mobilize their constituencies, and market products and services. Her plans employ multi-channeled, highly leveraged tools and tactics, including the media, which energize donors and supporters.
Carrie has served as a Vice President for the international public relations firm of Ruder Finn where she managed communications and media campaigns for such clients as Denver Airport, Electricite de France, Phyffes of London, Goodwill, Citicorps, Medical Education for South African Blacks, the AIDS Quilt, International Women's Media Foundation, Xerox Realty Corporation, Newschannel 8, The Glaxo Institute, Marshall Heights Community Development Organization, and the American Farmland Trust.
Over a period of seven years, Carrie worked on Capitol Hill as both a legislative assistant in the House of Representatives and press secretary in the Senate. As a legislative assistant for the New England Congressional Caucus, she specialized in policy analysis in the areas of health and environment, advising Members of the House from the New England states on Superfund, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, oil spill legislation, and many other legislative proposals. As a press secretary for Sen. David Durenberger (R-MN), Carrie managed national and statewide outreach and media opportunities, developing strategies to build his national image in his areas of expertise: health and environment.
With nine years in broadcast television, Carrie brings to her work with the firm’s clients an understanding of how the media functions. As Executive Producer and Director of Programming at C-SPAN, she orchestrated the network’s coverage of major political events and helped to build the network's reputation, viewership, and influence in Washington and around the country. Carrie was one of the hosts of the three-times daily live national call-in program, conducting numerous on-camera interviews over the years with Members of Congress, White House officials, Cabinet members, journalists and other public policy experts. As a consultant, she also has many years of experience in implementing media relations strategies and has placed hundreds of stories in the country’s top national and local news outlets.
Prior to co-founding BCC, Carrie launched Collins Communications, providing public relations, media, community outreach and marketing counsel for a large variety of companies and organizations, including the U.S. Forest Service, Global One Telecommunications, Norman Data Defense Systems, Trigon Blue Cross Blue Shield, Citizen Action and the Washington Regional Network for Livable Communities.
Carrie also served as Director of Strategic Communications for American Rivers, a national conservation organization. In this role, she developed and implemented a five-year communications strategy and oversaw a rebranding initiative that helped the group raise its national profile, increase public understanding of its cause, and strengthen and diversify its constituencies.
Carrie sits on the Board of Directors of the Public Leadership Education Network. Carrie graduated from Mount Holyoke College with a bachelor’s degree in political science.
|
