Director of Communications

Office: B-4-231 MAK

Phone: (616) 331-2495

Email:   [email protected] 

• CLAS champion and cheerleader
• Administers CLAS website and social media
• Editor of CLAS publications
• Strategic communication and project management for CLAS initiatives
• Provides dean and associate deans with strategic and crisis communications counsel
• Supports the dean in all communication efforts
• Develops and implements integrated internal and external communications plans for CLAS programs, research, and other initiatives
• Using audience, community and industry analysis, develops strategies and tactics to position and amplify the work of CLAS faculty, staff and students
• Partners with University Communications and University Marketing to produce stories and material that tell the CLAS story and grow the CLAS brand
• Supports faculty, staff and units in their communication efforts
• Project manager of all CLAS Dean’s Office events including Fall Start Up Meeting, Alumni-in-Residence Luncheon, and Spring Celebration
• Dean’s Office liaison and project manager of the GV Arts Celebration
• Partners with University Development and the Associate Director of College Advancement to develop and implement donor engagement strategies.
• Works with Alumni Relations and CLAS units to develop and implement alumni engagement strategies.
• Serves as board secretary to the CLAS Advisory Board. Assists Dean and Board Chair with board strategy and engagement.
• Serves on the CLAS Voyage Executive Committee and provides internal and external communication strategies and tactics, project management, and strategic planning guidance. Develops and implements CLAS Voyage brand.

Kristen is a communications professional with over 20 years of experience, primarily in non-profit arts and cultural institutions. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Interdisciplinary Humanities from Michigan State University and a master’s degree in Management with a specialization in Communications from Aquinas College. She is a 2016 graduate of Leadership Grand Rapids. Before coming to GVSU, Kristen spent 16 years working for the Grand Rapids Public Library as the head of marketing and communications.  She also served as the Public Relations and Marketing Manager for the Grand Rapids Art Museum and held various positions at the Grand Rapids Dominicans, the National Museum of the American Indian, and the Michigan State University Museum. She was a consultant for LEAD, Inc., a company specializing in strategic planning for nonprofit organizations. She also assists small local non-profits with communications strategy, most recently Embellish.  Kristen currently is the Past President of the West Michigan Public Relations Society of America and was the President of the Cultural Marketing Group (twice!) and has served on the American Library Association's Public Relations and Marketing Training Committee, the Michigan Library Association's Annual Conference Committee and has been awarded over twenty Best in Show awards for her communications initiatives from the American Library Association. Kristen lives in Grand Rapids with her husband and son. In her spare time, she loves reading, listening to podcasts, and discussing the latest celebrity gossip.