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KAREN LYN CROW

Seattle, WA 98102

Email: karencrow@yahoo.com / Phone: 206-498-7705

                                                                       

SUMMARY and SKILLS

 

Social marketing and health communication specialist with over 10 years of experience managing strategic projects for nonprofit organizations, government agencies, academic institutions and for-profit companies

 

Skills include: planning and implementation of behavior change programs to promote health and safety;

results-oriented project management; continuous process improvement;

data collection and analysis for program evaluation and strategic decision-making;

effective relationship management for collaboration with diverse internal and external stakeholders

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EXPERIENCE

 

University of Washington, Department of Environmental Health & Safety                                     

Seattle, WA

Job Title: Project Manager

Dates: March 2015 to July 2016

 

• Performed day-to-day operations for a sponsored research project using a participatory ergonomics approach to prevent work-related musculoskeletal injuries among custodians and promote workplace safety

• Enabled team-centered design of a culturally-sensitive survey instrument

• Directed recruitment process and survey administration, resulting in 60% participation rate

• Executed an analysis of survey results and provided summaries to the project team for use in the selection of four high-risk tasks to target for intervention

• Hosted working group meetings to identify potential ergonomic solutions in a participatory manner

• Facilitated process to develop and pilot test prototypes

• Organized training sessions for 220 custodians on ergonomic methods for risk-reduction

• Conducted interviews from participants and collected feedback from focus groups to refine implementation plan

• Managed budget and oversaw vendor procurement for consultants, translators, interpreters, and graphic designer

• Negotiated approval for human subjects research from Institutional Review Board including multiple modifications

• Reported progress and communicated with internal and external stakeholders

• Project is funded by Washington State Department of Labor & Industries through July 2016

 

 

 

United States Peace Corps                                                                                                                   

Piura, Peru

Job Titles: Community Health Volunteer and Public Health Educator

Dates: September 2012 to November 2014

 

• Implemented two outcomes-oriented health promotion programs to reduce the rate of malnutrition among children under three years of age and prevent teen pregnancies, which resulted in

 

36 mothers of small children demonstrated improvement on 18 of 22 behavioral and health indicators

17% of malnourished children fully recovered height and/or weight after one year

75% of adolescents adopted at least one new behavior to prevent pregnancy and the transmission of STIs

Eight adolescents served as peer educators for advising youth to minimize risk-taking behaviors

 

• Achieved program goals by designing evidence-based programs rooted in proven health communication theories, utilizing community-based social marketing best practices and the Peace Corps approach to development (programs were participatory, collaborative, inclusive, sustainable and transparent)

• Performed a community diagnostic assessment to gather data for identifying health issues, pinpointing determinants of behavior and barriers to change that informed the development of impactful programs

• Provided technical assistance to build the capacity of 11 community-based health workers to sustain ongoing programs and optimize results

• Trained local health workers to facilitate a series of workshops to effectively address urgent community health needs (prevention of diarrhea illnesses, identification and treatment of respiratory illnesses, nutrition and early childhood development) attended by 83% of target audience

• Created culturally-appropriate monitoring and evaluation tools to accurately assess programs

• Built strong relationships with community partners through participatory decision-making and integrating local values into program planning and execution

• Successful grant proposals provided funding from USAID and PEPFAR

 

 

 

WestGlen Communications                                                                                                               

New York, NY

Job Title: Director

Dates: May 2006 to November 2011

 

• Directed over 100 social marketing and communication campaigns on behalf of over 60 prestigious nonprofit and government clients that earned awards and recognition from SABRE, Platinum PR, and Publicity Club

• Counseled clients on strategies to reach African-Americans, Hispanics, youth, general public and other target populations with compelling messages to promote positive health outcomes

• Composed and edited compelling campaign materials in English and Spanish for distribution to print, broadcast and online media outlets leading to high placement rates and widespread visibility (averaging 7,900 earned media placements, 63 million audience impressions and ROI of 6,100% per campaign)

• Conducted daily, monthly and yearly data analyses of thousands of electronically detected placements to monitor progress and evaluate the effectiveness of campaign strategies

• Used analyses of placement data to develop trend reports, fact sheets, progress reports, summaries, web pages, presentations and sales tools

• Launched initiatives to improve the effectiveness of projects: created more precise data utilization and evaluation tools; refined the project planning process to use evidence-based strategies; managed development, testing and roll-out of media database upgrade to more efficiently execute and track projects

• Contributed strategy recommendations for new business proposals and presented successful pitches that resulted in over $1.1 million of new business annually

• Recruited, coached and oversaw the performance of 2.5 staff, plus multiple vendors and consultants

• Hired as Project Manager and promoted to Director in 2008

 

 

 

Planned Parenthood Federation of America                                                                                   

New York, NY

Job title: Media Relations Consultant

Dates: May 2005 to November 2005

 

• Determined functionality and launch strategy for a website to increase visibility of the pro-choice perspective for the Supreme Court case Ayotte vs. Planned Parenthood of New Hampshire

• Drafted and distributed press releases, media advisories, fact sheets, briefings and online articles on a daily basis

• Wrote a policy manual and style guide distributed to Planned Parenthood affiliates nationwide

• Arranged media training and briefings for 12 internal spokespersons and 65 coalition partners

• Performed daily analyses of major media outlets for identifying emerging issues and trending topics used by department managers and executives in media strategy planning

 

 

 

Cornerstone Foundation                                                                                                          

San Ignacio, Belize

Job Title: Community Outreach Project Coordinator

Dates: June 2004 to August 2004

 

• Worked with Director and staff to identify areas of need for the HIV/AIDS program and potential social marketing tactics to address the increasing HIV transmission rates and the cultural barriers that prevent local residents from consenting to HIV testing

• Managed a team of eight international volunteers to develop a social marketing program to educate the local community on HIV transmission and promote the importance of HIV testing, with the goal of reducing the stigma associated with testing and reducing discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS

• Developed a culturally-appropriate educational tool (a puppet show) that attracted parents with children to a community presentation that served to dispel myths about HIV and reduce barriers to testing

 

 

 

Washington Mutual Bank                                                                                                                      

Seattle, WA

Job Title: Marketing Coordinator

Dates: October 2000 to August 2003

 

• Assisted in execution of community-based new market entry events to achieve brand awareness

• Contributed to raising Washington Mutual’s name recognition to 1 in 5 New Yorkers

• Coordinated internal communications to ensure smooth execution of in-branch promotional events

• Designed a system to manage project information and report progress to senior executives

 

 

 

Japan Education Teaching (JET) Programme                                                                                

Suzuka, Japan

Job Title: Assistant Language Teacher

Dates: July 1999 to July 2000

 

• Taught English writing and conversation classes to 96 high school students

 

 

EDUCATION and CERTIFICATIONS

 

Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs - New York, NY                     Completed: May 2005

Degree: Master of Public Administration, concentration in Health Policy

 

University of Washington - Seattle, WA                                                                                          Completed: December 1996

Degree: Bachelor of Arts, major in Psychology

 

American Council for the Teaching of Foreign Languages                                                          Completed: November 2014

Certificate: Advanced Spanish language proficiency