People
Sandy Skees, CEO/C4G Founder
Sandy, a senior sustainability communications strategist, gives established businesses, early stage companies and organizations insight on the intersection of brand, communications and purpose. With her clients, Sandy is creating programs that give businesses a way to focus, share, and motivate change in the world – change that values people, respects planetary resources and fosters prosperity. The agency represents companies in the Consumer, Sustainability, Social Innovation, Food/Ag, and Cleantech sectors including clients in CSR software, industrial waste reclamation, venture capital, solar, gaming, energy management, and food education sectors. Previously a partner at Porter Novelli, she managed the global HP account team in 20 cities/10 countries around the world and served on the Global Citizen Task Force and Pro Bono Initiative. Sandy is on the Advisory Board for Sustainable Brands, a board member of Mini Mermaid Running Club, founder of Yes& Circle of Change and the 100+ Women Who Care giving circle, and has appeared as a speaker or guest blogger for Sustainable Brands, Sustainable Life Media, Sustainable Minds, West Coast Green, PRSA International Conference, and the What’s Next Lecture Series. She spends as much time as she can hiking in forests, sitting on beaches, cooking with others and learning something new every day. Sandy@communications4good.com
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Irene Tsouprake, LoveTank Founder
Believing that straight lines are beautiful but meant to be colored outside of, Irene colors all over the page and onto the walls at every chance. She’s done stints at wildland firefighting, journalism, motherhood, small business development, acting, motherhood again, larger business development, corporate meetings and events, business ownership, yes-motherhood AGAIN, nearly-dying-but-not, writing, congress briefing, Gross National Happiness advocating, and finally, (exhale) living with and for purpose. Grateful for each of these experiences, she’s committed to a new business paradigm, one that marries profit to purpose and helps companies expand the indicators by which they measure success beyond quarterly profits. Irene recently performed a one-woman show about Judy Garland, is a triathlete, and also curates and co-organizes Tedx Santa Cruz. irene@lovetank.biz
Susan Ditz is a results-oriented communications professional. For more than 30 years, Susan Ditz has launched products, established brand identity, turned around negative images and influenced change. Key to Susan’s accomplishments in public relations has been a strong track record as a journalist with the San Jose Mercury News, numerous business journals and a long list of magazines. Years in the trenches as a print and online writer have given her an insider’s understanding of how the media works, plus a knack for finding engaging stories, mining them for all the angles and presenting them in a compelling, understandable voice. Having grown up in a California ranching family with roots that go back to before the Gold Rush, Susan’s unique perspective on agriculture also comes from a decade spent as a successful herb farmer. She is a member of the American Agriculture Editors Association, San Mateo County Farm Bureau, the Western Music Association and the Dude Ranchers Association.
Susan@communications4good.com
Nicole Conley focuses on three areas for her clients: consumer/business/trade broadcast/print/blog outreach, analyst relations and speaking programs, where she has nurtured key relationships and expertise. With more than 15 years experience with key press and analysts, she understands the best strategies and particular procedures for working with each relevant influencer. As a former newspaper reporter, she also looks beyond traditional analysts to identify other key opinion leaders, a practice that can build credibility quickly. Thoughtful yet aggressive in her media relations efforts, Nicole drives company awareness, secures coverage, arranges extensive press tour line-ups and can strategize unique ways to get meaningful exposure. These include identifying and pitching industry trends, working with key customers to secure case studies, and uncovering interesting company and management stories for profile stories and executive Q & A. Some of her current and past clients include Connectivity Semiconductor, SiRF Technology, Fluid, Inc., earthmine, White Sky, Inc., Fantage, Inc., Abaq.us, Project Hired, S3, Mercury Interactive, Everyone.net and Sana Security. Nicole holds a B.A. in Journalism from San Francisco State University.
Andrea Hultzen is a Logistics Engineer and delights in pursuing the expansion of her consciousness and capacity to love. Her ability to connect with people and understand what is needed in any given circumstance has proven itself invaluable as an event producer and project manager over the last 10 years. A raw food and nutrition aficionado, we count on her to keep our junk food habits in check. Dre is devoted to helping create a more compassionate world for her sons to grow up in.
Karen Lippe has worked in the PR and marketing industry for 25 years. Her core experience has centered on bringing technology, products and companies to market. She has extensive experience in strategy development, messaging, product launch and social media. Karen has worked in corporations and agencies as well as running her own consulting company. Recent client engagements include managing and implementing a company and social networking/commerce site launch at DEMO, creating a customer case study program, and website repositioning. Karen@communications4good.com
Amir Magal, Expert Tribal Revivalist, is a brilliant photographer and social activist renowned for his Tribal Body Markings project, it is simply impossible for Amir to separate art from life. He loves capoeira, music and yoga, and is a well respected photographer in all of those worlds. Recently, he’s focused his creative energy on igniting Tribal Revival inside corporations in order to grow community and purpose. Amir volunteers as a camp counselor for disabled adults several times a year.He also paints, draws, cooks… well… you get the picture.
Amon Rappaport is a senior marketing communications strategist in sustainability, social enterprise, and public health. For more than 15 years, he has advanced corporate responsibility and created brand value for leading companies, innovative foundations and nonprofits, and state and national government agencies. His recent projects include developing a social marketing strategy for AARP, executive producing a promotional video for Sustainable Brands, and conducting a communications audit for the Blue Shield of California Foundation, for which he currently serves as interim communications director. Amon is the former communications director of Business for Social Responsibility (BSR), where he worked on consulting projects including Wells Fargo’s CSR report, Chevron’s digital strategy, GE’s citizenship website content, and benchmarking consumer products messages for Campbell’s Soup Company. He led the team charged with BSR’s marketing communications strategy and execution across offices in Asia, Europe, and North America, including media relations, and the editing, design, and production of print and digital publications and collateral. Prior to BSR, Amon was the communications director for several nonprofits, working on issues including HIV/AIDS prevention, and corporate accountability within the alcohol and media industries. He started his career on the social marketing team at Porter Novelli, where he was responsible for media advocacy on the award-winning “truth” teen anti-tobacco campaign and helped launch President Clinton’s anti-drug media campaign. Amon received a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from Pomona College and a Master’s degree in Public Policy from Harvard University.
Erika Schuetze has more than 13 years of public relations experience, working for a wide range of technology companies, nonprofit organizations and cleantech ventures. She has strong media relations research and outreach experience, working with Silicon Valley clients such as Veritas (now Symantec), Business Objects, Agilent and many start-ups. With extensive experience in media relations, she has a track record for meeting and exceeding goals and has successfully secured coverage for her clients in their target publications, including Wall Street Journal, Inc., InformationWeek, BNET (CBS Interactive), Consumers Digest and American Way Magazine as well as many vertical publications. Most recently, Erika has transformed her technology experience into a deep understanding of the cleantech and sustainability sectors. She has developed research reports, created targeted media lists, comprehensive databases and customized pitches for early-stage cleantech companies. Her work includes public relations outreach in the solar energy, sustainability consulting, energy management and LED lighting sectors. A graduate of San Jose State University, Erika continues her communications education via seminars and workshops in sustainability and social media. Erika@communications4good.com
Sheila Schat serves as Director of Partnerships, is passionate about life and work and is invigorated by creative and engaging people, places and ideas. She has spent 15 years working with innovative nonprofit organizations formulating solutions to the nation’s most pressing social issues. A musician at heart, Sheila has toured the US, Canada, and Europe as a fiddler and cellist. A dual national with the Netherlands, Sheila is comfortable in both English and Dutch.
Mariah Tanner, intern extraordinaore, is a senior at California State University, Monterey Bay where she is studying Collaborative Health & Human Services with a dual concentration in Public Health and Social Work. Her passion for serving the local community, empowering individuals to thrive, and dedication for increasing civic engagement is what moves her to achieve excellence from herself and others. Her work with United Way of Santa Cruz County, and as a Peer Mentor for underachieving college students, has led her to a deeper understanding of how when given the right tools and encouragement, the possibilities for success within individuals and society is endless. Having spent 21 years as a competitive swimmer, Mariah is transforming her love for the sport through entering the world of triathlons.
Mary Talpas is the Chief Operating Officer and Web Designer at Communications4Good, responsible for agency operations including finances, process management, and technical support as well as website design and implementation for a wide range of clients. She provides these services to other companies through her firm, OnCall831. Mary started work in the high tech industry at National Semiconductor and Shugart Associates. Her work at Apple Computer, from 1984 to 1998, included managing the implementation of new products and processes in manufacturing and engineering. Mary has an Associates Degree from Deanza College, Magna Cum Laude, and a B.S. from the University of San Francisco in Information Systems. mary@communications4good.com
Kelly Wanlass is a senior public relations consultant with 15 years of proven success getting media results for her clients in their respective markets, whether cleantech, high-tech, semiconductor, software, online collaboration, or data storage. Starting her career as a writer for The Associated Press, Kelly branched into PR at Applied Communications Corp., where she managed media relations for Oracle Corp. and Storage Technology Inc., focusing on placing (and often writing) various trend pieces and case studies on the success these companies brought their clients in publications such as Information Week, Computerworld, eWeek, Computer Reseller News, PC Magazine and C/Net. A sustainability highlight was securing Wall Street Journal coverage for Ethisphere Institute’s World’s Most Ethical Companies annual report. As an experienced “media maven’” for the past 11+ years, Kelly now manages media relations, speaking opportunities, communications strategy, and the development of case studies, press releases and whitepapers for a range of clients.
