Helping you stand out in the field is what I do.
I'm elana.
With proven expertise building brands and leading marketing communications for clients across industries, I help organizations elevate their positioning and increase their impact.
A proud branding specialist and marketing communications generalist, I offer a track record of success enabling businesses to realize objectives and advance their mission. Delivering strategic vision supported by tactical know-how, I can help your brand reach broader audiences for deeper results. Whether staffing in-house or contracting support, call on me.
DataKind
Founders of the Data for Good movement, DataKind is a global nonprofit that harnesses the power of data science and AI in service of humanity. With chapters around the globe and a volunteer network of over 20,000 strong, DataKind brings high-impact organizations together with leading data scientists to address the world's most pressing challenges. As the organization approached its ten-year anniversary, I was brought on board to lead marketing communications and help advance the movement, elevate the brand, and evolve the organization from a startup to a mature, agile operation.
Outcomes include:
Global brand standards including logo, iconography, and brand communications system
Messaging and tone guidelines with framework for inclusive language
Website and email marketing redesign
Strategy for 10 Year Anniversary including concept, campaign logo, and graphic system
Marketing and fundraising collateral for business development
Grant publications for major funders including google.org, Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, and The Rockefeller Foundation
Global event campaigns and communications materials
Conference and thought-leadership visibility with presentation templates and media kits
Digital and social media content strategy and templates
Movement and brand building apparel and print and digital swag
Press relations and media support
Annual planning, budgeting, and OKR development
Development of anti-racist business practices
Wake Up Yoga
Established in 2002, this once pioneering yoga studio found itself outmoded by increasing competition in a saturated market. With a nimble consultant team and a modest budget, I led a rebrand initiative that reimagined every touchpoint of this multi-location operation for a new generation.
Deliverables include:
Rebranding including brandmark and identity system
Website with integrated booking engine and content management system
Email marketing and social media strategy
Exterior and interior signage
Photography art direction
Promotional materials and advertising
Retail apparel and swag
Chatham Hall
Chatham Hall, a boarding school in Virginia, yields bold, confident graduates who impact the world. But their rural location, despite all its benefits, had become a branding challenge—it was perceived as a school for shy, less-motivated students. To communicate their powerful outcomes to prospective families, I led a comprehensive rebranding collaboration—including brand strategy, visual identity, website design, and admissions campaign—conveying the message that at Chatham Hall, you feel unstoppable.
Deliverables include:
Qualitative and quantitive landscape research
Brand strategy and positioning
Key messaging and tagline
Rebranding of school and athletics brandmarks
Stationery and identity system
Video production and photography
Admissions catalog and print materials
Website redesign
Email marketing templates
Advertising creative
Social media campaign
Please Touch Museum
As Senior Director, Marketing and Communications, I was recruited as part of the new leadership at a turning point in the iconic museum’s 40-year history. Charged with helping to reinvigorate the institution and reposition the destination in the marketplace, the work called on every tool in the marcom toolkit to turn around the museum’s positioning, attendance, and revenue from bankruptcy to sustainability.
Outcomes include:
Strategic plan and tactical strategies that established KPIs, surpassed quarterly goals, fostered long-term sustainability, and raised standards of excellence
Increase visitor count by 10% above prior year — in the year of bankruptcy emergence — with 103% of attendance goal and 112% of revenue goal exceeded
Rebranding and digital initiatives to reimagine the museum’s look and messaging across touchpoints
Amplified media impressions across earned and paid channels, including broadcast, print, digital, and mobile
Partnerships across the region, including Mayor’s office, to increase brand visibility and advance program objectives
Restructured department staff and graphics, sales, retail, and call center operations
Elevated communications across earned, paid, and owned media, including website, digital, social media, PR, and advertising
JCC Manhattan
Hired as Managing Director, Marketing to develop and implement marketing communications strategies to advance its mission, maximize program registration, and support fundraising, I quickly realized the organization lacked the basis of a clear identity and unifying message. Within nine months, I orchestrated a rebranding initiative that refined the name and created cohesion across 1200+ programs, producing efficiencies and consistency across communications. The results raised the organization's profile and public perception, expanded its outreach to diverse audiences, and positioned it to launch a successful capital campaign.
Outcomes include:
Rebrand including naming and identity system for the umbrella brand and brand architecture for subprograms
Positioning and messaging for each constituency across demographics
Redesigned website and email marketing that integrated with a new business system
Media strategy and press relations to gain local and national attention
Streamlined and consistent program marketing and promotional tactics
Gained efficiencies in production and operations
Increased program attendance and registration
Successful fundraising and capital campaign
RESTART
by Wilcox Kamens
Contracted as a consultant to develop the brand strategy, name, visual identity, and ecommerce storefront for this retail art startup, I quickly became so integral to the business that I was asked to stay on as the Managing Director. Leading marketing strategy, client accounts, and product production, our resulting success led a major national retailer to acquire the company’s line of art products.
Deliverables include:
Brand strategy, positioning, and creative briefs
Naming and visual identity system
Product development
Ecommerce website and digital marketing
Sales and presentation materials
Photography art direction
Vendor, project, and production management
Fleisher
Art Memorial
Founded in 1898, Fleisher is among the country’s oldest community art schools which today serves over 20,000 people annually through its classes, exhibitions, and outreach programs. To help the organization reach beyond its walls and into the community, I led an agency team to define its strategic goals and create a compelling new brand image, message platform, and digital applications that celebrate Fleisher’s history and creative spirit, while establishing a foundation for a promising future.
Deliverables include:
Brand strategy and positioning
Name evolution and tagline
Message platform
Visual identity system
Website architecture and design
Brand guides and internal manifesto
Communication templates and materials
JEVS Human Services
Mounting a capital campaign and facing an identity crisis, JEVS Human Services needed a compelling new brand identity that reflects its history, as well as the depth, breadth, and quality of its services, which touch nearly 25,000 lives annually. As a Strategy & Digital Director Consultant, I led the brand and digital strategy that, together with a creative team, produced a name change, identity system, website and digital communications, and tactical execution which created consistency across all programs and operations, and resulted in achieving its fundraising goals.
Deliverables include:
Brand strategy and positioning
Brand architecture
Naming and tagline
Visual identity system
Website design and development
Promotional campaign and tactical execution
Moore College of Art & Design
With the goals of expanding the college’s reach, growing admissions prospectives, and increasing yield, Moore College of Art & Design needed to elevate its brand in the competitive higher education marketplace. From new business to concept development to tactical execution, I collaborated with the creative team to develop the campaign — This is me. This is Moore. — that celebrates the college’s commitment to preparing young women for careers in the arts. The campaign extended across admissions materials and included a complete website redesign that continued to tell the story to prospective students, parents, and teachers, while serving as a resource for the college and its community.
Deliverables include:
Brand strategy and positioning
Campaign development
BFA catalog
Admissions and marketing materials
Photography art direction
Website design and development with custom WordPress CMS