Jennifer C. Simon
69 Schooley’s Mountain Road, Long Valley, NJ  07853
Home:  908-876-1952 / Cell:  973-464-1204
E-Mail:  jenchudy@yahoo.com


October 30, 2013

American Cancer Fund
PO Box 7262
Hillsborough, NJ 08844

I am very interested in speaking with you about communications opportunities at the American Cancer Fund.
I think my skills and background make me a perfect match for your team. I have an excellent business communications background, over 15 years of communications experience in both for- and non-profit organizations and, in March of 2011 was diagnosed with breast cancer and fought my own battle through a mastectomy, chemo and radiation. I have a thorough understanding of what a cancer victim goes through and their need for accurate, compassionate information, support and hope…and that’s what the American Cancer Fund does for all of those afflicted with the disease.  I want to work for an organization that gives people that hope and I believe that my experience combined with a sincere belief in what your organization does to make a difference in people’s lives makes me uniquely qualified to be a member of the American Cancer Fund.

I am currently Manager of Social Media for an agritainment business where I am responsible for all PR content (newsletters, social media posts, email blasts, e-newletters, photography and the company website) as well as managing external communications, and developing and placing local and regional features.

Prior to that, I worked for the Piscataway Township School District.  As Program Manager and Public Information Officer for that district, I managed all internal, external and media communications, and wrote and produced award-winning annual reports and school guides.  I was charged with tremendous community outreach responsibilities managing the programs run by the Community Education Department – the Children’s Corner preschool, before- and aftercare programs, summer camp and the adult continuing education offerings.  This required managing a staff of three, daily interaction with parents, planning and managing special events, hiring staff and oversight of student discipline issues.  During my tenure I increased enrollment in our preschool and summer camp programs.
 
My career began at Burson-Marsteller, the world’s largest global strategic communications firm, where I worked closely with the vice chairman as well as the managing director of organizational change and communications.  In these positions, I maintained relations with a client roster of top-rank managers for Fortune 500 and major global corporations.  I was responsible for creation of new business presentations, media research, media relations, day-to-day client contact, and preparation and distribution of press releases.

In 2002, I joined the Artists Community Federal Credit Union as a board member to formulate a communications strategy and was quickly appointed VP in charge of marketing, community education and publicity.  Then, in 2006, I joined McCormick Communications as Senior Account Executive where I built and maintained close relationships with several technology clients. I gave media relations advice, pitched stories and secured regional and tier one media placements to enhance the profile of these clients in the high tech sector.  

I believe I would bring exceptional value to the American Cancer Fund.  I recently made 65k, but am flexible.  I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Jennifer C. Simon


Jennifer Chudy Simon

69 Schooley’s Mountain Road  /  Long Valley, NJ  07853 / C:  973-464-1204;  H:  908-876-1952 / jenchudy@yahoo.com

Communications Professional with extensive track record of successful stakeholder communications for both non-profit and for-profit organizations. Key strengths include developing targeted and engaging messaging, increasing brand awareness and team building.
•	Wrote and produced Award-Winning District Annual Report and School Guide & Calendar
•	Successfully launched Social Justice Lecture Series with inaugural public event
•	Increased enrollment of two profitable school district programs, including the largest summer camp enrollment in over 20 years
•	Positioned key client spokespeople as industry thought leaders through speaker’s bureau programs
•	Scored national, industry-specific and local press coverage.

CAREER HISTORY

2012-Present  Alstede Farms, LLC (an agritainment business) – Manager of Social Media and Public Relations
•	Responsible for the social media presence and written and visual content of all public relations and marketing materials.
•	Have increased online presence through social media, weekly email blasts, and monthly electronic newsletters. (Over 40% increase in Facebook ‘likes’)
•	Member of the team that launched the new website to broad acclaim, increasing customer engagement and response.
•	Improved visual presence of the business through high level photography.

2008-2009	Piscataway Township Schools – Public Information Officer/Program Manager
•	Executed/managed district-wide communications, including writing and production of: the annual report; monthly and seasonal newsletters; school guide and calendar; press releases; and marketing materials such as invitations, flyers, and programs.
•	Oversaw and managed the following programs:  Children’s Corner Preschool, Adult Continuing Education, Before- and Aftercare School Programs, District Summer Camp.  Responsible for hiring and assessment of staff, introduction of new adult education courses, discipline, parent communications, and all marketing materials and promotion pieces.
•	Organized and produced events for the district, the Education Foundation, and other programs as needed.
•	Accomplishments:  award-winning Annual Report, award-winning School Guide and Calendar; over 50 media placements for the district; largest summer camp enrollment in over 20 years; successful launch of the Peggy Friedman Memorial Foundation for Social Justice Lecture series through the organization and production of the inaugural public event; substantial increase in preschool enrollment and standardization of preschool calendar for alignment to district guidelines.

2006-2008	McCormick Communications, Long Valley, NJ – Senior Account Executive
•	Counseled IT and telecom clients on stakeholder communications strategies resulting in tier one and industry-specific media placements.
•	Crafted press releases, speech abstracts and other pieces on a continuing basis for clients such as ProfitLine and  Zeacom Communications, resulting in national coverage increasing brand awareness of these clients .
•	Executed and delivered competitive landscape assessments and market research to define perceptions of target stakeholders for Global Bay.
•	Promoted organizational image enhancement through execution of sustained/focused media relations programs targeting local and national media as exemplied by my efforts to garner attention for Unified Communications pioneer Zeacom in its bid for recognition in the wake of Microsoft’s entre into UC.
•	Executed proactive counseling on and development of key messaging and strategy for all clients.
•	Actively pursued editorial calendar opportunities; developed and executed media outreach pitches; and performed media and issues monitoring for all clients.
•	Reviewed press kit, edited and developed new company boilerplate and backgrounder, and enhanced press release style for clients such as RVA Consulting, Zeacom and Global Bay.
•	Continually identified key client spokespeople/industry experts and positioned them as thought leaders in each of my client’s industries through Speaker’s Bureau program.

Jennifer Chudy Simon								Page 2
															

1994-2006	Burson Marsteller, New York, NY – Executive Assistant / Client Service Coordinator
•	Served as Executive Assistant for over 10 years for the Vice Chairman of the Board facilitating all aspects of travel and communications.
•	Coordinated offsite & event planning for clients including agenda development/editing, and materials preparation and coordination.
•	Partnered with Corporate Practice team to create new business pitches including prospect research, request for proposal preparation, writing and editing bios, and preparing pitch materials.
•	Developed and implemented a community relations program for Central & Southwest Utilities targeting niche constituencies and highlighting their “whole community” approach to delivering electricity.
•	Performed corporate positioning work, organizational change communications, mergers and acquisitions, media relations including research and placements; organization/distribution of releases and publicity; maintenance of ongoing client relationships;  client database creation and maintenance.

NON-PROFIT EXPERIENCE

2002-2007	Artists Community Federal Credit Union  -- VP, Board of Directors / Marketing and Publicity Chair 
•	Managed marketing, community education and all publicity for the Artists Community Federal Credit Union.
•	Designed and implemented initiatives with the purpose of educating the artistic community about ACFCU’s services, publicizing its mission and goals, and growing and developing credit union membership on a continuing basis.
•	Performed competitor comparisons and focus group research.
•	Developed a community outreach presentation which was designed, along with media placement, to raise ACFCU’s profile amongst artists with the goal of providing an ever-expanding list of resources to its members and potential members.

1984-2004	Theatre and Film
Classically trained actor with extensive experience in New York and at various regional theatres in both the classics and new plays.  Have been seen in industrial and independent films, including "Ikiru" (nominated for Best Short in the Australian film festival and selected for an international young people’s film festival in India) and “Fall From Paradise” Grand Prize winner of the Director’s View Film Festival (Stamford, CT) in February 2000, now available on amazon.com.  Co-produced the world premiere of “Fishermen of Beaudrais” and continue to pursue other opportunities on the producing side.  A separate resume is available upon request.  

EDUCATION/PERSONAL  
Bfa, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT (1979 & 1981-84) - University & Alumni Scholar. 3.98 avg.
National Shakespeare Conservatory, NYC
British American Drama Academy, Oxford, UK
Interests:  Theatre, photography, literature; creative writing; bicycling; travel;  member Phi Kappa Phi
Married, one son and one daughter.  Health:  Excellent
