millreew@gmail.

com
202.734.9735
Washington, DC

Millree Williams
Professional Profile

Forward looking, innovative, and proactive. Management executive with demonstrated success in
creating and implementing comprehensive and resultsoriented marketing and communications
programs. Exceptionally proficient at aligning strategies and goals. Persuasive, influential, and articulate
with excellent communication and interpersonal skills. Accomplished at building strong partnerships
with internal and external key stakeholders. Confident leader, particularly skilled at establishing an
environment that encourages collaboration, promotes accountability, develops team spirit, and
increases productivity.

Expertise

Strategic Planning
Brand Development and Integration
Public Affairs

Budget Management
Media Relations
Team Leadership and Talent
Management

Leadership Positions
MILLREE WILLIAMS COMMUNICATIONS, LLC
Washington, DC Jan 2012Present
Principal
Provides strategic communications, crisis communications and leadership positioning counsel to small
and midsized nonprofits, foundations, healthcare associations and universities. Consulting expertise:
strategic planning and partnership development, messaging, organizational and executive positioning,
and constructs/implements effective national and regional storytelling platforms.
CENTER FOR RESPONSIBLE LENDING
Washington, DC Mar 2014 Jan 2016
Director of Communications
Provided overall strategic communications vision and leadership on CRL's issues across federal and state
policy, research, outreach, brand, digital and social media. As a member of the leadership team, I led the
integration of all traditional, social and trade media strategy that drives CRL messaging to end abusive
lending practices and products at both the federal and state levels.
UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND, COLLEGE PARK
College Park, MD Jan 2008 Feb 2012
Executive Director of Public Affairs Strategy
Transformed successful university communications office into a strategic public affairs team
encompassing universitywide communications, external relations, crisis communications, and
presidential national positioning. Served as public affairs counsel to senior and departmental leadership,
stayed in tune with national landscape and brand priorities to provide president and senior leadership
team direction and guidance on internal and external communications and stakeholder issues.
Integrated communications and public affairs functions into marketing and fundraising initiatives.
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UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND, COLLEGE PARK

College Park, MD Jan 2006 Jan 2008
Senior Director, University Communications
DIRECTOR OF MARKETING AND PUBLIC RELATIONS
SOUTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY, Washington, DC Dec 2002 Dec 2004
Director of Marketing and Public Relations
Developed and executed university-wide marketing and communications strategy to increase
enrollment and better position the university in a very competitive higher education market. Integrated
branding platform across all internal and external communications and enrollment management
channels; and collaborated with community leaders and key stakeholders to advance universitys
strategic plan and achieve mutual goals. Directed development of university publications.
EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES FOR CHILDREN, NATIONAL RESOURCE CENTER
Silver Spring, MD Mar 2001 Dec 2002
Communications Director, National Communications Programs
Providing expertise and support to all US Department of Health and Human Services-funded state
communications programs focusing on pediatric medical emergencies, developed and executed national
communications strategy and public awareness campaign. Directed daily work of retained public
relations firm, including creation and national rollout of public awareness campaign. As a member of the
senior leadership team, provided communications counsel on all public matters related to pediatric
emergencies within the National Resource Center and to state-level programs across the country.
MONTGOMERY COLLEGE
Rockville, MD Dec 1998 June 2000
Director of Marketing and Communications
Provided vision and leadership for marketing and communications programs across a nationally-ranked
three-campus community college. Integrated communications and marketing into a seamless, onmessage strategy. Developed and directed effective national media strategy and long-term branding
platform to strengthen national position and increase regional recruitment, funding support and loyalty.
Managed the budget and a team of media, marketing and publications professionals.

Significant Accomplishments
Strategic Planning

Center for Responsible Lending (CRL): Reorganized communications team and processes to more
effectively reach its overall strategic goals across issues, research, outreach and philanthropy.
University of Maryland (UM): Created and implemented highly effective, anticipatory
communications strategy. Enabled communications team members to focus attention on specific
"storytelling beats," yielding broader coverage and increased onmessage national and
international media coverage. Strategy also engendered closer ties between university
communications and departmental communications experts. Realigned UMs communications
assets to help drive and build increased loyalty for its marketing campaign, Fear the Turtle.
Montgomery College (MC): Fully integrated the communications, marketing, publications
departments to more effectively and consistently achieve its strategic priorities and deliver on its
brand promise.
MC: Developed and implemented highly successful communications transition strategy for
outgoing and incoming presidents. Strategy, including regional and national media tours and town
halls, effectively positioned incoming president as one of the nations best, a regional power
broker with student and faculty priorities at the top of her priorities.
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Public Affairs

UM: Created and led a new communications unit that included public affairs issues across federal
and state relations, town and gown, onmessage statewide positioning, including a new crisis
communications plan and stateoftheart social media tools and tactics.
UM: Created successful issues management instrument to anticipate, preempt, avert and/or
address emerging internal and external issues impacting institutional brand.

Media Relations

CRL: Dramatically increased media coverage of issues and experts across print, broadcast, radio
and cable, key digital platforms and within the Latino community.
CRL: Developed a more robust and efficient digital communications strategy integrating Twitter
and LinkedIn, YouTube channel and Facebook.
MWC: As consultant to the Connecticut Health Foundation, conducted media training for all senior
executive staff, developed messaging framework and crisis communications plan.
UM: Designed national storytelling and media placement framework gaining top monthly
placements in national and international media. One such strategy leveraged major alumnus gift
into national and international media coverage, resulting in his being named NFL's Man of the
Year.
UM: Significantly increased worldwide onmessage coverage, positioning university as a goto
resource for internationally recognized experts conducting high-impact research.
MC: Built regional and national media relations program to obtain strategically messaged news
coverage, profile top faculty and programs, and align institution's successes with top municipal
government's goals and objectives.

Brand Development and Integration

CRL: Led complete redesign and launch of new website.

Created Southeastern Universitys highly effective branding initiative, An Education for the Real
World, advancing enrollment objectives and guiding development of universitywide strategic
marketing communications plan.
Created and directed nationally recognized multiplatform public information campaign, The Right
Care When It Counts, on the critical need to prepare for pediatric medical emergencies.
Created and implemented Montgomery Colleges (MC) current brand and messaging platform,
Endless Possibilities.

Budget Management

Efficient management of budget in all positions.

Leadership, Motivation and Talent Management

All: Developed and led talented, experienced and highly productive communications team
committed to advancing the institutional strategic plan, as well as advancing marketing and
fundraising goals and objectives.
CRL: Conducted a skills and strengths audit of team, reorganized unit, and then hired to fill skills
gaps to accomplish overall organizational goals and objectives.
UM: Led a highly productive, awardwinning team of universitywide communications
professionals, providing stateoftheart training to expand knowledge base, and a range of outof
theoffice activities that generated a strong esprit de corps. Of the five senior communications
members, three have become directors, one is now an independent consultant, and another is an
executive assistant to the president. The administrative assistant is now program manager in
another university department.
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Education
B.A., English with Communications and Philosophy Minors
Bowie State University Bowie, Maryland
Harvard University Management Development Program
Graduate courses in Marketing and Communications, Management, Leadership, and National
Communications Strategy
American Management Association
Leading with Emotional Intelligence, certificate
The Management Center
The Management Crash Course, certificate

Professional Associations/Community Service

Public Relations Society of America

American Marketing Association
Communications Leadership Exchange
Progressive Communicators of DC
Trustee, Richard Wright Public Charter School, Washington, DC