Becky Carroll
President & CEO
Becky Carroll has served as a top adviser to public-sector executives at both Chicago’s City Hall and the Illinois Office of the Governor. She has held top positions on local, state, and national political campaigns, including National Director of Women for Obama on the 2008 Obama for President Campaign, Advisor on both of Governor JB Pritzker’s gubernatorial campaigns and Communications Advisor on the Governor-elect's transition team. As Chair and President of Protect Illinois Communities, Becky played a leading role in the statewide campaign to help pass an assault weapons ban in Illinois. Considered one of Chicago’s top crisis, communications, and public affairs strategists, she has led public engagement and communications campaigns to develop and promote bold, new initiatives in education, healthcare, economic development, housing, pensions, and budget and finance issues. Her public sector experience leading communications operations and teams includes: the City of Chicago Departments of Planning & Development and Housing; Chicago Mayor’s Office; Chicago Public Schools; and the Illinois Governor’s Office of Management and Budget. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of CAPAG, Envision Unlimited, Equality Illinois, Noah’s Arc Foundation, and the Ambassador Board of First Women’s Bank and MedGlobal. She is a member of the Economic Club of Chicago where she serves on the Forums Committee, as well as a member of the National Small Business Association’s Leadership Council, member of the Forbes Business Council, founding member of The Chicago Business Journal Leadership Trust, member of the Loyola University Chicago Council of Regents, and long-time mentor at 1871. She was recognized by the Chicago Sun-Times as one of Chicago’s 30 Under 30 and, in 2022 and 2023, received the Gold Stevie Award for Communications, Investor Relations, or PR Executive of the Year in the Stevie American Business Awards. Carroll co-founded the social media campaign #StandWithAleppo which gained international recognition in raising awareness of the humanitarian crisis in Syria. She is also the founder and host of The Broad Cast, a podcast dedicated to showcasing diverse women making an impact across multiple sectors and industries.
Marisa Kollias
Chief operating officer
Marisa is an accomplished and seasoned crisis communication professional with deep experience driving successful initiatives in public affairs for the past 23 years. She has a rich history of developing communications strategies that have led to successful campaigns with top results. Marisa is known amongst colleagues and community members as a trusted business partner and a go-to resource for media relations, crisis communications, and critical assignments with her in-depth understanding of news, community engagement, crisis and reputation management, politics, and healthcare. As your trusted partner, Marisa develops communications initiatives that will position clients as a thoughtful front-line leader in the community. Before joining C-Strategies, she led high-profile public communications campaigns and strategies to develop and amplify initiatives at the Illinois Department of Human Services. Additionally, she led campaigns and advocacy work on transportation, higher education, trauma, Medicaid expansion, and other public policy issues. She served as Vice President of Corporate Communications at Tribune Publishing and consulted on Mayor Lori Lightfoot's transition team. Earlier in her career, Marisa served as a former television journalist working in various Chicago’s newsrooms.
Caroline Brooks
SENIOR director of COMMUNICATIONS
As Senior Director of Communications, Caroline is responsible for securing media coverage among local, national and trade media. While at C-Strategies, Caroline has served on multiple client teams that have won both national and local awards for our communications and marketing strategy. She serves as a day-to-day liaison with media, pitching and managing stories to ensure great outcomes for our clients and has built a track record for telling impactful stories and driving change through media coverage. She has deep experience working in the public affairs space from her extensive client advocacy portfolio at C-Strategies to serving twice as an Urban Fellow for the City of Memphis, supporting multiple projects for Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland and his communications team. Caroline is a Memphis, Tennessee native with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Arts from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Lara Cooper
SENIOR Vice President of Communications
Lara is a seasoned communications and political campaign professional with a proven record of building and executing creative and successful strategic plans. As Senior Vice President of Communications, she works with clients to develop and implement communications strategies that deliver desired results. She is passionate about getting her clients’ stories told, and is particularly proud of her work to support communications efforts to ban assault weapons in Illinois, expand fertility treatment in the state, and secure funding for impactful nonprofits like the Golden Apple Foundation. Prior to joining C-Strategies in 2021, Lara served as the communications director for Think Big Illinois and the Vote Yes for Fairness campaign. She previously served as the Ohio Democratic Party’s spokesperson on Senator Sherrod Brown’s successful 2018 re-election campaign, press secretary for Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring and deputy press secretary for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. She was named to the Publicity Club of Chicago’s 30 Under 30 in 2022, and currently serves on the Associate Board of ADL Midwest and the Publicity Club of Chicago. Lara is a Boston-area native with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Communications from Tulane University in New Orleans.
Joel Dickens
DIGITAL ASSOCIATE
As Digital Associate, Joel helps lead the ideation and creation of video and social media content promoting the work of C-Strategies and their clients — ranging from 30 second Reels recapping client events, to longer form year-in-review videos, to promotional animations for The Broad Cast podcast, and everything in between. They are proficient and continually cultivating their skills in Adobe Premiere Pro, After Effects and Canva, all of which they use to bring projects to life. Originally from Marietta, Georgia, Joel graduated from Loyola University Chicago in 2022 with degrees in Film & Digital Media Production and Political Science. Joel constantly strives to combine his knack for editing with a commitment to social justice and has previously worked on the video and marketing teams for various non-profit organizations local to Chicago. They are also a freelance editor and have interned at the advertising agency FCB Chicago. He is a film buff, an animal lover and a fan of all things Sanrio.
Emma Kluever
SENIOR DIRECTOR of CONTENT
Emma combines her creative edge with strategic thinking to develop customized owned content plans and deliverables that tell her clients’ stories across a variety of mediums in her role as Senior Director of Content. Often bridging the gap between traditional communications and digital strategy, she is a particularly strong content creator experienced in planning, social media copywriting, graphic design, opinion writing, thought leadership, web development, proposal writing, award programs and overall project management. She loves strategic problem solving, working in teams, transforming big ideas into actionable plans and, more than all, organization. Her prior experience in the content creation and digital spaces includes positions with the Chicago Humanities Festival, the National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement, and Nita Suri Barcelona, a fashion line she interned for while studying in Madrid, Spain. Outside of work, you can find Emma enjoying Chicago’s many coffee shops, volunteering with PAWS Chicago and listening to countless podcasts on news, politics, gender and society. She is a Chicago-area native and graduate of Northwestern University where she received a B.A. in Communications Studies from the School of Communication, B.A. in Spanish Language from the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and an Integrated Marketing Communications certificate from the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications.
Jane Mather-Glass
COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER
Jane leverages her love of writing and strong foundation in journalism to help clients reach new audiences and get their messages across. A Chicago-area native, she is passionate about amplifying the voices of the people and organizations who are doing the work to better their communities. As Communications Manager, Jane supports client work across both digital and earned media, with experience in social media copywriting, opinion writing, thought leadership, drafting pitches and press releases, podcast editing and more. She utilizes her background in radio journalism to help produce the company podcast, The Broad Cast, and also plays a significant role in the planning and execution of the firm’s newsletter, The C-Chat, and social media content. Prior to joining the C-Strategies team, Jane worked as a talk show producer at St. Louis Public Radio and a digital content producer at KMOX radio in St. Louis. She also spent time as a statehouse reporter for the Missouri News Network wire service, and worked as a reporter for KBIA public radio at the University of Missouri where she studied journalism.
Alejandra Moran
Latino Communications & Engagement Advisor
Alejandra Moran is a communications and engagement expert who over more than two decades has developed successful marketing campaigns, media relationships, community relationships, and continues to resolve corporate crises. She is the Founder and President of Si! Communications, a communications firm aiming to help clients engage their audiences through open lines of communication in English or Spanish with clarity and confidence. Alejandra also serves as a media relations consultant for elected officials and political candidates on the local and state levels. Her innovative approach has helped local, national and international clients conquer significant consumers in their desired markets; no client is too small or too big for Alejandra. Alejandra loves a good challenge, and her creative mind will provide that unique viewpoint when everyone in the room has run out of ideas. Having developed the reputation as the “Go-To” Latina communications expert, Alejandra has been allowed to work across many industries and markets including, tourism, transportation, retail, energy, education, health, banking, entertainment, textile, and other trades. As a coalition builder, she was able to create outstanding public awareness campaigns that involved corporations, state agencies, unions, professional organizations, and media, which led to the development of successful crisis communications strategies for high profile local and national clients.
Mary Priller
Director of Communications & Marketing
Mary is a creative, strategic marketer and PR professional who has planned and executed integrated campaigns and digital strategies that win hearts, engage the public, encourage civic pride, and garner support for local economies. She brings with her a toolkit in digital and traditional media, years of content development experience, and a broad portfolio with a focus on nonprofits and governmental agencies. Mary has helped earn awards for organizations she has worked with including the Illinois Office of Tourism, which earned the Excellence in Tourism Marketing Award (Best Cooperative Partnership) and the National Recreation and Park Association KUDOS Award for Outstanding Public Relations. Mary has also served as part of the juried panel for the statewide Illinois Association of Park Districts and the Illinois Parks and Recreation Association’s prestigious marketing and communication awards platform, the Agency Showcase, held annually in Chicago. She is a member of the Public Relations Council of Lake County and has been a contributor to the Daily Herald and various other publications. A graduate of Seton Hall University with a BA in Communications, Mary is an east coast native and longtime resident of Chicagoland where she resides with her family.
Claire Salzman
Vice president of digital strategy
Claire is an experienced digital strategist with a passion for translating online momentum into real-world action. Throughout her career, she has supervised every aspect of digital strategy and advised political candidates and organizations at the local, statewide and federal levels. Claire thrives when developing tactics and content that are both authentic to a client’s voice and the platform on which they are shared, and she has direct experience in building scalable programs in each aspect of digital strategy, including website development, multi-channel social media programs, video and graphic production, digital advertising, email/SMS communications and more. A lifelong Midwesterner, Claire has been a digital director for the Missouri and Ohio Democratic Parties, Michigan Senator Gary Peters and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker. She originally hails from the St. Louis area and graduated from the University of Missouri with a Bachelor of Journalism in Strategic Communication and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science.
Shawn Taylor
Content development Advisor
Shawn is a writer, communications/PR professional and author. She spent her 23-year career in journalism working for large-market newspapers in the Midwest, including the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Detroit Free Press, the Kansas City Star and the Chicago Tribune. Her 15 years with the Tribune afforded her opportunities to grow through several lateral moves across departments and desks, including as a copy editor, crime reporter, a business writer/columnist focused on workforce issues, and a feature writer. Shawn taps into her extensive media prowess to raise her clients’ thought leadership positions and programmatic visibility. Her expertise and research capabilities include women’s issues; workforce; small business; education; labor and management; construction; civil rights; philanthropy; aviation/aerospace; defense; manufacturing; technology; demographics; entertainment; and workforce development. Shawn co-authored two books in the Jordan Manning crime series by Emmy award-winner Tamron Hall, “As the Wicked Watch,” (Oct. 2021, Harper Collins/William Morrow), and “Watch Where They Hide,” (March 2024).
Sarah Zegart
Communications manager
As Communications Manager, Sarah uses her passion for storytelling to help clients develop and execute successful strategic communications plans. She works with clients to navigate the complexities of the ever-evolving landscape of communications, leveraging her strong experience in strategic messaging and media relations to ensure impactful outcomes. Her commitment to crafting compelling narratives remains unwavering as she continues to shape the stories that drive meaningful change. Most recently, she worked at LaunchSquad, an independent public relations and creative communications agency that primarily focuses on the technology, climate, and healthcare industries. Her journey in communications has come full circle, returning to C-Strategies after initially starting as an intern during her college years. Sarah is a Chicago-area native and a graduate of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where she earned a B.A. in Advertising, double-minored in Communications and Public Relations, and received her Certification in Media Sales.