Board Member Directory

Elected members

Linda Sanders, President – LINDA was Yankee IABC’s President-Elect in 2010/11. Previously she served as Vice President of Communication in 2009/10 and as Director of Internal Communication in 2008/09. She joined Yankee IABC in 2007 when she was a graduate student at Northeastern and became involved after attending her very first meeting, a Fall networking/volunteering event. During her first year as a student member of IABC, she volunteered to proofread the chapter’s newsletter, EDIT, and interview a speaker for one of Yankee IABC’s events. She also helped to check people in at that same event. Her volunteering for Yankee IABC snowballed from there. She holds an MS in Organizational Communication from Northeastern University and a BA in English and art from the University of New Hampshire. Linda has 17 years of publications experience—writing/editing newsletters, copyediting textbooks, and managing editorial and production projects and multimedia conferencing. She is currently a Senior Content Manager at IHS CERA.
Jake George, Past-President - – JAKE has been a member of Yankee IABC since 2006. Jake joined the Board in 2008, serving as Vice President of Finance in 2008-09, overseeing the chapter’s budget, increasing the robustness of financial reporting mechanisms, and helping to strengthen the chapter’s brand awareness through its growing corporate sponsorship program. In 2009-10 he served as President-Elect, and in 2010-11 he served as President. He remains an active participant in the Downtown Boston SIG. He has spent 12+ years in a variety of communications roles, the last 8+ with NERA Economic Consulting, a global professional services firm. As NERA’s Senior Manager of Marketing & Communications he is the strategic marketing advisor to several of the firm’s major practices, and is responsible for identifying business development opportunities and then initiating and executing marketing programs to a variety of business and legal audiences in support of business objectives. He also oversees the firm’s global website and manages its internal communications function.

Sarah Cruise, President-Elect - – SARAH has been a Yankee IABC member since 2006, serving as VP of Learning Opportunities in 2010/11 and Event Director in 2009/10. She currently holds the role of Senior Internal Communications Specialist at Bose Corporation, where she provides consulting services and manages complex communication projects for various business units across the company. Prior to this role, Sarah was Managing Global Editor of Employee Communications at Bose, where she was responsible for the development and distribution of the internal media mix to a global audience of more than 10,000 employees. Sarah holds a BA in Communication and Culture and an MBA from Clark University.

Courtney English, Vice President, Administration - COURTNEY joined IABC in 2006 and currently holds the role of Manager, Global Internal Communications at New Balance. In this role she is responsible for the development and execution of the company’s strategic internal communication plan and associate engagement for the global audience of more than 4,000 employees. Prior to joining New Balance she worked at a full-service agency as an account executive on both public relations and advertising clients accounts in the healthcare, finance and consumer goods industries.

Carol Grabowski, Vice President, Communication – CAROL is a seasoned communications professional with extensive experience in financial marketing communications and investor relations. Currently an Editor with McGraw-Hill Financial Communications, she drafts and manages both online and print communications vehicles such as e-mail customer newsletters, white papers, market commentaries, marketing materials and news updates. Before joining McGraw-Hill, Carol was an account executive with Sharon Merrill Associates and a Senior Investor Relations Specialist for Chipcom Corporation. Carol became involved with Yankee IABC when she began managing the Downtown Boston Special Interest Group in 2008. With ongoing meetings and communication, Carol developed the group into a networking vehicle for both prospective and existing IABC members.

Manya Chylinski, Vice President, Membership Development – MANYA is a full-time writer and owner of Alley424 Communications, a communications and marketing firm providing content and marketing support to businesses since 2006. In addition to corporate work, she writes articles for a number of publishers and publications including Alloy Education, CXO Media, National Geographic Traveler, and U.S. Airways Magazine. Her book Career Launchers: Manufacturing was published in July 2010. Her next book, Going Coastal Boston, will be published in late 2011.

TBD, Vice President, Learning Opportunities – We are looking for a VP of Learning Opportunities. If you would like to join our team and help manage our educational events, please contact Linda Sanders.

TBD, Vice President, Finance – We are looking for a VP of Finance. If you would like to join our team and help track and manage our assets, please contact Linda Sanders.

John Klingenstein, Vice President, Social Media – JOHN joined Yankee IABC in 2008 and has served on the board since 2009 in several capacities, including director of learning opportunities and communications. John is the Employee Communications Manager for Dynamics Research Corporation, which provides measurable performance improvements for government customers through the delivery of innovative management, engineering and technology solution. John has more than 20 years of communications experience in both private industry and public and private education. Before joining DRC he served as Director of Internal Communications for PFPC, a leading provider of processing, technology and business solutions for the global investment industry. John received his bachelor of science degree in communication studies from the University of Tulsa and a master of science degree in communications from Shippensburg University.

Non-elected members

Communications team

Jeanne Brady, Director, EDIT & Website
Blair Gately, Director, Public Relations

Membership Development team

Vicki Staveacre, Director, Member Outreach
Pat Masterson, Director, Accreditation
Jana Baseel, Director, College Relations

Learning Opportunities/Event team

Akosua Kwaa, Event Director

Social Networking team

Tracy Zimmerman, Director, Twitter & Online Programming
Bill Donovan, Director, LinkedIn
Scott Michel, Director, Facebook

Extended Resources:

Lauren Libitz, Advisor
Linda Sanders, Volunteer Coordinator
Manya Chylinski, Group Leader – Downtown Boston SIG
Chris LaFontaine, Group Leader – MetroWest SIG
Kim Hansen, Group Leader – MetroProv SIG