Our Chapter:
Meet the Board
Kelly
Duffort
President
kelly@kellyduffort.com
Kelly Duffort is principal and founder of KD Web Strategies, a web consulting firm that advises companies how to effectively communicate with their online target audiences. She develops comprehensive web marketing strategies, produces websites and provides social media training. (Find her on Twitter: @kellyduffort.)
Before starting her own business, Kelly was a web communications manager at GlaxoSmithKline. Her love for communications and her fascination with the Web came together while she worked on the knowledge management team at Towers Watson, a worldwide consulting company. Kelly got her start in the communications field working in community relations as an account executive for a public relations firm and as a consultant for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Kelly is president of the NC Triangle Chapter of IABC. She served as Vice President of Chapter Operations 2009-2010 and Vice President of Membership 2007-2009. She has been a member of IABC since 2002. Kelly holds a bachelor’s degree in speech communication from Wake Forest University.
Laurie Bowser-Sever
Past President
lbowser@att.net
Laurie Bowser-Sever is a seasoned 20-year marketing and public relations veteran with national and international experience in brand management and positioning, marketing/business plan development, public relations, marketing communications and corporate communications. Her specialties lie in developing and executing business-to-business and business-to-consumer communications strategies in the consumer goods, retail and technology sectors.
Bowser-Sever has led corporate marketing and public relations departments for several startup and prominent blue-chip companies and has worked as an independent public relations consultant for several agencies in North Carolina and on the west coast. Currently, she is senior marketing consultant at Windstream Hosted Solutions, where she is responsible for all corporate marketing, marketing communications, special events, social media and public relations initiatives.
Bowser-Sever is a member of IABC's 500 Club. Prior to her role as president, she served as the chapter's vice president of membership from 2005-2007. A former journalist, she holds a bachelor's degree in journalism and public relations from Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, and a master's degree in corporate communications from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Penn.
Sarah Avallone
Vice President of Operations
savallone@fminet.com
Sarah Avallone is a marketing coordinator at FMI Corporation, an investment banking and management consulting firm for the engineering and construction industry. She implements and executes marketing strategies for the firm’s website, email communications, newsletters, research reports, collateral, program and event promotions and PR campaigns.
She has worked as a marketing communications coordinator for an IT-based company in Columbus, Ohio, where she coordinated and managed 45-plus annual tradeshows and customer appreciation events across the country and throughout Canada. In addition, Sarah was responsible for the development and implementation of the company’s marketing programs. She also has experience with rebranding, website development, copywriting and graphic design.
Sarah earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism, with concentrations in advertising, psychology and business from Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. Sarah joined IABC in May and is excited to be involved with overseeing the logistics of meetings and events.
Lisa Arney
Vice President of Membership
lisa.arney@sas.com
Lisa Arney is an internal communications manager at SAS Institute, where she has worked since 2002. Lisa oversees a team of writers supporting the major divisions at SAS to share news and information that helps employees feel engaged and informed. In her time with the company, Lisa has provided executive communication support for the senior leadership team and has been involved with a number of projects, including designing an interactive tour of SAS HQ, rolling out the SAS Green Initiative, launching the CEO Award of Excellence program, compiling information for SAS' Corporate Social Responsibility Report, and, most recently, celebrating SAS' back-to-back No. 1 ranking on FORTUNE's Best Companies to Work For List. Lisa has served as project lead for several large events on campus, such as the annual Earth Day Fair, Employee Services and Support Fair, and Education Week.
Before joining SAS, Lisa was media relations manager for Shands Jacksonville Hospital in Florida and a local television news producer for Gannett. She has a master's in mass communication from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a bachelor's in journalism from The University of Georgia. She has been a member of the Triangle IABC chapter since 2008 and is excited to help grow its membership base.
Abbie Kiefer
Vice President of Professional Development
akiefer@capstrat.com
Abbie is a copywriter at Capstrat, a full-service strategic communications firm that is among the top 40 agencies in the U.S. Her current and past clients include GSK, Quintiles, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, John Deere, BB&T and Raytheon.
Before becoming a copywriter, Abbie was the editor of a weekly newspaper in Maine, where she covered a wide variety of topics: elections, accidents, championships, layoffs, museums and monster trucks. After relocating to North Carolina, she worked at The Catevo Group and as a freelance copywriter before joining the Capstrat team.
A graduate of Eastern University, Abbie has a B.A. in English and political science. Her work has been recognized by the Maine Press Association and North Carolina Public Relations Society of America. She has been a member of IABC since 2008.
Nicole Whiteside
Vice President of Marketing
nwhiteside@hotmail.com
Nicole is currently a Marketing Specialist for Eaton Corporation, responsible for product marketing, launches and campaigns for Electrical Sector products. With nearly 10 years of experience, Nicole has worked in the financial and health care industries, where her responsibilities included marketing, communications, and business strategies and has public relations experience with a global marketing agency.
Nicole recently joined the IABC and is excited to market and communicate the benefits of IABC membership and its great networking events. A graduate of Bryant University in Smithfield, Rhode Island, Nicole holds a bachelor’s degree in Marketing with a minor in Sociology.
David MacDonald
Vice President of Finance
davidcmacdonald@nc.rr.com
Currently manager of corporate communications at Martin Marietta Materials in Raleigh, David has more than two decades of professional communications experience. Beginning his career as a newspaper reporter and editor at the Harrisonburg Daily News-Record in Virginia, he went on to serve as assistant director of communications with the North Carolina Bar Association, director of communications with UNC-Chapel Hill’s School of Information and Library Science and since July 2005 has worked at the corporate headquarters of the nation’s second largest producer of construction aggregates.
A Massachusetts native, David earned his bachelor’s degree in English at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, and his master’s degree in journalism/public relations at UNC Chapel Hill’s School of Journalism and Mass Communications. A past member of the board of the Raleigh Jaycees, he joined the Triangle IABC chapter in 2009.
Alli Soule
Director of Membership
alli.soule@sas.com
Alli Soule is an associate communications specialist in internal communications at SAS, covering various arms of its marketing department for employee audiences worldwide. In this role, she serves as a strategic advisor on internal marketing communications initiatives and composes related corporate news for SAS’ intranet and multiple social media platforms. Alli also is a member of SAS’ Emergency Operations Command team, which continually maintains and refines the company’s crisis plans.
Prior to SAS, Alli worked for ad agency McKinney in Durham, NC, and the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety in Washington, DC. She holds a master’s in mass communication and journalism from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a bachelor’s degree in communication and journalism from Wake Forest University. She has a special interest in online crisis communication strategy and is an admitted mass media nerd. Look for her on Twitter @allisoule.
Chris Tutino
Director of Professional Development
ctutino@hcwbenefits.com
Chris Tutino is a communications specialist at employee benefits consulting firm Hill, Chesson & Woody (HCW) in Chapel Hill where he is responsible for all content development and messaging to the public, clients and their employees. Chris also works directly with client employer groups to develop strategic employee benefits communications plans.
Prior to joining the HCW team, Chris worked at communications firm S&A Cherokee in Cary, NC in the roles of public relations and advertising executive, staff writer and print/web advertising account manager for the North Carolina Chamber publication NC Magazine. His experience also includes work with AXA Advisors in Raleigh as the South Atlantic region’s Director of Marketing in support of 350 financial professionals in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina.
Chris received his bachelor’s degree in communication with a concentration in public relations from East Carolina University in Greenville, NC. He is actively pursuing his ABC accreditation through IABC and lives in Raleigh with his wife and two daughters.
DeShelia Spann
Director of Marketing
DeShelia Spann is a promotions marketing communication specialist with Eaton Corporation, a global leader in power management products and services. She has over 15 years of experience delivering advertising and marketing campaigns, event programs, public relations and social media services to B-to-B and B-to-C clients. DeShelia has worked within a number of industries – most notably; technology management, consumer products, life sciences, higher education and broadcast news.
A graduate of North Carolina A&T State University with a BA in broadcast news and North Carolina State University with a MA in liberal arts, Ms. Spann has studied at Duke University’s Center for Documentary Studies, earning her program certificate in 2006.
