Communications & Knowledge/Change Management Specialist

Maya Parkins

240-***-**** ****.*******@*****.***

EDUCATION

American University, School of International Service Washington, DC Master of Arts in Intercultural and International Communications, Cultural & Public Diplomacy 2022

International Communication: Crafted memoranda for strategic communication efforts to dismantle the distribution of misinformation and disinformation related to international crises. This involved researching case studies and writing reports, which had the potential to resolve international communications crises.

Intercultural Communications: Created and delivered presentations, which explained mishaps in intercultural communications and proposed solutions to resolve them. This entailed thoroughly researching and analyzing an intercultural communications challenge and identifying ways in which the communications issue could have been handled more effectively.

Honing Analytical Writing Skills: Wrote analytical papers using bottom-line-upfront techniques, which could be used to quickly analyze and brief leadership for quick, effective decision making in international affairs.

Practicum: Researched common challenges experienced by international students studying abroad at the university level. Challenges typically included feelings of isolation and feeling unwelcome. To investigate whether these issues were occurring at American University (AU), developed and distributed surveys to the AU international student population. Based on survey analysis findings, provided recommendations to AU’s Office of Campus Life, such as creating more opportunities for international students to attend and/or participate in cultural exchange events.

Public Diplomacy: Designed a strategic public diplomacy plan that advocated for new policies that would influence the opinions and behavior of an international audience. This entailed analyzing research and data—opinion polls and surveys—related to the given diplomatic challenge. Also, included in the public diplomacy plan were strategies to engage with the key moral, political and practical dimensions of the diplomatic issue.

Project Management: Analyzed a business problem and conducted research on effective strategies to resolve the issue. Clearly defined issues and developed a project management plan following PMBOK guidance and standards. Proposed project’s budget and planned and scheduled the execution of the project’s tasks.

University of Maryland, College Park College Park, MD

Bachelor of Arts in Psychology 2007

COMMUNITY SERVICE

Living Independently for Everyone, Inc. Marketing & Communications Specialist (Volunteer) 2018 – 2019

Planned and executed fundraisers. Created newsletters, brochures, flyers and posters, which increased awareness about the organization as well as participation

Garnered support for the organization’s mission by procuring media outlets and government official guest speakers for the organization’s diversity and inclusion events, producing high participant turnouts. This allowed the organization to showcase its positive influence in the disability community and thus helped the organization gain financial support for its initiatives

EXPERIENCE

BroadSoft, Inc. Project Manager, Jr./Communications Specialist 2017 – 2018

Enhanced work productivity by crafting and dispersing internal communications, such as instructive administrative policies and memoranda

Increased potential sales by 20% by creating persuasive briefs used at customer meetings and coordinating sales meetings

Promoted brand awareness by creating an interactive Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) timeline that displayed the stability and longevity of VOIP companies worldwide. This included researching and collecting and analyzing VOIP data worldwide.

General Dynamics, Inc. Sr. Human Capital Consultant 2015 – 2016

Worked with the U.S. Department of Defense to improve the efficiency of human capital practices by using effective written and oral communications to explain new human resources policies and business processes resulting from a reorganization

Created and fostered a positive and proactive work environment by developing and disseminating new employee communications and coordinating employee award ceremonies, team-building and military retirement events

Eliminated the organization’s workforce gaps by composing vacancy announcements and behavior-based interview questions to screen job applicants for desired knowledge, skills and abilities

Dougherty & Associates, Inc. Sr. Program Analyst/Communications Specialist 2015 – 2015

Worked with the U.S Department of Health and Human Services to increase transparency throughout the organization through gathering, editing and organizing new content for uploading onto organizational websites

Increased employee retention by creating and executing team-building events, such as ice cream socials, employee award ceremonies and encouraging a healthy work-life balance by promoting alternative work schedules

Improved work productivity by engaging in project management efforts and creating project scorecards that identified measures of success. This ultimately helped employees understand and work toward specific work goals

Your Recruiting Company, Inc. Program Analyst 2012 – 2014

Prepared the U.S Department of State’s bureaus for emergencies by composing bureau Continuity of Operation Plans (COOP) and Facility Emergency Action Plans (FEAP), which, through collaborating with multiple bureaus, identified temporary emergency management operating procedures. This included conducting research on emergency management plans already in place and how to develop emergency management plans.

Built an emergency response committee comprised of representatives from the Department’s bureaus and facilitated emergency management working group sessions to discuss, prioritize and monitor the completion of COOP and FEAP planning goals

Provided transparency into emergency management efforts by developing and providing briefs to leadership on emergency management goals and project statuses

BAE Systems Management Analyst/Consultant - Communications Lead 2007 – 2011

Supported the U.S Department of Homeland Security and worked on modernizing information technology tools and improving methodologies of information sharing through knowledge management initiatives

Improved the efficiency of business operations by participating on technology adoption change management teams. Collaborated with information technology developers and key project stakeholders to identify, develop and implement new processes and tools. This also included creating communications with key messages, such as newsletters, brochures, fact sheets and flyers, for stakeholders, ensuring the acceptance and use of new business tools and developing standard operating procedures, providing step-by-step instructions on how to use the new tools As a result, human resources operations were expedited and data processing was improved with greater accuracy

Improved employee morale by facilitating focus group meetings to identify morale issues, briefing leadership on morale issues for quick, effective decision-making on the development and implementation of programs, such as employee development programs that aligned with the organization’s strategic goals

City of Rockville After School Programs After School Counselor 1999 - 2001

Taught students math, science, reading, writing and social studies

Engaged the children with arts & crafts activities as well as sports and games

Taught the children problem-solving skills, positive coping skills and relaxation techniques

ADDITIONAL SKILLS

Computer: Microsoft Office Suite, Desktop Publisher, SharePoint/Knowledge Management System, Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), Survey tools, social media applications and the Internet.

Language: Spanish (intermediate)

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