susan dunlap

ady2vi@r.postjobfree.com Tel: 859-***-**** www.linkedin.com/in/susanfeydunlap

Healthcare and Social Services Communications and Marketing Executive with 30 years of experience in media, healthcare, social services and technology in the Fortune 500, government and nonprofit space. A steady hand in the high-pressure intersection between state and federal government, I represent the largest cabinet in Kentucky state government and interact with other cabinets and the Office of the Governor, showing adaptability in a fast-paced environment in which priorities always fluctuate.

Media Relations • Internal Communications • Crisis Communications • Executive Communications • Change Management • Community Relations • Social and Digital Media • Brand Marketing • Employee Engagement • Reputation Management

SELECT HIGHLIGHTS

•State government: Steered the cabinet’s media response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including contributing to over 250 live updates from Governor Andy Beshear; provided information on how to prevent the spread of COVID; instructed the public on what to do if experiencing symptoms or being exposed to someone who tested positive; protective measures for the most vulnerable, including older Kentuckians with chronic health conditions; when to expect the arrival of a safe, effective vaccine; where to get vaccinated. MASK UP campaign alone reached 3.5M Kentuckians (79%) of the state’s population, driving 73M total impressions across digital and traditional channels.

•WellCare Health Plans: Launched morning news source with 69 percent median readership, over 75 percent of whom never missed a day of accessing the message.

•Mission Health: Over 220 earned media placements in 2016 alone, with an estimated value in the western North Carolina market of $187,000.

•Kentucky Health Cooperative: Activated the nonprofit’s brand, marketing communications and education and outreach initiatives in just 4.5 months. As a result, the cooperative captured and retained about 75 percent of the commercial business represented on the Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange, touted as a national model of success.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services – Frankfort, Ky. 03/2020 – Present

Executive Director, Office of Public Affairs

A gubernatorial appointee, spokesperson for largest cabinet in state government. Lead external and internal communications for cabinet that houses the Department for Medicaid Services; the Department for Community Based Living; the Department for Behavioral Health, Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities, the Department for Aging and Independent Living; the Department for Public Health and the Department of Income Support.

•Managed nine-figure advertising budget (budgeted over four years)

•Supported Governor Andy Beshear’s daily COVID-19 press briefings for over a year; continue to support what has fallen into a weekly cadence.

•Lead a collaborative cross-functional team responsible for health coverage enrollment communications and outreach; coordinate a statewide awareness campaign and digital communications strategies that supports the enrollment of more than 1 in 3 Kentuckians in Medicaid.

•Liaison with state and national media, including Bloomberg, Newsweek, CNN, NBC, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and Scientific American.

WellCare Health Plans – Tampa, Fla. 09/2017 – 3/2020

Director, Internal Communications and Social Media

Led the development, creation and maintenance of authoritative content published on multiple platforms representing topics of interest to leaders and employees.

•Conducted annual communications audit to ensure awareness of content preferences, channels and cadence.

•Introduced three new internal channels, including a morning news source with 69 percent median readership

•Increased the number of intranet stories and graphics by over 600 percent

•Collaborated with the C-suite on internal communications/change communications when company was acquired.

Mission Health – Asheville, N.C. 10/2015 – 09/2017

Director, Communications

Led communications at what was the state’s sixth-largest health system and the region’s only not-for-profit, independent community hospital system, including outreach to over 12,000 employees.

•Launched award-winning Our Mission employee magazine

•Introduced interactive Annual Report/Community Investment Report

•Led team responsible for producing award-winning* podcast, a TED Talk™ format

Kentucky Health Cooperative – Louisville, Ky. 3/2013-10/2015

Director, Communications

Part of the nimble, entrepreneurial and enthusiastic start-up, one of the nation’s 23 health insurance cooperatives. Responsible for brand activation, strategic planning of education and outreach; creating, maintaining and governing brand standards;

•Using qualitative and quantitative focus group data and identifying consumer segments, activated Kentucky Health Cooperative’s organizational brand, marketing communications and education and outreach initiatives in about 4.5 months. Result: Kentucky Health Cooperative captured and retained about 75% of the commercial business represented on the Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange, a Marketplace touted as a national model of success.

•Created health insurance literacy publication distributed statewide. The publication was the only one crafted by a Managed Care Organization endorsed by the Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange and the University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Services and by the nonprofit advocacy group, Kentucky Voices for Health.

•Crafted Education and Outreach presentation shared in all 120 Kentucky counties. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recommended that the presentation serve as the national model for all 23 health insurance CO-OPs operating at that time.

•Spokesperson to national and local media. Result: Positive net sentiment from CNN, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Bloomberg’s website and The Washington Post.

•Oversaw social media and digital marketing solutions using platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Pinterest. Integrated outreach plan included SEO/SEM. Result: The CO-OP’s Facebook page surpassed the state health insurance Marketplace’s Facebook page in number of “Likes” and number of Facebook followers (around 50,000 built in one year).

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UK Healthcare – Louisville, Ky. 8/2011 – 3/2013

Manager, Internal Communications

Charged with enterprise internal communications between leadership and the faculty and staff working within the UK HealthCare clinical enterprise, comprised of UK Chandler and UK Good Samaritan hospitals, Kentucky Children's Hospital, Markey Cancer Center, Gill Heart Institute, Kentucky Neuroscience Institute, all ambulatory locations including 100+ outreach locations, UK-HMO and the clinical activities of the UK colleges of Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy, Health Sciences, Public Health and Nursing.

•Member of The Joint Commission accreditation team.

•Editor of OnCall: The Magazine for UK HealthCare Physicians.

Humana Inc. – Louisville, Ky. 09/2005 – 7/2009

Medicare/senior products communications manager

•Developed Senior Vice President’s communication platform for corporation’s most profitable line of business during time of its greatest growth: Medicare Part D foray. Formulated internal communications strategy supporting Medicare Prescription Drug/Medicare Advantage marketplace entry, resulting in measurable employee readiness with helping consumers. Actions directly contributed to the company’s $24 billion growth and stature in a hypercompetitive national market.

•Researched and developed talking points for U.S. government politico; developed presentation delivered to U.S. Senate Finance Committee; created presentation shared with financial press on Wall Street. Result: Advocacy on Capitol Hill and positive stock guidance from writer-analysts.

•Wrote Medicare article syndicated by North American Precis Syndicate Inc. Result: Recognized for Superior Achievement in Media Relations for ranking in the top one-quarter of one percent of all releases distributed in 2007 through the Syndicate.

•First-round draft pick, Women in Leadership program; tapped for Succession Management program participation.

Lexmark International – Lexington, Ky. 2/1998 – 8/2005

International communications manager

Various roles, including managerial and individual contributor roles in international and U.S. marketing and on the Web/eCommerce and IT teams.

•Result: Acquired knowledge of Project Management Institute approach to project management; managed and coached team of content managers and system administration professionals; played a significant role in the largest website update, which included migration to a content management system and a move away from HTML-based work; led data migration project in Sydney, Australia; led policy and process changes to the website, resulting in a 26% increase in a customer satisfaction consultancy’s assessment of how Lexmark treated its online customers; brought spotlight to the Chief Information Officer’s work with a placement in Computer World; represented Lexmark at International Public Affairs Symposium at the United Nations (event sponsored by the Public Relations Society of America); introduced the web content editorial board to the company.

EDUCATION

Seton Hall University, Master of Arts – Communications

Indiana University Southeast, Bachelor of Arts, English

PROFESSIONAL AND COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS

National Press Club • Public Relations Society of America

SKILLS

The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law (2019)

Poppulo (email distribution platform)

Microsoft Office

SharePoint 2019 (page administrator)

WordPress (blog platform)

Workplace by Facebook (administrator)

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