SVP/Group Account Director, Issues & Advocacy/Social Media Strategy Director//Managing Director, DC
Washington D.C. Metro Area
- Current
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- SVP/Group Account Director, Issues & Advocacy/Social Media Strategy Director//Managing Director, DC at DDB
- Past
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- Vice President/Senior Strategist, 360 Degree Digital Influence at Ogilvy Public Relations
- Independent Consultant (Self-employed)
- Creative Director and Chief Strategist at Rock the Vote
- Associated Director at Institute for Public Media Arts
- Education
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- Harvard University Kennedy School of Government
- Hampshire College
- Recommended
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2 people have recommended Alison - Connections
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500+
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- Industry
- Marketing and Advertising
- Websites
Alison Byrne Fields’s Summary
My entire career has focused on a single question: how can media create social and political change?
A decade ago, I was answering that question as the Creative Director and Chief Strategist for Rock the Vote, convincing young people political participation wasn’t a waste of time and convincing candidates young voters weren’t a waste of money. My work with Rock the Vote led me to Cambodia and Mexico to work with young political leaders who were trying to achieve similar goals and to Austria, where (as a Salzburg Seminar faculty member) I helped civic engagement groups from Eastern Europe and sub-Saharan Africa to answer this same question.
When I was at Harvard (the Kennedy School) studying international HIV/AIDS policy, the question took on a new angle when, for my thesis, I worked with the Kaiser Family Foundation and UNAIDS to create a strategic plan for the development of the Global Media AIDS Initiative, mobilizing media companies around the world to dedicate resources to fighting the pandemic.
After school, former President of Ireland and UN High Commissioner on Human Rights Mary Robinson hired me to help her develop the strategic plan for the launch of the Business Women’s Initiative against HIV/AIDS. Soon after, I landed at Ogilvy PR — in their Social Marketing practice — where I helped lead their efforts in global health, working with grantees of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to help strengthen their capacity to be effective global health advocates. While at Ogilvy, I also became a founding member of 360• Digital Influence, the agency’s social media practice, using online strategies to generate and amplify word of mouth. (I take pride in the fact that I developed the strategy for the first ever blog from a Cabinet member.)
Now that I’m at DDB, I’m combining my background in issues advocacy with my passion for online word of mouth, as the head of our Issues & Advocacy group and as the Senior Strategy Director for Social Media.
Alison Byrne Fields’s Specialties:
social media strategies, digital advocacy, youth engagement, public/private sector partnerships, corporate social responsibility, global health advocacy, advocate relations
Alison Byrne Fields’s Experience
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SVP/Group Account Director, Issues & Advocacy/Social Media Strategy Director//Managing Director, DC
DDB
(Public Company; 51-200 employees; OMC; Marketing and Advertising industry)
January 2008 — Present (1 year 7 months)
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Vice President/Senior Strategist, 360 Degree Digital Influence
Ogilvy Public Relations
(Public Company; Public Relations and Communications industry)
July 2005 — December 2007 (2 years 6 months)
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Independent Consultant
Self-employed
(Self-Employed; Public Relations and Communications industry)
August 2001 — June 2005 (3 years 11 months)
Client roster: AIDS Alliance for Children, Youth & Families; Business Women’s Initiative against HIV/AIDS; Carnegie Corporation of New York; Family Violence Prevention Fund; GMMB; Institute of Politics at Harvard University; James B. Hunt Institute for Educational Leadership and Policy; Kaiser Family Foundation; National Endowment for Democracy; National Democratic Institute for International Affairs; PAX; Pew Charitable Trusts; Rock the Vote; Save the Children; Surdna Foundation; Time Warner Foundation; West Hill Partners; Youth Vote Coalition
Services:
-- Marketing campaign strategy and development
-- Event planning and promotion
-- Strategic planning
-- Media relations
-- Writing and editing (press materials, reports, journal articles, talking points, ad copy)
-- Research and analysis
-- Fundraising (corporate sponsorship/cause-related marketing and private foundations) -
Creative Director and Chief Strategist
Rock the Vote
(Non-Profit; 11-50 employees; Political Organization industry)
June 1998 — August 2001 (3 years 3 months)
• Produced integrated youth-targeted advertising/marketing campaigns: television, print, radio, interactive and grassroots and negotiated partnerships with media and retail partners to secure no-cost distribution
• Negotiated multi-million dollar funding from foundations and corporate sponsors
• Developed and implemented nationwide series of community forums and cross-country bus tour
• Coordinated partnerships with national and local nonprofits to implement grassroots activities
• Acted as spokesperson for organization with international, national and local media
• Conducted outreach to celebrities to secure participation in events and media campaigns
• Produced relaunch of organization’s web site (www.rockthevote.com)
• Supervised staff and managed project and organizational budgets -
Associated Director
Institute for Public Media Arts
(Non-Profit; 1-10 employees; Non-Profit Organization Management industry)
January 1996 — June 1998 (2 years 6 months)
Alison Byrne Fields’s Education
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Harvard University Kennedy School of Government
MPP , International HIV/AIDS Policy , 2002 — 2004
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Hampshire College
1991 — 1994
