Paladin Communications is expanding its team with the addition of a senior public relations executive with extensive experience in storytelling, social media, leadership coaching, and issue, event and communications campaign management.
Heather Smith, executive director of communications at Central Michigan University, will join the Mt. Pleasant, Michigan-based firm in February as vice president of strategic communications. Her experience also extends into the municipal and nonprofit sectors.
“Heather is an expert in building brands and helping executives achieve bottom-line objectives through effective communications,” Paladin Co-Founder Sherry Knight said. “She’s as adept in crisis situations as she is in identifying the impressive stories that will prompt buy-in and action among target audiences.”
Smith also has been interim associate vice president of communications at CMU, serving as a member of the president’s cabinet and leading more than 30 marketing, communications, web, multimedia and graphic design professionals. Her achievements over 12 years at CMU include:
Providing communications and media counsel and training to senior administrators;
Playing a lead role in the March 2018 campus shooting communications response;
Overseeing CMU’s COVID-19 preparedness and response communications;
Spearheading development of a social media policy and approach; and
Providing guidance on a new website and brand campaign.
A native of Mt. Pleasant, Smith also has served as communications director for the City of Mt. Pleasant, was an account manager for AGP & Associates in Midland and directed public relations for Special Olympics Michigan. As an associate for Weber Shandwick Worldwide in Chicago, she began her public relations career planning, promoting and executing local marketing events across the country for the “Got milk?” campaign.
“I am thrilled to join the talented, experienced team at Paladin Communications,” Smith said. “Mid-Michigan is my home, and I look forward to enhancing the success of businesses and organizations here in our area — and beyond — through effective, strategic communications.”
Paladin Communications serves a variety of business and nonprofit clients in Michigan and across the country. Its team members include:
Sherry Knight, who was associate vice president of communications at CMU and led a communications consulting firm in Saline, Michigan, that served corporate and association clients, largely in education and health care, for 16 years.
Jim Knight, who led communications in CMU Athletics and College of Medicine, as well as in human resources at the University of Michigan. He also had top editing roles at the Ann Arbor News and Jackson Citizen Patriot.
Monica Clark, who directed CMU marketing efforts and leveraged her analytics expertise and creativity to lead the “Put Your Stamp of the World” campaign — one of the university’s most successful branding efforts ever.
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