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Katie is the Founder of Forthright Advising, a national PR and communications firm that works exclusively with organizations that love kids. Katie created Forthright to work alongside leaders from nonprofits, public school districts, foundations and government agencies, partnering to create real systemic change for children and families.

Having worked in-house at three different public school districts, four different family-focused nonprofits including ASCD and Children’s Law Center, and a PR agency, Katie has done and seen it all. Her superpowers include anticipating roadblocks around the bend, making complex topics accessible and relatable, and communicating tough subjects with kindness and empathy.

As the daughter of two special education college professors, Katie grew up with conversations about equity around the dinner table. This, combined with her love of authentic community engagement and getting people the information they need, laid the foundation for her career in child-focused public relations. Today, Katie oversees operations for the entire firm, managing senior leaders and account leads and ensuring Forthright’s current and future clients have everything they need to make the world a better place for kids.

Katie’s thought leadership has appeared in Education Week, SmartBrief and she is frequently a guest on podcasts talking about how to build trust with our communities.

Katie is a member of the 2021 class of the Forbes Next 1000. This first-of-its-kind initiative celebrates bold and inspiring entrepreneurs who are redefining what it means to run a business today.

In her free time, Katie serves on the Board of Directors for The Hope Center at Pullen, helping youth in foster care successfully transition to adulthood. On Friday mornings, you can find her reading to first graders through WakeEd’s Partners Read program.

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Niki is a passionate communicator focused on making a real, positive impact with her work. Her background includes nonprofit, education, healthcare, government and policy initiatives.

The Hungarian native began her career teaching—and fostering her love of data as a research assistant—in Auburn University’s communications program after graduating with degrees in public relations and Spanish. After earning her Master’s Degree in communications with a focus on public relations and campaigns, she moved to Washington, D.C. to pursue a career in advocacy.

There, she started by focusing on women’s health initiatives with Hager Sharp, before moving to Verasolve and managing a diverse range of clients. She led accounts with $100 million in combined revenue and was responsible for client relationships valued at more than a quarter million in annual Verasolve revenue. She oversaw all aspects of client accounts ranging from PR trainings to content creation for her clients.

Most recently, Niki served as Children’s Law Center’s senior external relations manager, where she handled every piece of CLC messaging, from proactive media placements to the nonprofit’s website, policy campaigns, (shoutout to her favorite victory, designing a campaign resulting in the unanimous passage of the Student Fair Access to School Act!) social media, client stories and more.

Now, Niki partners with Forthright Advising clients, simply put, to help children and families thrive. From teaching capacity-building trainings to crafting smart communications strategies, she’s happiest when she helps Forthright clients feel confident and excited about their communications initiatives. Since joining Forthright, she’s helped place a question about child poverty into the presidential debates, led (blue ribbon!) award-winning school district campaigns and partnered with close to 20 Forthright clients.

In her free time, you can find Niki hiking, on trail runs, traveling and settling in with a good book.

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A proud native of Washington, D.C. and a graduate of the University of Michigan, Zoe got her start in politics, on and off Capitol Hill. She has worked on both the press and policy side in the Senate and managed research, communications and public affairs initiatives for leading national foundations, nonprofits and government agencies. All of Zoe's work has been grounded in a commitment to equity - working to leverage policy and communications to drive systems change, especially in public education and early childhood.

Zoe is a great listener who is often full of thoughtful questions and never shy about pushing where needed. Zoe is a generous and engaged partner to clients and colleagues, and she often leads with humor. She loves legislative language, deep research dives, distilling the hard stuff into the good stuff and editing out Oxford commas.

Zoe is currently based in Denver, where she traded her suit for the mountains and the sun (and a husband and dog).

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Lauren is a results-oriented communications professional. She takes a comprehensive, client-based approach to her work, developing marketing campaigns, communications strategies, and creative approaches, simultaneously weaving each client’s mission, values, and brand position together with the current landscape.

Most recently, Lauren worked as the Director of Communications at the New Teacher Center (NTC). In this role, she led strategic internal and external communications to promote the organization’s brand. Under her leadership, NTC saw increased brand awareness (through secured media placements, increased social activity, thought-provoking reports and resources, and strategic paid promotions). By coupling marketing and communications efforts, this brand building seamlessly transitioned into increased leads and sales.

Prior to working at NTC, Lauren worked in two of DC’s top communications agencies. As an assistant vice president at Widmeyer Communications, she held a portfolio of nonprofit, philanthropic, advocacy, and government-based clients. Whether launching the Invest in Us campaign to announce a White House-backed early childhood education initiative or pitching new findings for the Heckman Equation, Lauren has always been committed to driving results both for her clients and the teachers and students they serve.

In her time at Hager Sharp, she worked directly with the National Center for Education Statistics and oversaw the development and dissemination of The Nation’s Report Card. This included identifying stakeholders and creating various materials to effectively and accurately communicate how America’s students are doing.

As the external relations manager on the American Enterprise Institute’s education policy team, she worked to position AEI as a thought leader among educators, researchers, policymakers, and the media through digital and traditional outreach.

Lauren graduated magna cum laude with an M.A. in education policy from The George Washington University. She also holds a bachelor of arts from GWU in political science.

When Lauren isn’t crafting a good story from DC’s local coffee joints, she can be found at a park with her children pushing swings, sliding down slides, or taking way too many photos of them for Instagram.

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She ensures that Katie’s time, priorities, and energy are protected so that strategic work can take center stage. From managing schedules and inboxes to coordinating key initiatives, Sarah thrives behind the scenes—creating the space and structure that allows leadership to lead.

Her commitment to meaningful work and her belief in people-first leadership make her a natural fit for an organization like Forthright Advising, dedicated to positive impact.