Panelists
Robin Crawford, Senior Partner, Public Affairs Practice Lead, FINN Partners
Robin Crawford has 26 years of experience developing and implementing award-winning communications programs for public and private-sector organizations. Delivering exceptional media results, thought leadership, crisis counsel, public affairs support, highly organized program management and event planning expertise, Robin evolves brands and dedicates herself to increasing her clients’ on- and off-line visibility. Robin is also a core member of FINN Partners’ crisis communications team.
Robin’s work has won numerous industry awards including PRSA’s Silver Anvils, MarCom Platinum Awards and Thoth Awards. A sampling of current and past client engagements includes Business Iceland; Vanderbilt University Project on Unity & American Democracy; Virginia Department of Historic Resources; The Episcopal Church; The Dulles Greenway; Virginia’s 2019 Commemoration, American Evolution; the Jamaica Tourist Board; The American Kidney Fund; U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission; Hyundai Hope on Wheels; Northwestern African American Museum; the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts; MusiCorps Wounded Warrior Band; the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority; the Embassy of South Korea; the Embassy of Japan; the Embassy of Jamaica; and the Korea International Trade Association.
Kevin Gaydosh, APR, Fellow PRSA, Director of Public Relations and Strategic Planner, O’Brien et al Advertising
Over a 35-year career, Kevin Gaydosh has worked in both the private and public sectors, including 27 years as PR counsel within advertising or marketing agencies. He has produced and managed numerous award-winning PR and promotional campaigns for events, causes, and crisis and issues management. For seven years, he was a spokesperson and public affairs staffer for American Red Cross offices in Pennsylvania, Virginia and North Carolina, where he was responsible for brand management, cause marketing, promoting service delivery, disaster communications, and issues management. Kevin has served as a certified public affairs instructor/trainer for the Red Cross’ National Disaster Services and in that role, worked on assignments including Hurricanes Hugo and Iniki, the USS Iowa explosion, and in New York following the 9/11 terrorist attack.
Kevin has served twice as past president of the Hampton Roads, Virginia, chapter of PRSA (1994 and 2012). In 2015, he was recognized as P. Lee Starkey Practitioner of the Year by the Hampton Roads Chapter and in 2017 he was inducted into the PRSA College of Fellows. He has been a Silver Anvil judge, national nominating committee member, assembly delegate, APR readiness review panelist, and quick-start presenter. He served on the board of PRSA’s Mid-Atlantic District as well as the PRSA national District Council. Presently he is co-chair of the Strategic Planning Committee of the College of Fellows.
Kelli Webb, Founder & CEO, The KBD Group
Kelli Webb is the Founder and CEO of The KBD Group, LLC where she leads integrated communications efforts for several organizations in Hampton Roads — including the Hampton Roads Workforce Council, the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore, the Hampton Roads Community Action Program, LISC Hampton Roads, VOLUNTEER Hampton Roads, and other nonprofits and businesses in the region. She has also represented several athletes and their philanthropic endeavors including Olympic Gold Medalists Gabby Douglas and Francena McCorory, as well as Kam Chancellor, former strong safety for the Seattle Seahawks.
Kelli is a member of the Hampton Roads Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and a board member for WHRO and the YMCA of South Hampton Roads. She is also a 2014 recipient of Inside Business's Top Forty Under Forty Award, the NAACP Tribute to Entrepreneurial Excellence Award, and a 2017 graduate of LEAD Hampton Roads.
Kelli is a graduate of the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, College Park. She is a proud 757 native and currently resides in Portsmouth with her husband, Terry, and their triplet daughters Demi, Dreux, and Dylan.
Stephanie Heinatz, Founder and Managing Partner, Consociate Media
Cutting her teeth as a newspaper journalist and working on assignments from her own hometown, to the remote areas of East Africa to war-torn Iraq, Stephanie believed one thing – stories are the most powerful way to reach people and inspire change. She brings that same strategy to Consociate Media, where she specializes in working with business owners, legislative initiatives, economic development programs, non-profit organizations, tourism efforts and individuals to strategically plan and execute storytelling across a wide range of new and traditional media.
Moderator
Amber Kennedy, Director of News and Media Relations, Old Dominion University
Amber Kennedy is the Director of News and Media Relations for Old Dominion University, where she works with partners across campus to tell their stories. She previously served as Senior Counselor of Public Relations at The Meridian Group, assisting clients including STIHL, The Chrysler Museum of Art and the Hampton Convention and Visitor’s Bureau. She started her PR career as Director of Marketing and Community Engagement at the former Peninsula Fine Arts Center. Before she made the jump into public relations, Amber worked as a reporter and editor in Harrisonburg, Staunton and Williamsburg, Virginia.