Elizabeth Zwerg

About Elizabeth Zwerg

I am an experienced Community Builder and Strategist with over 10 years of experience building communities. My career has revolved around designing and implementing community strategies, facilitating engaging programs, and effectively communicating the value communities bring to organizations. I currently serve as the Lead Community Strategist at Learning Ally, a 501c3, educational technology nonprofit dedicated to ensuring equity in literacy. In my time with Learning Ally, I helped secure over $3 million in funding from Federal and State funding initiatives as well as private and corporate donors. I’ve built a Community Team, led the growth of a community of over members, developed a comprehensive, internal playbook for the Community, and one of my proudest achievements is in playing a key role in driving the success of \'Spotlight on Dyslexia,\' the largest virtual event in the literacy industry, attracting over participants annually. In my role, I’ve had the opportunity to develop my public speaking skills in the form of podcast interviews, conferences, facilitating webinars, engaging with esteemed thought leaders in the Community and literacy spaces, facilitating sessions at our flagship annual conference Spotlight on Dyslexia as well as develop an internal cross-functional committee of Community champions that I lead. Previously, I worked as a Volunteer Community Manager for the Solo Female Travel Network. I played a pivotal role in growing the community from under to over members and worked to develop the Community Policy. My efforts helped establish the network as a leading global influencer in solo female travel. I have a background in education and taught for several years in addition to helping my district develop the first-ever social-emotional learning curriculum at a time when conflict resolution and social skills among children were not normative or formally taught. I hold a Master\'s degree in Conflict Resolution from Southern Methodist University, and a Bachelor\'s in Political Science and International Studies from the University of North Texas. Throughout my career, I’ve been recognized for my work and leadership. Recently, my team and I took home the industry award for Best Growth Marketing Community of 2023 and I was named a finalist for Best Leader of a Community Team. I love traveling this vast, beautiful world and have volunteered and traveled in 36 countries.

Experience

1. Lead Community Strategist

   Learning Ally

   Jan 2023 — Present · Princeton, NJ, US

   In my role as Lead Community Strategist, I drive transformative initiatives and have achieved significant milestones:Elevated Community Impact Through Innovation: Leveraged data, technology, and innovative strategies to enhance our community\'s influence. This resulted in our community twinning a CMX Community Industry Award for Best Growth Marketing Community in 2023, a testament to our unparalleled growth and impact.Distinguished Recognition as an Executive Leader: I earned recognition as one of only two finalists for an individual Community Industry Award, specifically for my role as an exemplary Executive Leader of the Community Team. This recognition underscores my significant contributions to the development of the internal, cross-functional program committee.Cultivated a Dynamic Cross-functional Committee: Established a robust internal program committee, comprised of 18 dedicated volunteer employees, aimed at championing the educator community. This initiative not only bolstered internal awareness of community projects but also aligned educators with organizational objectives, thereby advancing Learning Ally\'s mission to combat the literacy crisis. Impressively, over 90% of the original committee members have remained committed since its inception, dedicating over 480 annual hours to supporting and engaging with educators.SEO-Optimized Content for Brand Visibility: Demonstrated a commitment to optimizing webpages, thought leadership content, the Learning Ally Podcast, and other community assets for SEO, resulting in heightened brand awareness and greater visibility within the online landscape.(In progress) Guided Seamless Community Platform Migration: Spearheaded the project management and strategic planning for a successful community platform migration, ensuring a smooth transition while preserving the community\'s vitality and functionality.

Education

• Southern Methodist University

  Master of Arts (MA), Dispute Resolution and Conflict Management

  2011 — 2013

• University of North Texas

  Bachelor of Arts - BA, Political Science and International Studies