Sarah Rasmussen

About Sarah Rasmussen

I am a forward-thinking corporate communications leader advancing brands, reputations, and business goals. A tactical and strategic communications expert, I have earned a reputation for delivering innovative ideas and results to influence and engage diverse stakeholders. I am also intuitive, versatile, and detail-oriented, with a talent for illuminating blind spots to minimize risk and bring clarity to complex situations. SIGNATURE STRENGTHS:Corporate CommunicationsInternal CommunicationsCrisis CommunicationsThought LeadershipPublic RelationsBrand ManagementCross-Functional LeadershipWriting | EditingContent Creation | StorytellingNOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS: Spearheaded IPO communications and integration in a compressed 3-week timeframe, exceeding executive and board expectations. Delivered $6.3M+ annual revenue over 3 years and 170% average YoY increase in monthly digital leads via revamped SEO, social strategies, and award-winning website updates. Produced 10-point YoY increase in employee participation and 3x the number of positive staff comments versus competitors in 4 annual Great Place to Work certifications. Catapulted average follower counts 77% over 1.5 years and organic social engagement rates more than 5x industry benchmarks.My passion for achieving above and beyond goals has been with me since I was a child growing up in Canada without electricity or running water. I was the first-ever in my family to go to college, and despite being told by doctors that I would never be a runner, I have now successfully competed in 3 Ironman Triathlon events. TECHNICAL and MARKETING SKILLS: Microsoft 365 Teams, OneDrive, SharePoint, Stream | Asana, Jira, Confluence, Monday.com, Trello, Smartsheet, CoSchedule | BirdEye, Glassdoor, Indeed, Yelp for Biz, Google Reviews, | AP Style, Grammarly | Google Drive, Jamboard | SurveyMonkey, Qualtrics | Bynder | Adobe Creative Cloud, Canva Pro | Kentico, WordPress, basic HTML, UX/UI principles | SEO, SEM | Meta, LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter/X, Sprout Social | Google UA, basic GA 4, LookerStudio | UTMs, Bitly, QR codes | MailChimp, MS Dynamics 365OTHER COMPETENCIES: Strategic Planning | Media Relations | Digital Communications | Reputation Management | M&A Integration | Change Management | SEO | Project Management | Regulatory Compliance | Risk Management | Marketing | Message Development | Business Development | Government Relations | Data Analysis | Stakeholder Engagement | Change Management | Investor Relations #opentowork #opentoopportunities

Experience

1. Director of Communications

   InnovAge

   Jan 2016 — Present · Denver, CO, US

   InnovAge is a growth-oriented $700M company providing comprehensive healthcare to 6,500+ clinically frail seniors across 18 centers nationwide. InnovAge (NASDAQ: INNV) IPO’d in February 2021.Reporting to the Chief Sales & Marketing Officer, I oversaw internal and external communications, including thought leadership, public policy, reputation management, employee communications, crisis communications and issues management, media relations, social media, and website. I directed an internal and external team of 13+. Minimized risk by advising C-suite leaders on sensitive matters such as organizational changes, patient issues, safety and compliance challenges, and confidential issues. Spearheaded communications through significant organizational change, including shift from non-profit to for-profit, two private equity partnerships, eight facility acquisitions, new center openings, facility closures and relocations, a joint venture, an IPO, regulatory sanctions, and the pandemic. Drove change management and post-merger integrations. Built internal communications function and empowered 200% company growth. Centralized and streamlined executive and mission-critical communication. Elevated reputation of brand, industry, executives, and board through targeted multiyear public policy program. Orchestrated COVID-19 communications. Pioneered an innovative digital lead generation form, delivering 3x ROI vs the project cost within 3 months. Rebuilt website, conducting IT vendor assessments and ensured UI/UX best practices, while serving as primary contact for hosting firms, internal teams, and lead content writer/manager. Powered organic website growth by driving up page one keyword rankings by 163%, non-brand impressions by 128%, and overall traffic by 47%. Established a data-driven culture by implementing SEO and website analytics, working with external vendors, and reporting analytics to executive team.This position ended April 2023.

Education

• Drake University

  Bachelor of Arts - BA, Public Relations

Skills

• Crisis Communications
• Newsletters
• Blogging
• Corporate Communications
• Social Media
• Collaborative Problem Solving
• Marketing
• Public Affairs
• Nonprofits
• Strategic Communications
• Message Development
• Advertising
• Leadership
• Business Development
• Event Planning
• Strategy
• Reputation Management
• Public Relations
• Internal Communications
• Media Relations