COLLABORATION. INNOVATION. DEDICATION.

OUR STORY

With over 40 years in the business, Allerton Hill Communications has the expertise and track record to craft a successful engagement strategy for your school. This track record has come with decades of success in helping school districts navigate their most challenging public engagements. With personal attention to every detail of your message, we create solutions that are tailored to your specific needs and demographics. We offer no cookie cutter pitches but rather unique strategies that translate confusing data and complicated issues into a story that connects and rallies your community. Many of our clients have been with us for a decade or longer. They know us and we work hard to know them. Our relationships last because we make real connections that create results with a significant, long-term impact.

OUR TEAM

Joel Gagne, Allerton Hill Consulting

Joel Gagne

CEO/Partner

Jennifer Economus

Jennifer Economus

President/Partner

Gianna Harrison

National Vice President for Communications & Client Strategy/Partner

Becka Mayr, Allerton Hill Consulting

Becka Mayr

Vice President of Client & Employee Success/Partner

Kaitlin Hall

Director of Client Strategy

Carrie Rankin

Carrie Rankin

Director of Client Strategy

Casey Atkins

CASEY ATKINS

Director of Client Strategy

Allerton Hill Communications logo

Chris Benton

Business Operations Manager

Megan Montgomery

MEGAN MONTGOMERY

Project Manager

Cyndi Smith

Social Media Head Coach

Christina Godsey, Allerton Hill Consulting

Christina Godsey

Sr. Social Media Strategist

Kaitlyn Huff, Allerton Hill Communications

Kaitlyn Cuff

Social Media Strategy & Engagement Coach

Kiley Baker Allerton Hill Consulting

Kiley Baker

Social Media Strategist

NATALIE Baker

Social Media Strategist

Megan Capone

MEGAN CAPONE

Social Media Strategist

Melissa Hacker, Allerton Hill

Melissa Hacker

Social Media Strategist

Amy Hayward

Amy Hayward

Social Media Strategist

Kesha Phillips, Allerton Hill Consulting

Kesha Phillips

Creative Director/Brand Architect

Heidi Winiecki

Social Media Strategist

Mike Schmidt, Allerton Hill Consulting

Mike Schmidt

Graphic Designer

Mark Van Horn, Allerton Hill Consulting

Mark Van Horn

Videographer

Joel Gagne, CEO

As a partner of Allerton Hill Communications, Joel Gagne is responsible for building its designation as a leader in communications and marketing for K-12 schools and public entities. His vast experience and vision has not only secured many victories but also won the firm a roster of clients that rely on long-term partnerships to stay one step ahead of opposition and marketing missteps. As technology continues to drive dialog towards new approaches and conversational spheres, Joel has led Allerton Hill’s charge to become the foremost expert on the impact & utility of social media in public education.

Joel’s expertise comes from a range of experience in politics, policy-making, and campaigns. For 25 years, Joel worked on campaigns at every level with positions on multiple presidential campaigns, the US Senate, state governorships, mayoral contests and even abroad. He knows how to run and win campaigns and, as an elected school board member in Hull, MA, for 3 years, he knows firsthand what school districts are facing today.

Joel received his undergraduate degree in Political Science from Northeastern University in Boston, MA, where he did Co-operative education in the Massachusetts State House, United States House of Representatives, the Irish Parliament, and the White House. Joel also has received his masters in Liberal Arts at Harvard Extension School, the conflict resolution program at Harvard and the University of Chicago’s creative writing program.

With this broad scope of knowledge and experience, Joel is in high demand for communication and marketing campaigns throughout the country. He was a Visiting Scholar at the University of Michigan as well as having conducted a roundtable lecture series at the University of Dayton. Joel’s opinion pieces regarding education, policy-making, and communications are often featured on Huffington Post and he has been interviewed by Forbes, Harvard Business Review and in the book, Reinventing You: Define Your Brand, Imagine Your Future by Dorie Clark.

Joel is a former competitive chess player, a lover of board games and is an avid fan of all things Boston/New England Sports.

In addition to our own blog here at allerton-hill.com, Joel is a regular contributor to Huffington Post’s Education blog. To see his entire archive of HuffPost articles, click here.

Jennifer Economus, VP of Strategy

Jennifer has spent over 20 years in government and non-profit service including as a legislative aide for Assistant Majority Leader of the Ohio House of Representatives, as a lobbyist and grassroots coordinator for the Ohio School Boards Association, and as a communication consultant for public entities. Her love for civics started early when she volunteered for a local congressional campaign at the age of 8. Since then, she’s volunteered on several candidate campaigns and was the levy chairperson for her own local school district.

Jennifer has extensive experience in grassroots advocacy and creating strategy, as well as advocating in both the legislative and executive branches on behalf of client interests. She’s worked on both local and statewide ballot issues and candidate campaigns and has developed outreach strategies and communication plans for a variety of interests from the local, state and national levels with proven success.

She joined Allerton Hill Communications in 2010 and specializes in a full range of executive-level consulting and communications strategies and services for various public entities. She has extensive experience in communications, media relations, media training, crisis management, public affairs, and digital and social media.

Jennifer is a native Ohioan and grew up in Boardman. She has a B.A. in Communication from The Ohio State University and M.A. in Public Policy and Management from The Ohio State University. She is an avid Buckeyes fan and also loves cheering on her daughter at her high school and club soccer games. She also loves golden retrievers and travels with her family to the Florida Panhandle (30a!) and Disney World every chance she gets.

Becka Mayr, Director of Client Strategy

Becka graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with a business degree, marketing concentration and psychology minor. Her marketing experience has included creating and implementing plans for multiple corporate clients.

Becka found her calling when she was able to combine her business degree, marketing experience and passion for kids and education. She has held leadership roles of multiple committees for Dublin Schools. She is especially proud to have chaired successful levy campaigns in 2012 and 2018.

Throughout her years as a community leader, she has experienced the benefits of Allerton Hill Communications. As part of the AHC Team, she is excited to share these many impactful communication tools with other school districts and help them to better connect with their communities.