Writing & Business CommunicationWriting: Karen O'Leary has written feature articles for magazines, newspapers and web sites; and executive reports, speeches, ad campaigns, vision statements and newsletters for Fortune 500's and non-profit organizations.
Clients and publications: Stanford Graduate School of Business, Stanford Medicine, Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford, the San Francisco Chronicle, Hewlett-Packard, Gentry magazine, Tom Peters' "Fast Forward," PricewaterhouseCoopers, McGraw-Hill, Business Week, and Sunset Magazine. Marketing & Public Relations: - Based in Palo Alto, she has served as a consultant, contract writer and editor of globally-distributed executive reports, including interviews with Jim Collins of "Built to Last" and "Good to Great," Robert Waterman of "In Search of Excellence," Geoffrey Moore of "Inside the Tornado," and David Akers of Building Strong Brands.At McGraw-Hill, Business Week's publisher in New York, she oversaw public relations for business-to-business magazines. Responsibilities included developing marketing strategy, writing speeches, and providing stories and sources for the national press. At Hewlett-Packard, as Project Lead, she was in charge of all communication for the PC's, including developing ad campaigns, brochures, direct mail and posters, from concept to development; hiring freelance writers, and editing and writing brochure and ad copy.As an independent consultant, she served as press secretary to Admiral James Stockdale during the 1992 U.S. Presidential Campaign, which involved setting up a national press tour and meeting with editorial boards of major metropolitan newspapers and television news organizations throughout the country to deliver major messages.
Television & Radio: As an independent writer, reporter and producer, she has worked for KQED and KPIX in San Francisco. In New York, she wrote and produced news and feature segments for WNEW and WOR Radio and Television. Education & Managment Training: Her M.A. in Theology is from one of the colleges at the Graduate Theological Union, affiliated with the University of California at Berkeley. Her B.A. in Creative Writing & Literature is from the University of Arizona.
In Oxford she conducted research for a C.S. Lewis-related film script.
Pro Bono Marketing & PR: Karen served as Vice President of Communications for the Junior League of Palo Alto-Mid Peninsula, where she launched an advertising campaign to raise awareness for the league and to publicly recognize donors. To raise awareness for the league's extensive community projects, she created a photographic campaign staged at fundraising events. She oversaw the broadcasting and publishing arms of the organization as well.Between 1998 and 2003, she served as public relations liaison for Dreams Happen, an event that raised funds for Rebuilding Together through an auction of high-end playhouses, including replicas of the Awahnee, classic beach homes and Harry Potter's digs. Her management training and skills include situational negotiation, diverse leadership styles, business publishing, strategic marketing, public speaking and executive coaching.
