MARY SMARAGDIS
Optimist.
Hi! I'm Mary.
I work in communications in the tech sector. My colleagues are empowering people and organizations around the world to achieve more. It's my joy and honor to help tell their stories. I'm also a part-time grad student pursuing an MEd in Curriculum and Instruction. And I am a volunteer teacher to immigrants in my community.
I laugh a lot. I smile even more. I always have fun. Always. :)
FORMER DIRECT REPORT
Currently at Google
"Mary is truly one of the best managers to whom I've ever reported in my career. During a season that could have potentially brought tumult and uncertainty, Mary managed to continually motivate our team to deliver some of the best work of our careers."
MY JOURNEY
(for the love of learning)
DIRECTOR, COMMUNICATIONS AND CHANGE MANAGEMENT, SUPPORT SERVICES
MICROSOFT
January, 2022 to present
Inventory existing comms practices, conduct gap analysis, identify opportunities to elevate the story and the approaches being undertaken to drive it. First 30 days: Build the comms plan, revising to reflect manager and peer feedback and secure first round approval. First 60 days: Bulletproof and evolve to reflect SME input; secure LT buy-in. Day 65: Present the plan organization-wide.
Conduct an audit of existing market-facing messaging, identify opportunities to elevate and evolve the positioning to reflect Field feedback. Frame the value prop evolution recommendations through rhetorical shifts that would deliver greater traction and create urgency with customers. Socialize the work cross-org to infuse field perspective into the .next evolution of the value prop.
Drive visual identity refresh for the organization, carrying through messaging refresh to the look-and-feel of internal communications. Publish new templates and drive global adoption for PowerPoint, email, newsletters, and more.
Introduce Comms Standup, comms priority dashboard, and cross-org shared calendar for greater transparency, consistency, and reinforce ongoing alignment.
Develop new storytelling approaches to celebrating wins, elevating awareness about incremental milestones, and continually communicating progress.
Support GM with executive communications including scripts, talking points, All Hands preparation, video, and social amplification opportunities on LinkedIn.
Participate in org-wide and company-wide Communications forums to share and glean best practices and ensure ongoing messaging alignment.
COMMUNICATIONS AND MARKETING
CONSULTANT
October, 2019 to December, 2021
Develop story arcs and build communications for strategic initiatives to move constituencies to action. Examples: brand messaging refresh (Gannett), BOD recruitment (All Raise), corporate trust report (Yelp), market segment entry (Salesforce).
Drive corporate messaging and build brand through executive bylines, company/customer spotlights, event messaging and post-event deliverables, blog posts, email campaigns, and more. (Clients: Salesforce, Operator Collective, The CMO Club, Wealthramp, Samsara)
Collaborate with CMOs (Shell, IBM, Kimberly-Clark, et al) to capture personal journeys to leadership, showcasing thought leadership perspectives. (Client: The CMO Club)
Manage content for newsletters, quarterly LP updates. Newsletter content strategy drove 68% y/y growth in engagement. (Clients: All Raise, Operator Collective)
DIRECTOR, EXECUTIVE AND INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS
NAMELY
October, 2018 to October, 2019
Develop thought leadership platforms and manage aggressive executive speaker placement strategy that included Board Leadership Forum, Jefferies CEO Summit, Goldman Sachs Tech. & Internet Conf., Montgomery Summit, SaaStr, CloudNY. Lead all components of prep including talk track, visuals, pitching media, stage logistics, and more.
Lead earned media PR strategy for CEO. Develop communications plan, hold the pen on content development, and manage prep and placement for broadcast and print media including Bloomberg Technology, Forbes, podcasts, and more.
Drive organization alignment and elevate employee awareness of top priorities via company-wide internal comms programs. Examples: Weekly CEO updates, monthly all hands, internal road tours, company-wide events, employee affinity programs, and more.
Provide executive communications counsel and lead internal communications for material events including leadership transitions, reductions in force, acquisitions, and more.
MARKETING DIRECTOR
LIVESAFE
November, 2017 to October, 2018
Lead total messaging refresh of corporate narrative and re-articulation of the company’s enterprise and consumer value propositions.
Lead messaging for key events and produce market-facing deliverables to activate the messaging to support growth and revenue retention goals.
Develop end-user enablement materials for enterprise clients (e.g. Citi, Brookfield Properties, Hearst) to drive mobile adoption.
Tune value proposition to new market verticals with segmented audience messaging.
DIRECTOR, CORPORATE STORYTELLING, BRAND MARKETING
YAHOO!
September, 2009 to June, 2012
Lead company-wide consistency in messaging initiative and elevate corporate storytelling function. Work with CEO staff to refresh the brand story for a $100M global campaign.
Drive company-wide adoption of the updated corporate story with an internal surge to train employees worldwide. Develop and deliver global in-person and virtual sessions.
Develop internal messaging libraries with comprehensive brand ambassador resources including Yahoo! Story Book, Brag Sheet and new digital tools for employee enablement.
Activate corporate messaging via client- and partner-facing materials (slides + talk tracks). Partner to support LOB owners in framing industry stories within the larger corporate story.
Oversee content and execution strategies for speakers bureau and social media programs (corporate blog, Twitter). Place company leaders at premiere speaking events globally. Develop thought leadership platforms and talk tracks. Prep execs to stand and deliver.
Own and manage the Yahoo! News Center, serving the press and industry analysts covering the company.
Editorial review and copy editing services for all press releases and marketing materials.
DISTINGUISHED MARKETING DIRECTOR
SUN MICROSYSTEMS
January, 2005 to September, 2009
Initiate, structure, execute and manage strategic global brand partnerships. Deliver high profile experiential brand marketing programs that brought the brand story to life. Examples: UN Global Youth Leadership, ONE.org, TED, Live8.
Drive editorial agenda for corporate websites, news networks, and social media activity.
Spearhead internal programs educating 600+ employees on using social media for business. 87% rate it Excellent/Above Average.
Serve as Executive Director of the corporate foundation. Realign focus and drive operational efficiencies. Deliver 250% y/y growth in employee charitable contributions and 45% y/y growth in employee volunteerism.
PR AND MARKETING MANAGER
SUN MICROSYSTEMS
January, 1997 to January, 2005
Own the content strategy for the company’s digital and event marketing programs that target C-level decision makers.
Achieve message alignment and content strategy synchronization for outbound vehicles involving distributed team of 70+ program owners.
Manage end-to-end executive communications for JavaSoft president including keynotes at industry events drawing tens of thousands of developers.
STATES EDITOR, WEATHER REPORTER, NEWS ASSISTANT
USA TODAY
January, 1991 to June, 1995
Staff editorial contributor to the News section of USA Today
Research, reporting, writing on news and feature stories, News from Every State briefs, weather, infographics, and more.
Planning for major news events including presidential elections and political conventions.
PREVIOUS CLIENTS
I had the privilege of working as a consultant to organizations including...
EDUCATION AND HONORS
School Board Recognition of Volunteer Service to Arlington Public Schools
2017 HONORED CITIZEN, ARLINGTON, VA
Currently enrolled in M.Ed. Curriculum and Instruction, GMU (2023, Anticipated)
PHI KAPPA PHI HONOR SOCIETY
George Mason University
B.A. GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
ACADEMIC PAPERS
MEd candidate in Curriculum and Instruction for ESOL Education at George Mason University (2023, Anticipated)
EQUITY IN ACCESS TO ADVANCED CURRICULUM FOR CULTURALLY AND LINGUISTICALLY DIVERSE STUDENTS (EDCI 537, FALL 2020)
For several decades, the number of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CLD) learners in US schools has been dramatically increasing. These students are not getting access to advanced curriculum in ways that are commensurate with that growth. Advanced curriculum is highly correlated with post-secondary outcomes. The absence of equity in access to advanced curriculum is acting as a gate, resulting in far more limited subsequent access to colleges and universities for CLD learners as compared to their peers whose heritage language is English. The purpose of this paper is to examine the obstacles that CLD learners face in accessing advanced curriculum across three domains: at the system level, at the teacher expectation level, and at the student self-assessment level. This paper examines the research to understand the dynamics preventing CLD students in accessing advanced curriculum, and and it proposes strategies that could be employed to remedy the inequity.
BRIDGINIG THE DIVIDE (EDCI 537, FALL 2020)
The journeys that each of our Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CLD) students take to achieve English proficiency is as differentiated as the students themselves. The ways in which we as teachers guide them in that journey is strongly colored by our own cultural identity. Teachers can leverage the cultural and linguistic assets that each CLD student brings into the classroom to bridge the divide to English proficiency for English Language Learners (ELLs). It is important to explicitly state that this divide is not about students who can string together long series of words and turn them into grammatically correct English sentences, and those students who can not. The divide is between students who can use the English language to claim power, and those who can not. Communication is not just the exchange of information. It is an act of power, and English proficiency is the gate that unlocks access to cultural power, social power, economic power, and so much more. This paper explores teachers' roles and the role of language in access to power in the classroom and beyond.
BILINGUALISM, EXECUTIVE FUNCTION, AND THE DELAYED ONSET OF DEMENTIA SYMPTOMS (EDUC 516, SPRING 2021)
For centuries, second language acquisition has been viewed as something that had detrimental consequences to students. In 1890, a a Cambridge University wrote that a child living in two languages equally would have their intellectual and spiritual growth halved. This deficit view of second language acquisition has rippled down through the centuries and remains with us today. It is reflected in the politicization of bilingual education through state voter initiatives such as Proposition 227, Proposition 203 and Question 2, and in how bilingualism has been de-emphasized in federal education policy. There is an increasing volume of recent research that demonstrates bilingualism produces advantages for students including increasing educational motivation and outcomes, strengthening the students’ sense of self, as well as providing cognitive benefits, two of which this paper explores. In spite of an increasing body of research-based evidence, deficit-oriented misconceptions about bilingualism and second language acquisition remain. The emerging field of linguistic neuroscience is beginning to scientifically examine how language and the cognitive processing that bilinguals do in accessing language is processed in the brain. Neuroscientists have only recently begun engaging in rigorous multilingualism research. However, there is already clear evidence that second language acquisition changes the neural pathways in the brain in positive ways. This paper explores how bilingualism impacts the brain in ways that strengthen executive function and delay the onset of symptoms associated with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
STUDENT LITERACY STUDY (EDRD 515, FALL 2020)
Supporting Culturally and Linguistically Diverse students in their journey to English literacy requires a holistic approach that is rooted in the child's identity, leverages the child’s heritage language literacy, and embraces all cultural attributes that the child brings into the classroom. This paper develops the profile of one such English Language Learner by creating a literacy profile of a composite student and outlining the strategies used to develop this profile. This paper identifies key aspects of the student’s identity as well as aspects of her cognitive development that can be leveraged in the journey to English proficiency. Finally, this paper provides an overview of the specific pedagogical approaches that are recommended to be used in helping the student deepen her relationship to literacy.
SIDE HUSTLES
(off the clock)
