Carrie Rathbun Hawks, APR is president of
Rathbun Public Relations, which she founded in 2002. She has practiced
public relations for more than 20 years and is an accredited member of
the Public Relations Society of America.
Rathbun is responsible
for the creation and management of strategic public relations and
marketing programs for her clients, which have ranged from health care
to economic development, and nonprofits to waste management. She
practices the four-step process of PR: research, planning, communication
and evaluation. As a result, she has received numerous awards for
outstanding community relations, event planning and marketing
communication projects.
Special skills include strategic
planning, branding, communication counseling and communication asset
analysis, news and creative writing, public speaking/presentations,
media training and media relations.
With a BA in communication from
Michigan State University, Rathbun has served as an instructor for the
MSU Department of Advertising, Public Relations and Retailing’s elite
Specialization in Public Relations Program. Her accreditation, or APR,
is one of the highest designations a public relations practitioner can
earn from PRSA and is only available through extensive written and oral
examinations of professionals with progressively more responsible PR
experience.
Rathbun is currently chair of the board of directors
for the Shiawassee Regional Chamber of Commerce and president of the
Laingsburg Business & Community Association, including being a
recipient of its Businessperson of the Year honor in 2009. In addition,
Rathbun is a past member of the board of directors for Ele’s Place, a
healing center for grieving children in Lansing and The Clothesline, a
nonprofit resale shop in Laingsburg helping families in need of
clothing, shoes and outerwear. Rathbun also serves as president of the
Laingsburg Educational Advancement Foundation and past-chair of the WKAR
Community Advisory Board.
