Helping you stand out in the field is what I do.
I'm elana.
Building brands. Increasing impact.
Organizations evolve. Their stories must evolve with them.
For more than two decades, I’ve partnered with mission-driven leaders to shape brands and communications ecosystems that honor purpose while expanding reach. Blending strategic clarity with creative precision, I help institutions articulate who they are, why they matter, and how they move the world forward.
From global nonprofits to cultural institutions and entrepreneurial ventures, my work aligns narrative, digital strategy, and stakeholder engagement into cohesive systems that serve both integrity and growth.
DataKind
Harnessing data science and AI in service of humanity.
Founders of the Data-for-Good movement, DataKind connects leading data scientists with high-impact organizations addressing the world’s most pressing challenges. With chapters across multiple countries and a global volunteer network of 20,000+, the organization was approaching its ten-year anniversary at a pivotal moment of growth and leadership transition.
I was brought on to lead global marketing and communications—guiding the evolution from startup energy to a more mature, cohesive, and scalable brand ecosystem. Working closely with executive leadership and chapter teams, I advanced a unified voice capable of supporting fundraising, thought leadership, and international expansion.
Outcomes include:
Establishment of global brand standards and communications architecture
Messaging framework and inclusive language guidelines
Website and email marketing redesign
10-Year Anniversary strategy, campaign identity, and visual system
Integrated marketing and fundraising collateral for business development
Grant publications for major funders including Google.org, Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, and The Rockefeller Foundation
Conference visibility, presentation systems, and media kits
Digital and social content strategy with scalable templates
Global event campaigns and branded movement-building assets
Press relations and media support
Annual planning, budgeting, and OKR development
Development of anti-racist business practices
Wake Up Yoga
Reimagining a pioneer for a new generation.
Founded in 2002, Wake Up Yoga was once at the forefront of Philadelphia’s studio movement. Over time, however, increased competition and a saturated wellness market left the brand feeling visually dated and strategically diffuse.
With a nimble consultant team and a focused budget, I led a comprehensive rebrand—repositioning the multi-location studio for a new era while honoring its roots in authentic practice. The work extended across every touchpoint, aligning identity, digital experience, and in-studio presence into a cohesive and contemporary expression.
Deliverables include:
Brand strategy, brandmark, and identity system
Website redesign with integrated booking engine and CMS
Email marketing and social media strategy
Exterior and interior signage systems
Photography art direction
Promotional campaigns and advertising
Retail apparel and branded merchandise
Chatham Hall
Repositioning confidence in a changing admissions landscape.
Chatham Hall, a Virginia-based boarding school, has long cultivated bold, confident graduates who go on to shape the world. Yet its rural location—while a source of strength—had increasingly been perceived as a liability in a competitive admissions market, casting the school as quieter and less ambitious than its outcomes reflected.
To realign perception with reality, I led a comprehensive rebranding initiative in close partnership with school leadership—grounded in research and designed to reassert the institution’s distinct identity. The work culminated in a positioning platform centered on a simple but resonant promise: at Chatham Hall, you feel unstoppable.
The result was a cohesive, modern brand expression that communicated strength, leadership, and academic confidence across every admissions touchpoint.
Scope includes:
Qualitative and quantitative landscape research
Brand strategy, positioning, and key messaging development
Tagline creation
Rebranding of academic and athletics brandmarks
Identity system and stationery
Website redesign
Admissions catalog and print collateral
Video production and photography direction
Email marketing templates and advertising creative
Social media campaign strategy
Please Touch Museum
Restoring trust. Reclaiming relevance. Rebuilding sustainability.
As Senior Director of Marketing & Communications, I was recruited as part of a new executive leadership team at a pivotal moment in the museum’s 40-year history. Emerging from bankruptcy, the institution required more than promotional activity—it needed renewed public confidence, strategic clarity, and operational alignment.
Partnering across departments and with board leadership, I led a comprehensive marketing and communications turnaround—repositioning the museum in the marketplace while building systems to support long-term sustainability.
Outcomes include:
Development of strategic and tactical plans establishing KPIs, surpassing quarterly goals, and raising institutional performance standards
10% increase in visitation year-over-year during bankruptcy emergence, exceeding attendance goals (103%) and revenue targets (112%)
Brand and digital transformation aligning visual identity, messaging, and visitor experience across touchpoints
Significant expansion of earned and paid media visibility across broadcast, print, digital, and mobile
Regional partnerships—including collaboration with the Mayor’s Office—to strengthen visibility and program reach
Departmental restructuring across marketing, graphics, sales, retail, and call center operations
Integration of earned, paid, and owned media into a cohesive communications ecosystem
JCC Manhattan
Clarifying identity across a dynamic cultural institution.
Serving thousands of New Yorkers through more than 1,200 programs each season, JCC Manhattan is a vibrant hub of arts, culture, wellness, and community life. Yet the breadth of offerings—while a strength—had created fragmentation in messaging and visual expression across departments.
Hired to lead marketing strategy and communications, I partnered with executive leadership to bring coherence to the institution’s voice and brand presence. The goal was not simply visibility, but clarity—ensuring that every program, campaign, and touchpoint reflected a unified institutional identity.
Through strategic repositioning and cross-departmental alignment, we strengthened audience engagement, elevated public perception, and laid the groundwork for long-term advancement.
Scope includes:
Institutional brand clarification and messaging framework
Audience segmentation and outreach strategy
Visual identity alignment across departments
Integrated marketing campaigns across print, digital, and experiential channels
Communications planning to support capital advancement initiatives
Team leadership and cross-functional coordination
RESTART
by Wilcox Kamens
Building a brand from concept to acquisition.
Originally engaged to develop the brand strategy, name, visual identity, and ecommerce platform for this retail art startup, I became deeply embedded in shaping its trajectory. As the brand took hold, I was asked to step into the role of Managing Director—leading marketing strategy, client relationships, and product development.
What began as a conceptual positioning exercise evolved into a fully realized retail enterprise. By aligning brand clarity with operational execution, we built a distinctive presence in a competitive marketplace—ultimately culminating in the acquisition of the company’s art product line by a major national retailer.
Scope includes:
Brand strategy, positioning, and creative direction
Naming and visual identity system
Product development and merchandising
Ecommerce platform and digital marketing strategy
Sales materials and retail presentations
Photography art direction
Vendor, project, and production management
Fleisher
Art Memorial
Honoring legacy while shaping the future of community arts.
Founded in 1898, Fleisher Art Memorial is one of the nation’s oldest community art schools, serving more than 20,000 people annually through classes, exhibitions, and outreach. With a rich history rooted in access to arts education, the organization sought to expand its reach beyond its physical campus and deepen its relevance in a changing cultural landscape.
Leading a multidisciplinary agency team, I partnered with institutional leadership to define strategic goals and articulate a brand platform that honored Fleisher’s heritage while clarifying its contemporary voice. The resulting identity and digital ecosystem celebrated the school’s creative spirit and reinforced its role as an inclusive cultural anchor—positioned for its next century.
Scope includes:
Brand strategy and positioning
Name evolution and tagline development
Messaging platform
Visual identity system
Website architecture and design
Brand guidelines and internal manifesto
Communications templates and institutional materials
JEVS Human Services
Advancing opportunity through unified voice and vision.
For more than 80 years, JEVS Human Services has provided education, workforce development, and essential support services to individuals facing economic and social barriers. Serving thousands annually across diverse programs, the organization’s scale was a strength—but its messaging lacked cohesion across audiences and stakeholders.
Partnering with leadership, I led a comprehensive brand strategy initiative to clarify positioning, articulate a unified narrative, and strengthen institutional voice. The work centered on aligning programmatic impact with a compelling outward-facing story—one that honored JEVS’s legacy while reinforcing its relevance in a rapidly evolving social services landscape.
The resulting brand platform provided a clear, human-centered foundation to support fundraising, community engagement, and program visibility.
Scope includes:
Brand strategy and institutional positioning
Messaging framework and narrative development
Audience clarification and stakeholder alignment
Visual identity refinement
Website strategy and content architecture
Communications templates and collateral systems
Moore College of Art & Design
Elevating identity in a competitive admissions landscape.
As one of the nation’s only historically women’s colleges of art and design, Moore College prepares young women for creative leadership. To expand reach, increase qualified prospects, and strengthen admissions yield, the institution needed a brand presence that reflected both its rigor and its relevance in a highly competitive higher education marketplace.
In collaboration with the creative team, I helped shape and launch an integrated campaign platform—This is me. This is Moore.—celebrating student identity, artistic ambition, and professional preparation. The campaign unified messaging across admissions materials and digital experience, positioning Moore as a place where creative voice becomes career trajectory.
The work extended beyond promotion, establishing a cohesive narrative ecosystem that served prospective students, families, educators, and the broader college community.
Scope include:
Brand strategy and admissions positioning
Integrated campaign development
BFA catalog and admissions collateral
Photography art direction
Website redesign and custom WordPress CMS development