95%+ Occupancy Rates Across 4 Properties
Served as the fractional marketing manager for a nonprofit student housing organization.
Managed all marketing execution including PR, creative agency coordination, photo shoots, launch events, and social media.
Secured press coverage in notable Portland publications that drove brand awareness and tenant leads.
Background
College Housing Northwest (CHNW) is a nonprofit organization providing affordable housing for students in the Portland area. As a 50-person organization with a unique mission serving the student population, they needed a marketing partner who could understand their complex organizational structure while delivering both strategic guidance and hands-on execution.
CHNW lacked a cohesive PR and marketing strategy. They needed someone who could build their communications infrastructure from scratch while maintaining the flexibility to support various marketing initiatives across the organization. With multiple properties to fill and a mission-driven approach that required careful messaging, they needed a consultant who could quickly learn their business and become a true extension of their team.
I started as their PR consultant, securing press coverage in notable Portland publications. That relationship evolved into a 3.5-year engagement as their sole fractional marketing manager across all 4 properties: The Gem, Goose Hollow, University District, and the The Amy. I served as the central point of contact for all marketing execution, managing a creative agency, coordinating photo shoots, planning property launch events, writing press releases, and creating social media content that attracted prospective tenants.
The Results
Over five years, the partnership maintained 95%+ occupancy rates across all 4 properties. I secured major press placements in notable Portland publications that increased brand awareness and generated qualified tenant leads.
By serving as the single point of contact for all marketing activities, from managing the creative agency and coordinating photo shoots to planning launch events and running social media, I gave CHNW a full marketing department without the overhead of hiring in-house. What started as a PR project turned into a 3.5-year partnership because I became someone they could trust to handle everything.
Testimonials
“Jessica was a great find for our growing 50-person organization. She has helped us build a PR plan from scratch and, while doing that, has helped us with other marketing-related initiatives. She’s a great collaborator; she really listens to what we’re trying to achieve and helps us get there. Jessica is equally competent in a strategy conversation as she is in writing and helping us implement our plan. She provides us much-needed organizational support, capturing what each of us agreed to do in meetings, providing us with well thought-out agendas and keeping us on schedule. We’ve gotten great value from Jessica and highly recommend her for companies looking for a great hands-on consultant and not large-scale PR firm. Jessica is truly a teammate; an integral part of our marketing-marcom-PR team.”
“We hired Jessica as our PR consultant last September, and within only a few months she has proved herself a vital member of our marketing team. Jessica’s project management skills, insights on strategy, and overall creativity and ingenuity have been invaluable to our organization. ”
“Jessica has been instrumental in bringing some much needed public relations and marketing insight to College Housing Northwest. She is punctual, timely and professional with communication, and adept at brainstorming creative public relations and marketing solutions. She has rapidly learned the ins and outs of our unique and complex organization and how our mission, goals, and audience shape our communication strategies. From press releases and interviews to social media and website content, Jessica’s expertise and passion about organizational communication is invaluable. ”