An Online Community for Marketing Communications Professionals in the Education Sector
About the Founder
Educommunicators.com was founded in 2008 by Patrick R. Riccards to effectively bring together the education marketing communications community.
Patrick currently serves as CEO and Chief Strategist for Exemplar Strategic Communications (www.exemplarpr.com). Exemplar is a boutique communications agency that specializes in developing proven-effective communications strategies and advocacy campaigns for the education sector.
For more than a decade, Patrick has built and executed successful communications, public affairs, advocacy, and public engagement campaigns designed to improve the quality of education in the United States. Focusing on issues such as reading instruction, research-to-practice, high school reform, teacher professional development, accountability, and STEM education, Patrick has partnered with organizations such as the U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Department of Labor, the National Institute for Literacy, National Governors Association, International Baccalaureate, Pennsylvania Department of Education, Virginia Department of Education, Columbia University, Johns Hopkins University, and many others.
He previously served as Senior Vice President and Practice Director for Lipman Hearne and Vice President and Practice Director for Widmeyer Communications. He was also the founding VP for Marketing for American College of Education, Whitney International University System, and Early College.
Patrick began his career on Capitol Hill, holding senior communications positions for U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd (WV), U.S. Senator Bill Bradley (NJ), and U.S. Congressman John W. Olver (MA).
PRWeek and PR News magazines have personally recognized Patrick as one of the top professionals in his field, and PRSA, IABC, and Philips Business Information have recognized his communications campaigns for their success.
He is the author of numerous reports and toolkits for a range of education organizations and is an award-winning commentary author. He is also a contributing author of Why Kids Can't Read: Challenging the Status Quo in Education, published by Rowman Littlefield Education in 2006.
Patrick is also the author of Eduflack (http://blog.eduflack.com), a blog focused on the effectiveness of education reform communications.
Want to read more about effective communications in the education sector? Check out Eduflack, the industry's top blog for education reform communications.
http://blog.eduflack.com
Want to learn more about Exemplar Strategic Communications and its work promoting education improvement efforts throughout the United States? Visit us at:
www.exemplarpr.com
