Strong communications starts with a solid foundation.
Whether you're starting from scratch or rebuilding what isn't landing, I provide the strategy, messaging and leadership to reach your most important audiences.
Are you …
Launching something new? A new organization, program or initiative needs to show up credibly from day one. Before the website gets built, the collateral gets designed or the announcement goes out, you need to know what you're saying, who you're saying it to and how to say it consistently.
Rebranding or repositioning? Something isn't landing. Your audiences have shifted, your organization has evolved or your current communications no longer reflect who you are. Before you rebuild anything, you need to know what's actually not working and why.
Heading into a high-stakes moment? An announcement, a campaign launch, a funder presentation, a leadership transition, a media moment. Whether the audience is internal or external, the stakes are too high to wing it. You need the right words — and strategy — to reach the people who need to hear them most.
Assigning communications to whoever has time? Your organization has outgrown DIY communications, but you're not ready for a full-time communications director. Communications is a specialized function and deserves the right person in that seat (You wouldn't hire a plumber to fix your A/C.). A fractional communications director means your team stays focused on what they do best and communications is in expert hands.
Lay the groundwork first. Always.
Some folks balk at paying for strategy. It's not tangible, you can't hold it in your hand. Instead they jump straight to building the website, designing the perfect logo or posting on social media. It feels like movement.
But when it's not tied to a strategy, it shows. Your messaging feels disjointed. Your audience can't figure out who you are or what you do. And fixing it later is a costly lesson — in both time and money.
Measure twice, cut once. The strategy work comes first so everything that follows is built on something solid.
About Kate
I'm Kate Lino — a strategic communications consultant with more than 20 years of experience helping mission-driven organizations build the communications infrastructure they need to reach their most important audiences.
I've built the MarComm function for a startup nursing college from the ground up in four months. I've developed messaging and audience toolkits for a nearly $6 million NIH-funded research initiative with high funder visibility. And I spent nearly a decade at the American Heart Association's national headquarters, where I led communications for campaigns supported by more than $26 million in corporate investment.
I specialize in the work that comes before execution: the positioning, audience clarity, voice and messaging architecture that makes everything that follows more effective.
I work with growing nonprofits and purpose-driven organizations navigating periods of growth, transition or visibility.
Your communications foundation starts here
Every engagement is different, but they all begin in the same place: figuring out what you need to say, who you're saying it to and how to say it consistently.
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Positioning, voice, audience mapping and the messaging foundation that makes everything else work. We start with a focused review of your existing messaging and communications — so we know exactly what to fix before rebuilding anything.
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More than a plan — a clear roadmap for how your paid, earned, owned and grassroots communications efforts work together to reach your goals. No more isolated tactics or spaghetti thrown on the wall.
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Embedded senior communications leadership scoped to what you actually need. Your team stays in their lane, vendors have direction, and communications is handled without the overhead of a full-time hire.
Selected Projects
A startup nursing college needed to launch as a credible institution. Built the entire MarComm function from scratch in four months — messaging, website, collateral and vendor oversight — in time for their fall semester application launch.
UNT Health College of Nursing
A nearly $6 million multi-year, multi-stakeholder research initiative with high funder visibility needed cohesive communications across multiple audiences. Developed messaging, established branding and built audience toolkits.
NIH-funded research study
Developed messaging and a communications framework for a new strategic plan launch, translating organizational priorities for three distinct audiences — staff, members and sponsors — in time for the annual meeting rollout.
National Recreation & Park Association
In their words
Kate is the person I call when a project needs to get off the ground fast or get back on track — and she always delivers. She's overhauled our website, repositioned my leadership platform and even helped us land a presentation at SXSW EDU. When it matters most, she's the one I can count on to get it done. From the moment I hand a project over to her, my stress level goes down.
— Audrey Rowland, CEO Green Space LearningWhen we launched the Texas Coalition of Forensic Nurses, we needed to show up credibly from day one — and Kate made that possible. She built our website from the ground up and made sure I understood how to manage it. As a volunteer-led organization with a small budget, we didn't want to be dependent on someone else to keep it running. Kate really listened to our needs, delivered exactly what we envisioned and made sure we were empowered to move forward on our own.
— Jenny Black, Founding President, Texas Coalition of Forensic NursesI worked with Kate about getting my brand messaging just right. I was struggling to relate and communicate what I helped clients do best. She helped pull the most beautiful stories from me to create my selling differentiators as well as the unique areas in which I'm awesome/different from other coaches. She's marvelous and SO clear in her approach - uber helpful for me in upping my game!
— Christi Nix Bloomer, PCCKate has a rare ability to take complex, data-heavy content and shape it to communications that actually resonate with audiences. We brought her in as a consultant to develop the framework for a series of impact materials for program funders across our global regions and issues. She managed input from internal SMEs while collaborating seamlessly with our external designer. She understood the problem, knew who she was writing for and delivered work that was immediately ready to use.
— Kelly G., Former client with national nonprofit organizationReady to get started?
Whether you're launching something new or fixing what isn't working, let's figure out where to begin.
