JUANITA McLEOD
Howard University, Office of University Communications
Washington,DC Metropolitan Area
1
Certification
13
years of professional experience
Integrated communications and public affairs leader with 10+ years of experience leading campaign strategy, digital communications, executive messaging, and audience engagement for Howard University and the National Institutes of Health. Supervise communications staff and lead cross-functional initiatives spanning organizational change, equity, public affairs, and high-stakes communications. Campaigns and digital strategies have reached audiences of 80,000+ and increased digital engagement by as much as 70%.
Work History
Assistant Director of Strategic Communications
1 Year 9 Months- Lead integrated communications strategy and content governance for university-wide initiatives serving 13,000+ employees, aligning messaging, digital content, editorial priorities, and stakeholder communications across departments.
- Supervised 2 communications specialists and guided cross-campus contributor network, providing strategic direction, editorial feedback, and coordination of content standards and communication workflows.
- Supervise 2 Communications Specialists and guide a cross-campus contributor network, providing strategic direction, editorial feedback, workload coordination, content standards, and communication workflows.
- Advised partners on audience strategy, message development, and channel selection across email, intranet, web, and digital communications to enhance engagement.
- Analyzed engagement and performance data to deliver weekly recommendations that shaped content strategy and informed campaign decisions.
Assistant Director of Operations & Strategic Communications
1 Year 9 Months- Directed integrated communications across 5 operational units, aligning campaign strategy, executive messaging, digital channels, and rapid-response outreach with university-wide priorities.
- Directed multichannel communications across email, SMS, web, intranet, and BisonSAFE, creating a coordinated approach to routine and urgent university messaging.
- Established urgent-communications workflows that reduced message deployment time by 50%, strengthening response coordination during public safety incidents, service disruptions, severe weather, and other emerging issues.
- Led cross-functional planning with executive leaders, public safety, human resources, technology, facilities, faculty, staff, and subject-matter experts to align narratives and deliver accurate communications under tight deadlines.
- Developed talking points, statements, speeches, executive briefings, reports, and recommendations for senior leadership, including high-visibility and external-facing public safety communications.
Senior Communications Manager
1 Year 11 Months- Led integrated communications for high-visibility campaigns including Homecoming and Commencement, coordinating messaging, digital content, creative production, stakeholder engagement, and campaign timelines.
- Coordinated digital, social, editorial, and multimedia communications to increase awareness of university programs, priorities, and community impact.
- Partnered with internal stakeholders, subject-matter experts, Web Services/UX teams, and external vendors to develop audience-centered campaign narratives and digital experiences.
- Coordinated digital, social, editorial, and multimedia communications, elevating awareness of university programs, priorities, and community impact.
Public Affairs / Communications Manager
4 Years 6 Months- Led public affairs and advocacy-oriented communications for NIH equity, diversity, and inclusion initiatives, shaping campaign narratives and producing digital, editorial, promotional, and employee communications.
- Co-led communications work supporting NIH UNITE, a cross-agency initiative addressing structural racism and advancing racial equity and inclusion.
- Developed the Advancing Racial Equity digital resource during the 2020 racial justice movement; reach expanded from 23,000 NIH employees to 80,000+ HHS employees after adoption as a broader agency resource.
- Served as a communications liaison to 23,000 employees, translating equity initiatives, policy priorities, and program information into accessible stories, campaign materials, digital content, and calls to action.
- Developed equity-focused recruitment communications and toolkits with subject-matter experts, providing guidance to hiring managers across 27 departments.
Public Affairs / Program Analyst, Marketing
2 Years 9 Months- Established NIH's LinkedIn recruitment presence and increased digital engagement by 70% within 6 months through targeted content, audience strategy, and digital outreach.
- Developed and executed employer-brand and recruitment communications strategy for a workforce of 22,000+ employees, including campaign planning, audience targeting, content, advertising, resource allocation, and rollout.
- Coordinated integrated digital and print campaigns across web, social media, advertising, multimedia, job fairs, and campus recruiting to expand employer visibility and support recruitment goals.
- Coordinated integrated digital and print campaigns across web, social media, advertising, multimedia, job fairs, and campus recruiting to enhance employer visibility and drive recruitment efforts.
Education
Master of Science - International Marketing Management
Bachelor of Science - Mass Communications
Skills
Strategic planning
MS office
Internal communications
Email marketing
Campaign development
Digital communications
Certification
Cornell University | Diversity & Inclusion Certification
Awards
2018 NIH Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Award | National Disability Employment Awareness Month campaign and Reasonable Accommodation launch, 2016 NIH Director's Award | Leadership in the first Corporate Recruitment Road Trip to increase diversity and equal opportunity in federal employment
Timeline
Assistant Director of Strategic Communications
Howard University, Office of University Communications
12.2024 - CurrentRead More
Assistant Director of Operations & Strategic Communications
Howard University, Office of Chief Operations
03.2023 - 12.2024Read More
Senior Communications Manager
Howard University, Office of University Communications
04.2021 - 03.2023Read More
Public Affairs / Communications Manager
National Institutes of Health, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion
11.2016 - 05.2021Read More
Public Affairs / Program Analyst, Marketing
National Institutes of Health, Office of Human Resources
02.2014 - 11.2016Read More
University of Maryland
Master of Science from International Marketing Management
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Howard University
Bachelor of Science from Mass Communications
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