Panel Advice: Tips for Managers to Deliver Hard News

Julie Miller is a seasoned internal communicator with extensive experience working with communications tools and improving employee adoption and engagement. She leads Simpplr’s internal communications initiatives and works closely with executives and employees to ensure streamlined and effective communications and processes across the organization.

Jacqueline Mason is a program director in Strategic Communications for MD Anderson Cancer Center, which has been named number one in the nation for cancer care by U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Hospitals” survey for the last nine years. As part of the internal communications team, Jacqueline connects employees with the mission of the organization using storytelling and internal strategies to educate, inspire and compel action. Her work at MD Anderson involves detailed communications planning to increase visibility of patient safety, quality and performance improvement initiatives. She works in partnership with clinical operations leadership to deliver key messages using communications toolkits, presentation materials, articles and targeted emails. She also collaborates with her Strategic Communications colleagues on projects to unite more than 23,000 employees across distinct roles and levels of health care experience.

Tia Over leads Spring Green’s operations and business development efforts as well as the agency’s higher ed and STEM-driven accounts. As a thought leader, Tia has spoken at industry events including the Society of Women Engineers Portland and Denver conferences, Women Who Code’s national CONNECT Conference,  and PRSA Counselors Academy Conferences. Her writing has appeared in Ragan.com, the PRSA ‘PRSay’ blog and more. Tia launched her public relations career working for a political and public affairs shop consulting for state and federal political campaigns and trade associations in Oregon. Her next position was as a White House appointee at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C., where she directed all internal communications for agency employees at each of the ten NASA field centers. Tia was responsible for developing consistent messaging across the agency, managing incoming media requests for the assistant administrator, and special projects such as the Return to Flight Space Shuttle Launch, the 35^th Anniversary of Apollo 11 and the premiere of the IMAX film Magnificent Desolation. Soon after, Tia joined the global public relations firm WE Communications, led a Microsoft analyst relations team and served as a strategic relationship manager to her clients.