Kimberly M. Reason, Principal and Founder
An award-winning, PERCEPTIVE, STRATEGIC COMMUNICATOR AND EXPERIENCED EXECUTIVE with a keen instinct for grasping the big picture, distilling nuances, and identifying opportunities to best tell an organization's story, Kimberly brings to the table a parabolic range of executive, strategic communications, and organizational cultural experience, making her uniquely qualified to handle today’s complex workplace development and external relations challenges.
With 30 years in the public, corporate and nonprofit human services sectors, Kimberly has driven media relations, reputation management, and stakeholder relationship-building for regional and municipal government agencies, a Fortune 500 Company, and several community-based organizations. She has served as an executive leader and media spokesperson for Sound Transit, Central Puget Sound's regional transit authority; the Seattle City Council; Macy's Inc. and Legal Voice, with senior PR experience in issues management, racial and social justice advocacy and community-building, environmental planning, design and construction of mega-infrastructure projects, equitable transit-oriented development, and crisis response for a range of local and national disasters and tragedies.
As Acting Chief of Staff, Deputy Chief of Staff, and Senior Public Information Officer for Sound Transit, Kimberly advised executives on the agency's strategic, diversity, and capital initiatives. Her work included co-developing the agency’s fare enforcement reform program, for which she served as the interdisciplinary team project lead; creating and executing communication strategies for the agency's community engagement efforts for its $94 billion light rail and commuter rail capital projects; and serving as the CEO’s representative to the agency's human trafficking intervention program.
While developing and implementing media and communication strategies for Sound Transit, Kimberly worked closely with the offices of U.S. Senator Patty Murray, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell, Congressman Adam Smith, Congressman Derek Kilmer, Congresswoman Pramila Jaypal, Washington State Governor Jay Inslee, the U.S. Department of Transportation, and the Federal Transit Administration to plan media tours and messaging for taxpayer-funded mass transit projects. She also partnered with state and local government agencies, including the Washington State Department of Transportation; King, Pierce and Snohomish county executives; Port of Seattle, Seattle Mayor's Office, Seattle Department of Transportation, and Tacoma Mayor's Office to plan and execute joint communication strategies for heavy rail, airport light rail, and Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement state highway construction projects.
West Seattle-Ballard Link light rail extension public meeting, Chinatown/ International District, 2018
University of Washington Link light rail opening day at Husky Stadium,
March 19, 2016
As Macy’s Divisional Vice President for Corporate Communications & Media Relations, Kimberly handled media response and employee communications for multiple crises, including business contingency operations following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the 1999 “Battle in Seattle” WTO riots, mall shootings and bomb threats; negative public reaction to LGBTQ store window displays during Pride Week; media frenzy over a high-profile homicide committed by a store employee; and public outcry over in-store placement of FCUK merchandise.
Throughout her work, Kimberly draws on her extensive leadership and community experience as Vice President for Programs at the Metropolitan Seattle Urban League; Executive Director for Legal Voice; Chair of the Minority Executive Directors Coalition and the Mayor’s Commission on Children and Youth; board member for the United Way of King County and the Northwest Coalition Against Malicious Harassment; Area Director for Camp Fire Central Puget Sound, Program Director for the Boys & Girls Clubs of King County; Program Manager for the JTPA-funded Northwest Center Industries Office Skills Training Program for poor women, displaced workers, and people with disabilities; speaker-educator for the People of Color Against Network and the Lifelong AIDS Alliance; PR intern for the National Women's Political Caucus; diversity training consultant for InnoVision, Inc.; and vaccination paramedic aide in El Sauce, Nicaragua for the youth international aid program, Amigos de las Americas.
Kimberly holds a Master’s degree in Strategic Communication from American University, a Bachelor’s degree as a Distinguished Scholar in Philosophy and Public Affairs from Claremont McKenna College, and a certificate in fiction writing from the University of Washington. As a member of American University's Center for Media & Social Impact research team, Kimberly joined her colleagues in earning Anthem Award (Silver) recognition for purpose and mission-driving work for the study, Watching Out for Democracy: How Entertainment TV Portrays Civic Leadership and Civic Engagement in the United States. Kimberly serves on the Governor's Subcabinet on Business Diversity and KNKX Public Radio's Community Advisory Council, and is a member of the International Women’s Forum Washington State Chapter, a Board Advisor for Onyx Fine Arts Collective, and a graduate of Leadership Tomorrow. She was recognized by Ebony magazine as a leader of tomorrow in its 50th Anniversary Issue.
