Michael Chihak, Executive DirectorKristen Grimm, FounderBoard Members Michael ChihakMichael is a native of Tucson, Arizona, and spent more than three decades in the newspaper and information business, including 16 years in executive positions. His last post was as editor and publisher of the Tucson Citizen. Previous experience was with The Associated Press, USA Today, The Salinas Californian and El Sol de Salinas, a Spanish-language publication.
In the late 1990s, Chihak recognized the need for the burgeoning Latino community in Salinas, Calif., to have access to news and information in Spanish. He led negotiations to purchase a small, local Spanish-language newspaper, El Sol de Salinas, and began growing its news and advertising base. Today, it is a distinct part of the media landscape in the Salinas Valley, serving the businesses and people who communicate best in Spanish.
From 2001 to 2004, he served as chair of the Advisory Board to the University of Arizona's College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, the largest college on campus. In that capacity, he helped lead the college's share of Campaign Arizona, a $1 billion fund-raising effort that brought many new investors to the university.
As world editor of USA TODAY in 1991, Chihak oversaw a team of reporters and freelance correspondents who covered the decline and fall of the Soviet Union, while at the same time overseeing coverage of the opening round of Middle East peace talks that took place in Madrid, Spain.
Chihak, phonetic pronounced Chee-hock, is a member of the National Association of Multicultural Media Executives and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. He graduated from the University of Arizona with a degree in journalism. He is married, to Hilda Oropeza Chihak, and has two adult children.
“Michael joins us at a very exciting juncture at CLI. The board has strengthened the organization and completed a strategic planning process that will focus our efforts in serving the nonprofit sector’s strategic communications needs,” said Troy Petenbrink, CLI Board Chair. “He is a perfect match. He has a strong media background and rich experience in positive social change."
Michael can be reached by email or phone at michael [at] communicationsleadership.org or 415.227.4200 x222.
Kristen Grimm, FounderKristen Grimm has extensive experience conceiving, implementing and managing strategic communications campaigns. She is the president of Spitfire Strategies, which provides communications solutions to support positive social change.
Prior to founding the Communications Leadership Institute and Spitfire Strategies, she was a fellow at the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation (VVAF), where she worked on issues including banning landmines, reforming the death penalty and criminal justice systems, and reducing the threat of nuclear war.
Before her fellowship, Grimm was the president and chief operating officer of Fenton Communications, where she oversaw a professional staff of 65, as well as managed client accounts including The Justice Project, Align Technology, World Wildlife Fund, the Aspen Institute, NRDC, and Youth Service America. While at Fenton, she wrote “NOW HEAR THIS: The Nine Laws of Successful Advocacy Communications” (with generous support from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation). More than 10,000 copies of the booklet were distributed in the nonprofit and foundation sectors.
She has conducted many capacity building communications trainings for nonprofits, foundations and corporations including the Open Society Institute, Pew Charitable Trusts, the Arsalyn Foundation, World Wildlife Fund, and the National Association of Children’s Hospitals. Grimm is a frequent speaker on communications and successful advocacy strategies, and has recently addressed annual conferences for the Independent Sector, Environmental Grantmakers Association, the Council on Foundations, the Communications Network, and the National Association of Children’s Hospitals.
In 1999, she won the Silver Anvil for her work on SeaWeb’s ‘Give Swordfish a Break’ campaign, which successfully mobilized hundreds of chefs across the country to stop serving swordfish until the U.S. government adopted a sustainable fisheries management plan. Prior to Fenton, Grimm was a senior account executive with Millennium Communications Group where her clients included: The Benton Foundation, the California Nurses Association, Public Allies, and Rock the Vote.
Board of Directors Troy Petenbrink
President
Principal, Caduceus Marketing
Washington, DC
Ludovic Blain III
Secretary
Director, Spotlight on Race, Center for Social Inclusion
Oakland, CA
Akilah Monifa
Treasurer
Director of Communications,
CBS 5/The CW 44 Cable 12 (KPIX/KBCW Televisions)
San Francisco, CA
Piper Kerman
Chairperson, Strategic Planning Committee
Vice President, Spitfire Strategies
New York, NY
David Brotherton
Chairperson, Personnel Committee
President and Founder, Brotherton Strategies
Seattle, WA
