Katy Sullivan

Katy Sullivan is a strategic communications consultant who works with nonprofits, healthcare organizations, and small businesses on the writing and positioning that shapes how an organization is understood.

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She describes herself as a business-savvy communications leader with success across industries and across both internal and external roles, and the range is real. Katy runs Substance and Sums Communications, her own consultancy, advising organizations and solopreneurs on communications strategy, high-quality writing and editing, change management, and executive positioning. She is also a Senior Consultant at AmplifyDMC, where she works with nonprofits and social enterprises, bringing experience across industries and functions to build tailored strategies with a specialty in nonprofit fund development.

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Her background is unusual for a communications specialist in a useful way. Katy holds a BBA in Finance and International Business from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an MBA in Marketing and Strategy from the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management, which is why financial communications is one of her named areas of expertise. She is also a Prosci Certified Change Practitioner, and much of her work involves developing communications plans that carry teams through organizational change while reflecting the organization's actual values and culture.

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Before consulting full time, Katy spent nearly three years as System Communications Manager at North Memorial Health, where she rebuilt the internal communications function around employee engagement and strategic alignment. That work covered crisis and issues management, multi-channel media relations, and corporate community relations programs including employee volunteering and charitable giving.

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Outside client work, Katy volunteers with Literacy Minnesota, bringing her healthcare industry knowledge to a cause she cares about, and coordinates the peer mentoring program for the Minnesota chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators, helping communicators build real relationships with their colleagues.

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She is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.