The CRNW philosophy is simple: we are part of your team; we are your communication resource.
Meg Winch, President
Meg specializes in the facilitation and training of communication and organizational skills, working with project team members to enhance the communication behaviors critical to their jobs. She is a trained facilitator of formal partnering and public involvement processes. For more than 30 years, she has worked with teams to develop presentations, manage messages, and develop communication strategies and agreements. Meg also works with both public and private sector clients to develop comprehensive programs of both qualitative and quantitative research. Meg holds BA degrees in Communication and German from the University of Washington and an MS in Communication and Group Dynamics from Purdue University. She is the author of the popular “Effective Presentations by Design,” a short-list interview approach workbook.
“I have a real passion for improving how teams communicate and I love helping them win projects. I’m so proud of the teams I’ve worked with—they work incredibly hard and create amazing presentations that raise the bar for interview teams nationwide.”
Sara Halicki, Principal
Sara helps clients showcase the teamwork and creativity that brings projects to life through messaging, presentations, and strategic planning. She brings a background in technical communication, including 11 years’ experience as a marketing professional and project coordinator in the AEC industry combined with six years as a planetarium program developer and presenter. Sara has led marketing and firmwide initiatives, including proposals, project interviews, articles for industry publications, brand development, and strategic planning. She has worked with a diverse cross section of AEC industry clients and colleagues and enjoys the challenging but critical element of conveying complex information in a way that is clear and concise, yet full of life. Sara holds a BA degree in English from Portland State University, with a concentration in technical writing.
Andrew Winch, Associate Principal
Andrew provides partnering facilitation for signature projects around the United States as part of the CRNW facilitation team. Over the last year, he has helped bring partnering and strategic planning processes online, specializing in virtual engagement activity design and small group facilitation. Andrew was the co-facilitator for our work at NREL, the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library, and the US Air Force Chapel, among others. Andrew started his work at CRNW by playing quietly under the conference room table, was forced to do grunt office work by age six, and graduated more than ten years ago to team facilitation and research design.
Noah Pylvainen, Associate Principal
Noah specializes in graphic design and website development at CRNW. He creates interactive and engaging tools, infographics, and layout design for proposals, meeting facilitation, and training programs. He has an education background in urban and regional planning and has worked with public agencies and nonprofits developing outreach strategies, planning, and public engagement tools. He has designed dozens of training manuals, facilitation tools, and materials for workshops and activities, and also provides graphic facilitation, translating ideas and process flows into infographics from complex process diagrams to organizational charts and decision-making flow diagrams. Noah holds a BS degree in Urban and Regional Planning from Eastern Michigan University, and also studied Finnish language and music in Finland.
Tracy Kreifels, Senior Consultant
Tracy serves clients through development of highly effective marketing programs that drive strategic initiatives to success. Before joining Communication Resources, Tracy held top marketing leadership positions for multi-disciplinary architecture and engineering firms serving major markets around the world. Trained as an architect, she applies her design skills and understanding of the project development process to all aspects of marketing and communication, including technical writing and graphic design. Active in marketing professional services in the building industry for more than 30 years, she has been published by SMPS and ZweigWhite, contributed to and edited a book on branding professional services, and is widely recognized for her award-winning marketing programs. Tracy holds a BA degree in Architecture and Urban Planning from the University of Washington.
Erika Behrends, Senior Consultant
Erika is a dynamic trainer, training and curriculum developer, and facilitator with more than 10 years experience working for private and non-profit organizations. She has also worked as a classroom educator and instructor in multiple states and abroad in Nicaragua and China. She brings an enthusiastic and direct approach to helping clients explore and execute custom training solutions that help solve organizational challenges as well as promote continuous improvement for teams. Erika holds a BA in Spanish and Comparative Religion from Wellesley College and a Masters in Education from Harvard.
Keith Maier, Senior Consultant
Keith’s focus is user experience (UX) design. He helps craft materials and services that focus on user needs, with a specific emphasis on digital tools and learning programs. Additionally, he supports CRNW coaching and training programs with project management and technical writing expertise. Keith also leads CRNW's Product Development efforts, translating years of communication and training expertise and experience in a live environment into a range of both digital and material products. Keith holds a BA degree in Creative Writing from Seattle Pacific University and a certificate in User Experience and Visual Design from the University of Washington. He is also a certified ScrumMaster through the Scrum Alliance.
Anna Helland, Associate Consultant
Anna’s specialty is designing engaging and story-driven graphics. She is a hands-on creative leader with more than 10 years of conceptual creative and strategic storytelling experience, with a background in brand development, visual storytelling, project management, and event promotion for nonprofit and for-profit organizations. Anna invests her skills in a project from ideation to implementation, understanding her client’s story and developing designs that clearly and compellingly share their message while engaging audiences with their brand. Anna holds a BA in Electronic Media and Magazine Journalism from the University of Oregon.
Nancy Tripi, Project Administrator
Nancy Tripi is the person making sure projects are delivered on time. She is our partner in project delivery and works hand-in-hand with the consultant team to develop creative solutions, deliver highest quality training programs and plan client events. Nancy brings a unique combination of tenacity and innovation to any project. She is responsible for organizing major projects and for maximizing client satisfaction. Nancy holds a BA in political science from Marymount College.
Laine Potter, Accountant
Laine Potter has an uncanny ability to balance her fine sense of humor with an encyclopedic knowledge of accounts, business facts and dates. Laine is the finder of things and the keeper of mission of Communication Resources, the people we work with, and our staff. She’s been with us for more than a dozen years and loves nothing more than answering your questions and making sure your business needs are met. Laine holds a degree in social welfare from the University of Washington and did her graduate work in Accounting.
Inclusion in our Work
Communication Resources Northwest embraces diversity, equity, and inclusion in our work and in our relationships with others. We support modes and methods of communication that include a broad spectrum of voices, creating opportunities through innovation and commitment. As leaders in our industry, as members of our community, as parents, and as educators, we will ensure that our work, financial contributions, volunteerism, and outreach are consistent with creating a more socially just and equitable world.
Communication Resources as a company, as well as its owners and employees, does not discriminate or harass based on sex, race, color, marital status, national origin, religious affiliation, disability, sexual orientation, veteran status, gender identity or expression, or age, nor does it support, endorse, or enable any such behavior.
We acknowledge that we and our industry have a long way to go in removing barriers to equitable participation in projects and the economy; we will continue to raise our voices and redouble our efforts to be a contributor to creating more opportunity for a diversity of people.
