Laurie Wilkison

In addition to writing a 50+-page report on the value of natural capital in East Africa for USAID and its academic partners, I ghost wrote editorials that appeared in major newspapers across East Africa on the need to protect natural resources that underpin the livelihoods of communities in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, and South Sudan.

Wolf Trap is a nationally-renowned performing arts venue based just outside of Washington, DC. When its main venue, the Filene Center, celebrated its 30th anniversary, Wolf Trap asked me to draft an article about its history and founder for the program magazine distributed at each night's performance. (Side note: I was Communications/Creative Director at Wolf Trap for seven years and have done several writing projects for them since becoming a freelancer.)

When The Barns of Wolf Trap—a performing arts venue located just outside of Washington, DC—was celebrating its 35th anniversary, I wrote an article for the program magazine celebrating the unique venue and the many performers that had graced its stage. The article ran all season long in print and online, reaching more than 100,000 people.

USAID conducted an in-depth research study of sites around the world with enterprises built for both revenue and conservation. A photographer traveled to each of the six sites with researchers to capture aspects of the story through images. I collaborated with the photographer (Jason Houston) to develop an online photo story that takes viewers from Guatemala to Indonesia and presents the research findings in a compelling, highly-visual fashion.

Wolf Trap Opera Company is a nationally-renowned performing and training programs for young singers. Each summer it puts on productions at Wolf Trap’s 7,000-seat outdoor amphitheater, as well as its smaller venue The Barns. In 2016, for the first time, the company decided to do a special program book that would not only enhance performances but strengthen awareness of their brand. They hired me to manage the entire project from soup to nuts, including: creating a strategic creative brief; mapping out content; editing articles; overseeing a graphic designer; and managing printing.