Denise Keyes is the associate dean of the Master of Professional Studies in Public Relations and Corporate Communication at Georgetown University. She launched the program in 2007 and was responsible for the design of its innovative applied curriculum which focuses on educating responsible communicators. One of hallmarks of the program is the Center for Social Impact Communications (CSIC) which reflects Ms. Keyes' own passion and experience using the power of communications to create positive change.
CSIC provides leadership opportunities for communicators to work with socially responsible corporations, nonprofits and global NGOs. In addition to her responsibilities as dean, Ms. Keyes serves as the director of CSIC. She also teaches at Georgetown’s Center for Public and Nonprofit Leadership and serves as a fellow for the Center for Social Justice.
Prior to joining Georgetown, Ms. Keyes was a senior counselor at Fleishman-Hillard where she managed a portfolio of corporate, nonprofit and foundation clients in the social marketing practice including Gatorade, ESPN, American Red Cross and the MacArthur Foundation. During this time she was awarded a Silver Anvil for a campaign helping people with disabilities transition to employment.
Ms. Keyes managed the Washington, DC start-up of Cone's award-winning cause branding practice. In that role, she designed signature cause programs for Fortune 100 corporations on a range of social issues and causes including breast cancer, financial literacy and education. Ms. Keyes also served as vice president of marketing and strategic alliances for the Points of Light Foundation where she created corporate partnerships that integrate employee volunteerism with cause marketing.
Ms. Keyes began her career in advertising managing multinational brands such as American Express, MasterCard and Shell. She worked for a number of major advertising agencies including Ogilvy & Mather in New York and London before moving to Washington, DC where she has lived for the past 14 years.
Ms. Keyes taught communications in the masters program at Johns Hopkins University. She is frequent speaker at national conferences on CSR, cause marketing and branding. She served on the board of directors of the Washington Regional Association of Grantmakers and as the chair of Community Health Charities of the National Capital Area. Ms. Keyes has a masters in public communication from American University and a certificate in public and nonprofit leadership from Georgetown University.
