Sarah Rasmussen, APR, LEED AP | Vice President 

From Canada to corn to comics… and trash?

Growing up in rural British Columbia, Canada, Sarah Rasmussen didn’t make swimming lessons a top priority. When her family returned to Denver, color television – particularly cartoons – were much more fascinating for the 7-year old (who up until then had never seen such a thing).

While weekdays from 3 to 5 p.m. were devoted to such TV cartoon heroes as Garfield, Thundercats and He-Man, reading took much of her free time. It’s not uncommon for Sarah to read four to five books at the same time (on topics as varied as the American Revolution or Electra and Wolverine – yes, the Marvel comic characters) – and to finish them all in a few days.

This ongoing love of written adventures led to a love of the English language. Sarah was a star reporter at her high school paper and again at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, where she was also copy editor. Rather than major in journalism, she chose public relations.

Sarah developed her passion for politics during the 1996 election cycle (Iowa caucuses), and planned to enter the field upon graduating. Thankfully, volunteering on congressional campaigns and working full time on the first Iowa gubernatorial win for that political party in more than 30 years saved her from this consuming career path.

Seeking more balance, she moved to an association representing 25,000 Iowans, where she focused on event planning, member relations and legislative and political action activities. Soon after, she became a trash queen, working for a regional government agency that focused on landfilling and recycling. Her responsibilities over the next eight years, which included legislative affairs, stakeholder relations and working with 20-plus communities, reinforced her belief that public relations could effect positive changes in the community.

Longing to be closer to family, Sarah relinquished her trash queen crown and started a new adventure at MGA. In addition to tackling new client projects, she’s finally taken those swimming lessons (and learned to scuba dive) and become a triathlete. The written word is marvelous, she’s learned, but adventures are best experienced first-hand.

• Areas of Expertise: Stakeholder Relations, Community and Public Affairs, Strategic Planning, Earned Media, Business Development
• Industry/Vertical Areas of Expertise: Government, Healthcare, Environmental Sustainability, Nonprofits
• Recent Client Work: Point B, The Colorado Trust, Vaisala, McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP,  Colorado Division of Insurance, Shell Oil Co., Memorial Health System
• Year Entered Communications Industry: 1997
• Year Started at MGA: 2007
• Education: B.A. in Journalism and Mass Communication from Drake University
• Community/Industry Involvement: PRSA Colorado President, Mile High Social Media Club, Denver Alumnae of Chi Omega, Rocky Mountain Triathlon Club, Mi Casa Resource Center Volunteer

Interesting Fact

As a child, Sarah wanted to be the first woman president of the United States but had to give up her dreams upon learning she was already disqualified from office because she was born in Canada.

E-mail Sarah | LinkedIn | twitter.com/srasmussen

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