Marketing

The Marketing Committee works with the Bridge Board and the committee heads to create publicity and promotional materials for Bridge events.  This includes overseeing and implementing the marketing strategies for major events, assisting with writing content for the Bridge Bulletin, and composing communication materials when necessary.

Joining the Marketing Committee is an excellent way to gain practical skills and hands on experience in communications, material development, and marketing.

Valerie Varco is the head of Bridge’s Marketing Committee and she is a 2012 M.P.A. Candidate with an International focus.  Prior to joining Wagner in January 2010, Valerie was a non-profit consultant specializing in communications strategy and defining organizational processes.  Passionate about poverty-alleviation through access to health and financial services, Valerie became interested in social entrepreneurship and the synergies between the non-profit and for-profit world while working as the Executive Assistant to Dr. Jim Yong Kim at the Harvard School of Public Health.   After leaving Harvard, Valerie volunteered with Barack Obama’s Presidential Campaign in Cleveland, Ohio where a fellow volunteer persuaded her to move to Mumbai and write donor reports on the HIV/AIDs and adolescent girls’ program for Swayam Shikshan Prayog, a local Indian NGO devoted to educating and empowering women in rural areas.  While in India, Valerie became interested in Bottom-of-the-Pyramid markets and products that can enhance the lives of the poor.  She spent the past summer in Burkina Faso as a marketing intern for Ashoka Fellow Joceylne Yennega Kompaore where she developed the introduction strategy for The Talking Book, a learning device for low-literacy communities, in the village of Donsin.  Valerie received her Bachelor’s in History from Colorado State University.  Contact her at vvarco@gmail.com.