Jessica Nielsen, Vice President, Communications, Lockheed Martin
Jessica Nielsen displays a remarkable dedication and ability in the PR profession and in demonstrating value within companies whose products lack a natural understanding of worth. Originally described by her first manager at Ruder Finn as able to pitch a dog off a meat truck, Jessica began her career engaging with reporters on major consumer brands and has taken that natural ability to support the more challenging field of information technology. Her ability to translate the complicated into the simple is what makes her truly special.
One of the first initiatives developed by Jessica upon arriving at Lockheed Martin was to ensure a better understanding of the company’s strategy by all 24,000 employees, as well as members of the press. In order to ensure this, Jessica lead a team that set measurable goals, which included ensuring more than 70 percent of employees had an understanding of the strategy and securing over 30 articles with mentions of the company’s three focus markets. Externally, they briefed reporters extensively to ensure that media days were focused on the strategy elements and a clear storyline was presented. The result was more than 70 percent of employees said they understood the strategy, while over 50 articles noted one or more of the three focus markets.