Chris Atwell, Writer
Chris is a freelance writer who specializes in speeches, scripts, Web copy and media materials. Chris’ recent work on the American Federation for the Blind website, Senior Site, was recognized with a 2008 Silver Communicator Award. He is currently the speechwriter for Earl G. Graves, Sr., the publisher and CEO of Black Enterprise magazine, where he also writes scripts for the annual Black Enterprise Entrepreneurs Award Gala.
Chris has penned speeches and scripts for a host of celebrities, public officials and business leaders, including Danny Glover, Julian Bond and Al Roker. Prior to going out on his own, Chris was a senior writer at the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, where he wrote speeches for the organization’s president, Gloria Feldt, and prepared scripts for Planned Parenthood’s corps of celebrity supporters, such as Kathleen Turner, Mathew Broderick and Blythe Danner. Earlier in his career, Chris was a staff reporter for the City Sun, a Brooklyn-based African-American weekly, where he received an Excellence in Journalism award from the New York Guardians Association.
Warren Kass, Graphic Designer, Kass Communications
Warren is an award-winning graphic designer and creative director with deep experience in both the for-profit and non-profit worlds. His corporate clients have included Häagen-Dazs, the Bank of New York, Minolta, National Geographic and KLM Airlines, among others. Warren’s logo, packaging, brochure and direct mail designs have launched many successful advertising campaigns that helped his clients increase sales and garnered dozens of creative awards from his peers.
Warren and his wife, Jane, are committed volunteers for the American Cancer Society, recently traveling to Washington to lobby Congress for increased funding for cancer research. For years Warren has served as a facilitator/leader for the society’s Man-to-Man Support Group. He is also a board member of Alumni & Friends of LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, an organization that raises funds to provide scholarships for gifted students.
About Us / Our Team
// Operate with intention. Aim for excellence.
Bonnie McEwan, President
Bonnie founded Make Waves in January of 2007 after working over 20 years in nonprofit marketing and communications. She is the firm’s chief strategist and directly manages its qualitative research activities, moderating focus groups and analyzing the competitive landscape of the various fields where our clients operate. Immediately prior to opening Make Waves, she served for six years as Executive Vice President of Douglas Gould and Company, a communications consultancy that works with public interest organizations. There she led the firm’s practice in Economic and Social Justice, working with clients such as the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the Center for Reproductive Rights, the United Nations Population Fund and the Ford Foundation.
She has held the top communications position with two national nonprofit organizations, Girl Scouts of the USA and the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and has been on the part-time faculty of the Milano Graduate School at the New School for 15 years. During the 1997-98 academic year, Bonnie served as Acting Chair of Milano’s Nonprofit Management master’s degree program. In January 2009 she received a regular faculty appointment as a Visiting Lecturer.
Bonnie is a published author who has served on several nonprofit boards, notably the Empire State Pride Agenda, and is profiled in the leadership book, “Thriving in 24/7: Six Strategies for Taming the New World of Work,” by Sally Helgesen. Her awards include a national Silver Anvil from the Public Relations Society of America. She is a Top 1,000 Reviewer on Amazon.com. Bonnie holds an MS in Nonprofit Management from the New School and was trained in focus group moderation at the Burke Institute.
Kathleen Duncan, Executive Vice President and CFO
Kathleen started her career in retailing, holding buying positions with Bloomingdale’s and Bonwit Teller. She later became a vice president at Hanover Direct, a catalog mail order company, where she oversaw product development and the visual presentation of merchandise in multiple catalogs.
In 1992 Kathleen was recruited by Girl Scouts of the USA to become the first woman to direct their national merchandising operation, which develops and sells products carrying the Girl Scout trademark. There she pioneered a more aggressive branding and licensing approach for the organization, expanding the business to generate over $50 million in annual revenue.
At Make Waves Kathleen specializes in analyzing nonprofit organizations to assess their potential for carrying out earned income initiatives and develops earned income strategies for those organizations that show promise. On occasion, she also directs stage productions, video and photo shoots and handles the sourcing of photographers and other visual professionals for Make Waves clients.
Joan Grangenois-Thomas, Senior Media Consultant
Joan brings over 20 years of experience to her position as Senior Media Consultant for Make Waves. She also oversees our company’s training activities. Joan’s previous experience includes more than four years with Douglas Gould and Co., where she focused on conducting message and media trainings for clients and foundation grantees.
Since joining Make Waves Joan developed and delivered message trainings for the Open Society Institute, Barnard College and the Revenue Watch Institute and coached executive staff members at Americans for UNFPA and Girl Scouts USA on presentation skills. She was the lead media strategist for Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy, garnering publicity for the group’s Run for Our Sons mini marathon, including a story that aired on the ABC-TV affiliate in Philadelphia, where the event took place.
Over the course of the last two years, Joan has generated over 70 media hits in seven states for our client, Wider Opportunities for Women, and the launch of its Elder Economic Security Initiative, a multi-year advocacy project to promote the economic well-being of older Americans.
Joan is certified by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) as a facilitator in their WORLD OF DIFFERENCE Institute, where she delivers anti-bias and diversity training on behalf of ADL to a variety of audiences, including students and teachers in middle and high school. Joan is co-chair of a community coalition that works to decrease risky behavior of youth in Port Chester, NY, where she resides with her family.
About Us / What Makes Us Different
// Issues and causes are our true clients.
First and foremost, we believe that people are attracted to nonprofits because of issues, values and ideals. While individual organizations are important, it’s their underlying missions that move people to social action and progressive change. Thus, we believe that issues and causes are our true clients.
We work with nonprofit organizations to create forward movement on key issues in the fields of human rights and civil liberties, health and medicine, economic justice and social equity. We also work together with other companies and professionals when collaboration across organizational boundaries is likely to move the issue ahead on the public agenda. Our focus is on cooperation rather than competition.
We pride ourselves on developing nonprofit marketing initiatives that are measurable and produce documented results. We want to know what works, what doesn’t, and what really makes waves.
About Us / Overview
// We're all about making an impact.
A lot of marketing and communications efforts don’t make much of an impact. It’s not easy. There’s a lot of clutter out there in the media marketplace and just being seen or heard is not enough. Make Waves uses research, analysis and a full complement of techniques and tools to create strategies that help our clients generate funding, media attention and policy clout. Making noise is not enough. Let us help you make waves.