Erica Zens

My journey in this field started about 10 years ago in a very haphazard way. I began as a social media coordinator and event manager at Stone Brewing, where I asked to take on a little bit more and discovered I really liked design and marketing. It was just a side thing helping out the company for my specific location, but it morphed into a full-time role when I moved to Rescue over 7 years ago. I realized I loved the strategic aspect of it, the black and white of managing budgets and timelines and audience parameters, which fit perfectly with my planning background in event management. Now I manage two teams working primarily on public health campaigns, using innovative tools and AI to create actionable, relatable, and accessible public health messaging. We work on initiatives like mental health and vaping cessation for teens, and I really appreciate that we're using marketing not to sell something, but to provide resources and help the communities we serve. I'm currently pursuing my master's in project management to enhance my skills in both launching campaigns and managing teams, and I try to lead with a transformational leadership approach, giving my team autonomy to grow while being there to support them.