KATE HAYDEN
Bylines
February 2023-Present
GRANTS & DEVELOPMENT MANAGER
Refugee & Immigrant Voices in Action (RIVA; formerly known as EMBARC)
Overseeing grants and development initiatives at RIVA, including research and cultivation of funding opportunities, developing specialized messaging and content for the organization, and developing ongoing relationships with donors, philanthropic representatives, and other external stakeholders in our mission. My work supports three pillar programs at RIVA: RIVA AmeriCorps, the Health Equity Campaign, and the Nonprofit Impact Incubator. Support key growth through transformative years for the agency.
- Lead rebranding of agency, including developing of visual assets and core messaging; led rebranding of one pillar program to match agency messaging
- Leading redevelopment of agency website (in progress)
- Awarded grants on behalf of three community-based nonprofits: RIVA, Knock and Drop Iowa, Afghan Partners in Iowa
- Closely collaborated with RIVA Executive Director and Associate Director to develop systems/policies around our grants program; data collection/management; AmeriCorps member recruitment, supervision and program advertisement; and messaging to donors, elected officials, and other key stakeholders to the success of our mission.
August-December 2023
ADJUNCT PROFESSOR, FEATURE WRITING & EDITING
Grand View University
Taught an experience-based journalism course for junior and senior Grand View University Communications students. Students took on three distinct feature stories during their semester and worked 1:1 with me to learn the process of intensive editing feedback, revise their reporting and storytelling, and pitch their stories to college media. My curriculum emphasized editing longform narratives and pushed students to explore style guides beyond the AP Stylebook by referencing equity-based guides created by diverse and BIPOC media editors.
May 2022-February 2023
COMMUNICATIONS & DEVELOPMENT MANAGER
Refugee & Immigrant Voices in Action (RIVA; formerly known as EMBARC)
- Emphasis on media & PR strategy development; promoted Health Equity Campaign, RIVA AmeriCorps (formerly known as RISE AmeriCorps), and programs targeting Burma ethnic minority populations across Iowa
- Relationship builder between EMBARC and volunteers, donors
July 2021-May 2022
STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS COORDINATOR
Refugee & Immigrant Voices in Action (RIVA; formerly known as EMBARC)
Leading the internal and external communications strategies of the oldest refugee-led nonprofit in the state of Iowa. I manage a team of communications professionals and civil service members for EMBARC and RISE AmeriCorps, establish our relationships with local and national news media, and build the groundwork for our future communications development.
2015-2020
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Iowa Center for Public Affairs Journalism (IowaWatch)
Contributing writer over the years for IowaWatch, an independent, nonprofit and nonpartisan news service providing investigative reporting free of charge to newsrooms across Iowa, including the Des Moines Register. Lead reporter on:
‘Generational shifting’: How a rural Iowa school district changed busing for costs, staffing and students’ safety (Oct. 2020)
Little-recognized illnesses follow Iowa college students to the classroom (May 2015)
Contributing IowaWatch social media/web editor 2019-2020
February 2018-July 2021
TECHNOLOGY, INNOVATION & ENTREPRENEURSHIP REPORTER
Business Record/Business Publications Corporation
Lead reporter on innovationIOWA, a weekly e-newsletter and annual magazine covering the people, products and processes changing the technology and trajectory of Iowa businesses. My work explores cybersecurity, startup culture, entrepreneurship, venture capital and general finance, biomedical technology, nonprofit innovation, workforce attraction and diversity, and a host of other topics statewide.
May 2015-February 2018
CITY & EDUCATION REPORTER, ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR
The Charles City Press
Managed the daily social media operations of the Press as social/online editor. Reporting projects include coordinating an investigation into mentally ill inmates held in Iowa county jails, audio archive of 9/11 memories for the 15th anniversary of the NYC terrorist attacks, a series on the multimedia challenges small school district libraries face and consistent investigative reporting on city and county issues.