Michele J. Givens is an organizational change management executive who is laser-focused on moving media companies culturally, structurally, and fiscally through difficult change. Strategically and operationally purposed, she is a decisive leader with a passion for working through challenges that are new or include significant uncertainty.
Since joining Editorial Projects in Education (EPE) in 2001 as General Manager and then concurrently assuming the role of Publisher in 2009, she has navigated EPE through change, deeply impacted by two recessions in the 2000's. She developed and rolled out many critical, forward-facing initiatives that have positioned EPE as a leader in the digital conversion space.
Michele believes that people are more powerful than ideas. She is a master at pulling together diverse teams to achieve ambitious goals by identifying what engages and excites them, and galvanizing them around operationalizing the strategic vision.
Her expertise spans B2B and B2C media, digital paid content and advertising business models, new product development, aligning IT to drive business value, production, finance and accounting, as well as Human Resources.
Michele played a pivotal role in transitioning EPE from a print publisher with declining revenue and significant IT challenges into a modern media company earning more than half of its publishing revenue from digital products and live events.
Her aggressive change management initiatives at EPE have included:
? Leading multiple digital content and advertising business launches.
? Increasing the focus on analytics and identifying and integrating high-impact digital KPIs.
? Driving a strong balance sheet with double-digit growth over the past five years.
Michele's change management leadership success is built on:
? Developing the strategic vision and setting organizational direction.
? Building bridges between editorial, technology, and business to drive consensus.
? Embracing emerging technology.
Prior to joining EPE, Michele was Consumer Marketing Director for Outside Magazine in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she turned around declining retail sales, an unmet guaranteed rate base, and declining direct mail economics. Before that, she was Associate Consumer Marketing Manager at Rodale Press in Emmaus, Pennsylvania, where she learned what a high-performing team looked like. As Circulation Director at McGraw-Hill in Washington, DC, she translated product features into compelling benefits to reach revenue and profit targets.
Michele earned an M.S. in the Management of Information Technology from the University of Virginia, an MBA from the University of New Mexico, and a Bachelor's degree from George Mason University.