Jennifer Messenger
senior executive vice president
Kirsten Gunst
Until you’re ready to look foolish, you’ll never have the possibility of being great.— Cher
Kirsten’s work in MG’s strategic communication practice area reflects her passion for meaningful and effective projects and campaigns that create long-term social and individual improvements in people’s lives.
Kirsten has more than 20 years of experience partnering with organizations and communities to design and implement meaningful, effective campaigns that drive long-term social change. She is especially passionate about collaborating on thought-provoking projects that raise awareness and inspire action in new, creative, and unconventional ways.
Kirsten brings deep experience engaging with partners to develop community-driven campaigns, providing technical support, and leading statewide and national mass media initiatives focused on awareness building and activation. Her work has addressed complex public health and social issues, including advancing sexual and reproductive well-being, tobacco prevention and education, and recognizing and reporting LGBTQIA2S+ older adult abuse.
She has extensive experience working throughout Oregon with communities, organizations, and local public health agencies in all 36 counties, as well as national experience engaging diverse stakeholders in collaborative and meaningful ways.
With a strong background in digital strategy, messaging, narrative change, branding, media relations, community engagement, formative research, and capacity building, Kirsten takes a comprehensive and integrated approach to strategic communications. She is particularly passionate about leveraging emerging and non-traditional communication channels to connect with audiences in authentic and effective ways.
Kirsten’s areas of expertise:
- Branding
- Digital marketing
- Formative research
- Using emerging nontraditional media channels to engage audiences
- Earned and paid communication strategies
Experience
- Patient services, Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette, providing patients with counseling, testing, education and other health services; directed the after-school teen clinic
- Member, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Affiliate Branded Products Advisory Committee
In Community
Kirsten is especially concerned about making healthy foods accessible to all communities. And she walks her talk—she is a founding board member of her neighborhood farmer’s market and is currently helping Friends of Green Loop with her communication expertise.
