About

Chelsea is a professional communicator with more than 14 years of strategic communication experience in both the academic and industrial realms. This includes strategic campaign planning, promotional development, project management, formal teaching and presentation skills, multimedia content creation, digital advertising, public relations, research assessment and technical writing critique. She is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Strategic Communication, with a focus in health communication for The Edward R. Murrow College of Communication at Washington State University (WSU).

Chelsea teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses focused on health communication, integrated communications, multimedia content creation, communication persuasion, public relations campaign management and digital content promotion. She holds a B.A. in communication from The Edward R. Murrow College of Communication at Washington State University and an M.S. in technical communication from Montana Tech of the University of Montana.

Before joining WSU as a faculty member, Chelsea worked in marketing, public relations and health communication leadership roles, collaborating with both regionally and nationally-recognized organizations and brands. In her previous role as the Marketing and Public Relations Manager for Spokane-based Cancer Care Northwest, she was responsible for all internal and external campaign development, executing a tactical communications approach to optimize patient care needs for oncology diagnosis and treatment. Chelsea has served as an executive member of the American Cancer Society’s Coaches vs. Cancer Board, the Alliance for Cancer Care MarCom Committee and the Palouse Regional Marketing and Philanthropy Committee. She has extensive ad agency experience as well, having worked with multiple organizations to craft comprehensive communication campaigns, including Memjet, Fanvision and Netflix.

Chelsea is married and lives in Coeur d’Alene, ID with her husband and two “animal children,” Chai (cat) and Kona (dog). She is a strong advocate for mental health awareness and the de-stigmatization of mental health care as a part of primary health care. She is certified in Mental Health First Aid by the National Council for Behavioral Health. The battle she fights is both deeply personal and vastly global; the lack of normalization and resources has contributed to the abrupt passing of her late-father, as well as the heartbreak she continues to carry as she sees the failing system hinder other’s lives and the stigmatization continue. Chelsea believes the brain is another organ that needs nourishment and care; just became physical damage can’t be “seen,” doesn’t mean it isn’t there. She believes that Dr. Seuss was right when he wrote in the Lorax, “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, Nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”