STRATEGY | BRANDING | ACTIVATION
What makes us different.
Education and nonprofits are unique—diverse stakeholders, complex decision-making structures, conservative marketing budgets, and more. We've been successful building leadership-endorsed, game-changing marketing initiatives for decades. And, we have fun doing it! Let's get going.
Extensive brand marketing expertise
30+ years brand and marketing strategy expertise working in-house and as a consultant, and in both corporate and nonprofit sectors
Nonprofit know how
20+ years working for and with mission-driven and community-based organizations. We know how to motivate, gain consensus, build momentum, manage to resources and execute short-term and long-term initiatives
Creativity that challenges the status quo
Differentiation grounded in strategy and activated via a cohesive 360 brand experience
Extension of your team
Customized solutions based on your goals, budgets, resources and expertise. We listen and meet you where you are
WHO WE ARE
Women-owned
Small Business
Nonprofit and Corporate Experience
Nonprofit Board Experience
Seasoned Executives and Professionals
OUR VALUES
LISTEN to your wants, needs and goals
RESPECT your team, resources and expertise
SHARE our knowledge and experiences
DELIVER, deliver, deliver
Our Team
Founder and CEO
Verna Donovan
Verna is a strategic brand marketer with over 30+ years of experience leading corporate and nonprofit teams holding roles in management, executive leadership, and consulting. She is passionate about creating strong brands, challenging the status quo, inspiring collaborative and effective partnerships, and developing respected, high-performing teams.
Leveraging her 20+ years of experience in education marketing, Verna relaunched her consultancy as GreenLight Team in 2021 to bring strategic, action-oriented branding and marketing solutions to higher education and nonprofits.
Verna has led over ten comprehensive university brand strategy initiatives including brand research, brand architecture, brand messaging, employer brand, training and socialization, and brand activation. She is a strong enrollment marketer and trusted advisor and colleague to cabinet, vice presidents, deans, and boards. She and her team of marketing, brand, and creative professionals have developed consumer-driven positioning, value proposition messaging strategies, and content for many graduate schools and colleges including business, law, health sciences, film, communication, computing and design, and liberal arts.
Passionate about keeping the consumer at the center of decision-making, Verna has brought industry best practices to higher ed including qualitative and quantitative consumer research, competitive analysis, market and viability assessments, integrated marketing and recruitment planning, and a data-driven new program development process.
A strategist and doer at heart, Verna has held leadership roles for many strategic initiatives including: The Alliance for Health Sciences with DePaul University and Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, DePaul/Barat College campus merger, University Center of Chicago student housing project, DePaul University’s Wintrust Arena, Saint Francis College’s new campus launch, and Loyola Marymount University’s 2019 Democratic National Convention Debate and 30,000+ outdoor commencement activities at L.A.’s SoFi stadium. She has also served on the Executive Committee of the Board and as Marketing Co-chair for DePaul College Prep in Chicago.
Verna holds a BBA from the University of Iowa and an MSA in integrated marketing communications (IMC) from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. She received the Women of Spirit and Action award from DePaul University in 2016 and volunteers her marketing and branding expertise to small organizations and start-ups.
Experience
AVP, Marketing and Brand Management, Loyola Marymount University
As the first AVP of Marketing and Brand Management at Loyola Marymount University in LA, Verna led the university-wide activation of marketing and brand initiatives including building awareness around a unified positioning strategy, creating an effective and efficient integrated marketing organization, leading university and unit-level strategy and activation plans, and developing and executing traditional, social, digital marketing, advertising and engagement initiatives. She led a team of 15 marketing and creative professionals, including brand management, recruitment, athletics, digital, social, photography, video, graphic design and production, and external agencies.
AVP, Marketing Strategy and Branding, DePaul University
As AVP of Marketing Strategy and Branding at DePaul University, Verna created the first integrated marketing department and built a team of internal marketing consultants who spearheaded many industry-changing initiatives - brand strategy, brand architecture, integrated recruitment and marketing planning, new program launch processes, college positioning strategies, voice-of-the-consumer research, and strategic alliances. Of note, Verna implemented and gained university wide-support for a board-endorsed “One DePaul” brand strategy and storytelling platform; conducted extensive qualitative and quantitative brand research; developed positioning strategies for the undergraduate, graduate and adult, and advancement divisions; and aligned the 10 schools and colleges under a master brand architecture. These efforts laid the foundation and created the momentum for the university’s first integrated brand campaign. Additionally, she led the strategic marketing efforts of DePaul’s first Alliance for Health Sciences with a national health sciences university.
Executive Committee Board Member, DePaul College Prep
Verna volunteered her expertise as an Executive Board Member and Marketing Chair for DePaul College Prep, an underperforming Chicago high school. There she led the market assessment and strategy that resulted in an academic partnership with DePaul University. She also provided leadership support for rebranding, recruitment marketing, and fundraising. To date, DePaul Prep has increased enrollment by over 150% in 8 years.
Founder and CEO, Donovan Marketing Consulting and Prophet Brand Strategy
After her first tenure at DePaul, Verna launched her first consulting firm focused on higher education leading a qualitative brand refresh for DePaul for the university. She also consulted as a brand strategist at Prophet, Inc. There she developed brand research and strategies for some of the world's largest brands—including CDW, GE Healthcare, Avery, RSM McGladrey, and L3.
VP, New Product Solutions, Information Resources Inc.
Verna started her career at BBDS Advertising in account management. From there she moved to Information Resources Inc. (IRI), an international consumer market research firm. Over her 10 years at IRI, she held roles in account management, corporate marketing, and product management. She last served as Vice President for New Product Solutions in 2000, before making the move to higher ed.
EXTENDED TEAM
Senior Consultants (see bios below)
Meg Marchese - strategy, marketing & insights
Cynthia Opie - strategy, marketing & insights
Design Partners
blackout design, Wes Hollywood - creative director
Mode Project - video
Meg Marchese - strategy, marketing & insights consultant
Meg is a data storyteller with 20+ years of in-depth experience across all phases of quantitative and qualitative research. Using her exceptional research chops and keen focus on what really matters, Meg helps organizations uncover critical insights that shape brand, marketing and advertising strategy, spark product innovation, and guide data-driven decision-making. She specializes in consumer and customer insights and strategic brand research.
During her decade in higher ed marketing, Meg identified over 30 new program/degree offerings and strategic opportunities valued at $12 million in revenue; designed and executed over 40 qualitative and quantitative voice-of-customer research studies used to direct brand marketing, advertising and student experience initiatives; directed marketing and insights for a health sciences academic alliance, and led brand strategy activation including trainings, brand resources, videos, social and digital assets.
Meg’s wealth of experience includes marketing and research roles at Nielsen, Aon Hewitt, DePaul University and Life Fitness. Meg received an MBA from Loyola University Chicago and a BA from Indiana University
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Cynthia Opie - strategy, marketing & insights consultant
Cynthia has over 20 years of experience helping organizations understand, develop, and implement customer-driven strategies. Using in-depth interviews, focus groups, online bulletin boards, and quantitative surveys to uncover stakeholder insights, Cynthia clarifies what customers want, translates those insights into integrated positioning strategies and messaging, and develops actionable marketing plans. She honed her brand and marketing strategy skills at Prophet Brand Strategy, a leading brand and marketing strategy consulting firm.
Higher education and nonprofit engagements have been a focus area for Cynthia. At DePaul University she led the inaugural brand strategy insights and development engagement for Prophet, as well as a comprehensive transfer student market qualitative assessment and recommendations. She helped ACT better understand prospect, counselor, and admission perceptions of the testing process, testing formats, prep courses, and other factors to guide strategic planning efforts. And, at Rosalind Franklin University she led an extensive brand insights and strategy initiative and created messaging for a new research park. Cynthia also developed a brand architecture framework and portfolio analysis for Northwestern Michigan College.
Additional client experiences include Northwestern Memorial Foundation, Loyola Marymount University, Northwestern Medicine, and Sempra US Gas & Power. Cynthia received an MBA in marketing and strategy from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a BA from the University of Michigan.