Meet Kimberly.
Kimberly Absher, a Seattle native, has lived all around the globe, including Europe, Asia and most recently settling down in Saskatoon, Canada. After studying community health and non-profit management and receiving her bachelor’s in Interdisciplinary Studies at Western Washington University, Kimberly knew she wanted to pursue a new career and attend graduate school.
When deciding on a future career path, Kimberly had three criteria: utilizing her writing skills, finding remote work, and earning a liveable wage. Working in the communications field checked all of those boxes, and the idea of learning about marketing and the aspects that go into persuasion attracted her.
“Strategic communication had aspects of psychology, which I have always found fascinating,” Kimberly said. “Communications seemed necessary for me to deeply understand in order to make meaningful change in the world.”
In her graduate school search, Kimberly hoped to find a 100% online program that was affordable. She was familiar with WSU from visiting friends in Pullman. After researching Murrow College’s affordable, 100% online MA program in Strategic Communication, Kimberly enrolled and earned her master’s degree remotely.
Following her completion of Murrow College’s Online MA program in Summer 2019, Kimberly began a new professional role just a few months later. She currently works as a community development coordinator at Global Gathering Place, a non-profit that serves refugees and immigrants and helps create a more inclusive community. In her full-time role, Kimberly assists with the organization’s communication strategies and marketing.
“I’m skilled at helping brands differentiate themselves by pinpointing and leveraging their best assets,” Kimberly said. “I love building relationships with, and between, diverse stakeholders as well as creating on-brand content for all channels.”
Some of her goals coming into her newly created position were developing a solid brand identity, raising public awareness of the organization, and engaging with key audiences, all of which were strategies Kimberly learned from the Online MA program at Murrow College.
“I took their largely ignored social media channels and more than doubled the number of followers,” Kimberly said. “I told compelling stories of the people and programs that make GGP so amazing through a new blog, monthly newsletter, and videos.”
Outside of her professional and academic life, Kimberly enjoys volunteering in the community, writing, reading non-fiction, and going on walks with her husband. In November 2020, she participated in NaNoWriMo for the second time, writing a 50,000 word book in a month.
As for others who may be interested in the Online MA program at Murrow College, Kimberly recommends immersing oneself as much as possible.
“Spend extra time to learn, soak up, and develop as much as you possibly can. This will enable you to maximize your investment!” Kimberly said.
To learn more about Kimberly, visit her LinkedIn profile.
Learn more about the online MA Strategic Communication program