JOAN LUKAS, M.A.
President
More than 25 years of diverse public relations, fund development and marketing communications experience serving Fortune 500 corporations, higher education and nonprofit organizations has made Joan a leader in her field. As President and Owner of Lukas Partners, she brings passion and energy to each client challenge and opportunity.
Joan spent 15 years in communication management and corporate donations management with ConAgra Foods, and managed corporate communications and corporate donations for Oriental Trading Company, the nation’s leading direct marketer of novelty toys. Joan’s fundraising experience includes managing fundraising campaigns for secondary education and higher education institutions in addition to managing fundraising capital campaigns for municipalities and nonprofit organizations in the Midwest.
Among her achievements are:
• Provided counsel to senior leadership in for-profit and nonprofit organizations on a broad range of issues to protect and enhance reputation.
• Through helping to manage ConAgra Foods’ foundations, supported nonprofit organizations across the nation through counseling them on fundraising and program development.
• Launched fundraising campaigns and a development office for a secondary education institution.
• Served as counsel on fund development and fundraising for a major university and a Catholic Archdiocesan Development Office.
• Managed proactive media relations, generating positive news placements on executives, processes and products in local and national news media including Fortune, Forbes, BusinessWeek, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, In Style, Ladies Home Journal, Better Homes and Gardens, Self.
• Met internal communication objectives for a national corporation through building employee communication programs and leading management workshops on employee communication tactics.
• Developed and produced stockholder reports and analyst presentations; controlled company messages for acquisitions and divestitures through effective media relations.
• Managed special events, which included writing executive speeches, and coordinating news conferences, grand openings, stockholder meetings and community events.
Joan has achieved organizational results through designing and managing research-driven programs in reputation management; fundraising, corporate philanthropy and community relations; employee communication, recruitment and retention; news media relations; crisis communication; Web and social media strategy and brand management.
A graduate of Creighton University, Joan has a master’s degree in communication from the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO). She has taught public relations courses at Creighton and UNO.
Joan has served in leadership positions on several boards supporting nonprofit organizations and she is a graduate of Leadership Omaha and of the Conference Board’s Executive Sessions on fundraising and corporate philanthropy. In 2005, Joan received the Alumni Achievement Award from the UNO School of Communication.
In 2018, the Public Relations Society of America Nebraska chapter named Joan Professional of the Year, the organization's highest distinction awarded to a PR professional.
INTELLECTION | INPUT | STRATEGIC | LEARNER | FUTURISTIC