Success defined. Plans made.

GOALS ACHIEVED.

Digital Portfolio Writing Portfolio

 

Success defined. Plans made.

GOALS ACHIEVED.

Digital Portfolio Writing Portfolio

"I'm not talented enough to be unprepared" —Monroe Stahr, The Last Tycoon

The Curious Case of the Tech Illiterate IT Blogger

The Curious Case of the Tech Illiterate IT Blogger

Case Study: We’ve got workflow problems and a system failure. What do we do?
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Storytelling in Public Relations

Storytelling in Public Relations

The role of suspension of disbelief in narrative storytelling
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Communications Fundamentals for High Level Success

Communications Fundamentals for High Level Success

It's good to have a tortoise on your team. The tortoise wins the race.
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Marketing a Value Proposition with Scarcity and Call To Action

Marketing a Value Proposition with Scarcity and Call To Action

Case Study: How I doubled event registration by attacking the low hanging fruit and messaging a value proposition with scarcity...
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Media Strategy: Make Your Weakness Your Strength

Media Strategy: Make Your Weakness Your Strength

Case Study: How I turned a media campaign for a teacher’s award into my greatest success
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There’s a Trick to That

There’s a Trick to That

Outperform people twice as smart doing half the work
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Aaron Helmbrecht

Aaron Helmbrecht is a strategic communications consultant serving primarily nonprofit and government clients in Washington, D.C. Most recently he served the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. He left government service in January 2025.

Aaron earned his Master of Professional Studies in strategic public relations from The George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management in 2017. He interned with Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Calif.) after earning his bachelor’s degree in journalism from California State University, Northridge.

Contact Me

  • Experience home

    2023-Present

    Communications Strategist
    Independent Consultant

    How does an organization establish a successful communication network with their publics? Start with a plan. As a communications strategist, I specialize in leading event and media marketing campaigns, optimizing content workflow system efficiency, style and Section 508 accessibility compliance, SEO optimization and website management, and much more.

    2022

    Digital Marketing Associate III
    American Association for the Advancement of Science

    AAAS

    At AAAS, I learned how to lead a data-driven marketing strategy designed to retain and grow the 3.7 million subscribers of Science magazine and Science.org. Having mastered methods to organize and identify trends from massive amounts of KPI data and present results in concise visual reports, I am confident in my ability to successfully leverage analytics to its maximum potential communications benefit.

    2013-2021

    American Academy of Actuaries

    Digital Communications Specialist
    American Academy of Actuaries

    The Academy

    As Digital Communications Specialist, I continually modernized digital operations by replacing outdated technology and practices with the latest standards initiatives designed to optimize audience engagement through the integration of digital activities and channels.

    2013

    Digital Media (Freelance Agent)
    The Creative Group

    The Creative Group

    Working as a freelance agent is a great way to diversify your skill set. As an agent with The Creative Group, I’d be writing a feature story for Science News magazine one day and designing a recruitment ad for the CIA the next. Building a strong base of knowledge in all areas of communications has made me a better project manager because I know how to communicate the things I need and can set realistic expectations between my principals and outside contractors and vendors.

    2011-2013

    American Board Logo

    Public Relations Specialist
    American Board

    American Board

    My public relations career began at American Board. My boss, the public relations director, unexpectedly resigned a few days after hiring me and so her responsibilities fell to me. Despite the fact that I was hired as an assistant right out of college, I was given the job of managing a multi-state media campaign. I made a lot of mistakes in my first year pitching reporters, but I learned quickly from those mistakes. Once I figured out a media strategy that worked in Kansas City, Mo., I knew the same approach would work in Boise, Idaho, and and Greenville, S.C. Before long I was generating headlines, landing broadcast placements, and publishing op-ed nationwide.

    2007-2008

    Quality Assurance
    Electronic Arts

    Electronic Arts

    As an undergraduate student, I worked the night shift at EA testing video game applications. My job was to anticipate how people might use—or misuse—an application in order to identify and report errors in story logic and reproducible bugs.

  • Education home

    Master of Professional Studies
    Strategic Public Relations

    George Washington University-home vert

    George Washington University
    Graduate School of Political Management

    My graduate education prepared me to be a leader in my profession. I learned how to prepare a strategic communications plan, present a communications case study, and plan a departmental budget proposal. What sets George Washington University’s GSPM program apart from state and community colleges is their unbelievable networking resources. I was able to discuss PR strategies with Jill Zuckman, managing director at SKDKnickerbocker, learn crisis management tactics from Eric Dezenhall, CEO of Dezenhall Resources, and spent a week studying media and globalization at the American University of Paris with Lee Huebner, former speech writer for Richard Nixon.

    Bachelor of Arts
    Journalism

    California State University, Northridge

    My undergraduate studies primarily focused on vocational skills used in the media and public relations industry. I was taught the AP Stylebook, the inverted pyramid style of news writing, the active voice style used in speech writing, copyright and first amendment law, and much more. My favorite quote about speech writing came from CSUN professor Rick Marks, who said, “Write like you talk; unless you’re from the Bronx.”

    Associate of Arts
    Speech Communication

    Los Angeles Valley College

    The incredible professors at Los Angeles Valley College taught me the core principles of critical thinking and storytelling, and how to use them to write and deliver persuasive speeches. The most valuable lesson I learned at LAVC is that effective communication begins with defining your objectives and knowing your audience. This is always the first thing I consider before drafting a message.

  • My Work – home

    Writing Samples

    News
    Academy Work on ACA Gets National Notice
    Actuarial Update
    Washington, D.C.
    OP-ED
    American Board helps certify state’s teachers
    Richmond Daily News
    Richmond, Mo.
    Feature
    Be a virtual veterinarian
    Science News
    Washington, D.C.
    Press Release
    Non-Profits Unite to Help Florida Latinos Transition to Teaching
    PR Web

    Earned Media

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