Karyn Margolis (IMC02) works as the Senior Manager of PR & Communications for The Avon Foundation for Women. She communicates about the grants provided by the Foundation to help women facing issues like breast cancer and domestic violence. Margolis juggles multiple projects, writing press releases, monitoring media requests, and focusing on improving women's lives. Her work involves sharing moving stories from recipients of Foundation grants. She relies on her Medill training in integrated marketing communications, and finds that small lessons from her courses help her communicate effectively about important issues.

1. MEDILLALUMNI//WINTER.09MEDILLALUMNI//WINTER.09
4
:: WHAT’S YOUR STORY?
Karyn Margolis (IMC02) thrives in
challenging situations so it’s no surprise
that she would choose to work with a
foundation that helps women facing
life-threatening obstacles.
Margolis serves as the Senior Manager
of PR & Communications for The Avon
Foundation for Women, an organization
that has helped thousands of women
combat crisis issues like breast cancer and
domestic violence.
“We use statistics to better communicate
the breadth and impact of an issue,”
Margolis says. “In my job I get to actually
see the people that these statistics represent
and it is very moving.”
There are no typical days for Margolis,
who has learned to skillfully juggle multiple
projects for the Avon Foundation. Before
she’s even in the office, she is checking
emails on her commute. Margolis’s task
list that includes writing press releases
about grants given to various organizations
in need of support, monitoring and
responding to various media requests and
all the while keeping her focus on what
matters most — improving the lives of
women locally and globally.
It’s all worthwhile when the Foundation
gets a thank you note saying that a grant
made the impossible seem possible. “This
is why we’re doing this every day,” Margolis
says. “We’re helping people and you don’t
even realize how many people you’re
helping.”
But for Margolis, the path to success has
never been a straight line. Prior to working
at the Avon Foundation, she served as a
press secretary for a female congresswoman
and as a marketing professional for a
law firm. She developed an appetite for
philanthropy while working at a PR
agency where she did pro-bono work for a
homeless shelter in Washington, D.C.
After beginning Medill’s IMC program
in 2001, she got her first taste of corporate
social responsibility (CSR), which she now
specializes in. Margolis entered the IMC
program with the misconception that CSR
equaled philanthropy. About a month after
classes began, the Enron scandal broke
and almost every class — finance, PR and
marketing — discussed it.
“It became very clear that CSR was
much more about a company’s values,
integrity and actions, than it was about
merely giving money away,” Margolis says.
From crisis communications to speech
writing and consumer insights, Margolis
relies on core IMC skills at the Avon
Foundation. But the small lessons from
both IMC and journalism courses at
Medill made her a better communicator
and have proved invaluable. “When I
find myself slipping into corporate jargon
I can hear George Harmon in his PR
writing class admonishing us not to use
the word impactful,” Margolis says. “Or
I catch myself burying the lead because
I remember parsing endless articles in
Charles Whitaker’s magazine editing class,
searching for the lost lead.”
In addition to communicating
information about the Avon Foundation’s
grants to the media, which in turn raises
money for the organization, Margolis’s
work also includes listening. Hearing a
breast cancer survivor’s story or listening to
a domestic violence survivor speak about
about abuse gives fresh perspective to the
topics Margolis writes about daily.
“The issues of domestic violence
and breast cancer are ones that require
incredible sensitivity and compassion, in
very different ways,” says Eloise Caggiano,
program director of Avon Walk for Breast
Cancer.
“We deal with some heartbreaking
stories, and some of pure celebration.
Karyn handles both with the caring and
delicate finesse needed to share these
stories with the public.”
The closing ceremony of each Avon
Walk for Breast Cancer is an especially
meaningful time for Margolis.
“It’s pretty amazing,” Margolis says,
“and I cry every single time because no
story is the same.”
— Noelle Radut is a freelance journalist who
lives and writes in Chicago.
Up for the Challenge
Photography by Tommy Giglio
By Noelle Radut (MSJ09)
Sharing stories of hope and survival is all in a day’s work for Karyn Margolis.
“We use statistics to
better communicate
the breadth and impact
of an issue. In my job
I get to actually see
the people that these
statistics represent and
it is very moving.”
— Karyn Margolis (IMC02)
MEDILLALUMNI//SPRING.SUMMER.11
10