About Laura Slay
Laura Slay, president of Slay & Associates, Inc., keeps steady pace with new technologies and advertising trends, offering clients time-tested, senior-level thinking and marketing intelligence that capitalizes on the new media environment. With a commitment to strategic planning, Laura has driven her firm’s breakthrough execution of advertising campaigns, promotional events and issues engagement since 1991. A diverse team of communications specialists brings a comprehensive marketing approach to client services, making Slay & Associates’ reputation unsurpassed in targeted marketing and public relations services.
Today, the firm’s primary commitments are to providing communications support for the philanthropic activities of two Missouri philanthropists and directing communications planning for major policy initiatives in the state of Missouri.
Laura’s focus on Missouri policy reform sharpened six years ago when she was hired as communications director for Missouri philanthropists Dr. Jeanne and Rex Sinquefield. One year later, Laura became executive director and president of two non-profit education reform organizations. The Children’s Education Alliance of Missouri (CEAM), is a policy-focused 501(c)(3) organization that supports policies that encourage access to high-quality educational options for all Missouri students.The Children’s Education Council of Missouri (CECM), a 501(c(4), is Missouri’s leading education reform advocacy organization and lobbies for policy changes at the state and local levels.
Responsible for CEAM’s and CECM’s overall strategic direction, Laura is directing aggressive organizational capacity building efforts, overseeing a lawsuit that is being filed on behalf of families in unaccredited school districts, managing a community outreach and education effort in St. Louis, Kansas City and outstate Missouri, and building a one-of-a-kind tuition assistance and parent advocacy training program. Public relations, event planning and branding support is provided to both organizations through Slay & Associates.
Media relations and communications planning work on tax reform is executed under the direction of Slay & Associates’ client, Pelopidas. Our media team provides messaging, media training, media relations, spokespersons and web-based communications for this effort.
Slay & Associates’ support of the Sinquefields’ philanthropic activities includes providing marketing support for Dr. Jeanne Sinquefield’s Missouri New Music Initiative, an effort to make Missouri an international mecca for new music composition and performance; launching the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of St. Louis; and advising a number of St. Louis-area education NPOs on their fundraising and marketing programs.
Slay & Associates’ community education and communications work brings forth new ideas and encourages voters, the media and our leaders to think in new ways about some of the most compelling policy ideas of our time. Just as important, extending a hand-up to those who are vulnerable and at high risk is a core principle for Laura and each member of her topnotch marketing team.
Laura is a founding board member of St. Louis-based Microfinancing Partners in Africa, a 501(c)(3) organization that facilitates and supports the development of microfinancing projects in three African countries: Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. She also is co-chair of the marketing committee of STL250, a local 501(c)(3) that is preparing for a regional celebration of the founding of the St. Louis community. In her spare time, Laura enjoys fly-fishing for rainbow trout in Missouri’s river-ways and travelling with her husband Robert.
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