Frances Eugenia Collazo

About

I am a strategic communicator and creative director working across communications, design, editorial, emergency messaging, and public-facing creative work. Since 2012, I have helped organizations explain what they are doing, organize the materials around it, and produce work people can actually use.

Today, I lead Frances Eugenia Design, working with public agencies, nonprofits, media, retail, real estate, cultural organizations, and mission-driven teams. My work includes communications department design, public updates, publication design, newsletters, campaign materials, internal tools, and practical communication systems for teams working inside real limits.

Most recently, I served as Director of Communications for the City of Cleveland Heights, where I helped build the city’s first formal communications department and worked across public information, issue communication, visual standards, event communication, publication work, and department coordination.

Consulting Focus

• Communications Department Design: roles, responsibilities, approvals, intake, templates, public update routines, records, and internal routing.
• Public Messaging & Issue Work: public updates, leadership language, FAQs, newsletters, web content, talking points, and communication around complicated decisions or events.
• Emergency & Risk Communication: FEMA-informed public information practices, social media in emergency management, public information officer awareness, and communication with diverse community groups during urgent or sensitive situations.
• Editorial & Creative Direction: publication systems, campaign materials, image direction, brand standards, magazine layouts, reports, public guides, and designed materials that make information easier to read and use.
• Email & Newsletter Systems: list cleanup, segmentation, re-engagement, cadence planning, templates, subject lines, analytics, and deliverability improvements.

Experience

• Lead independent studio work across communications, creative direction, editorial design, branding, public-facing materials, and consulting.
• Develop communications tools, publication systems, campaign materials, web content, newsletters, and brand assets for public-sector, cultural, retail, real estate, media, and community-facing clients.
• Support organizations that need help organizing the message, the materials, and the process around public-facing work.

• Helped build and operationalize the city’s first formal communications department with defined roles, workflows, standards, and public-facing routines.
• Directed citywide messaging, public updates, issue communication, media relations, newsletter strategy, visual standards, and department coordination.
• Increased City News open rates from approximately 40% to more than 70% through list cleanup, a more reliable publishing rhythm, and stronger editorial organization.
• Created practical tools for moving information across departments, including templates, briefing formats, publication workflows, and public update structures.

• Supported public information, newsletter production, editorial standards, design work, event communication, and department systemization.
• Produced public-facing materials across departments, including municipal updates, social content, print collateral, publication layouts, signage, and campaign materials.

• Coordinated redevelopment projects, timelines, tenant communication, marketing materials, and project documentation for downtown real estate work.
• Worked across property ownership, construction teams, tenants, municipal requirements, and public-facing project needs.

Education & Certifications

• Returning student completing a BA in Public Relations with coursework in media, communications, public relations, and applied writing.

• Completed certificate work in futures thinking, scenario planning, signals of change, speculative design, and public-facing future artifacts.

• FEMA — Public Information Officer Awareness
• FEMA IS-0042: Social Media in Emergency Management
• FEMA IS-505: Concepts of Religious Literacy for Emergency Management
• Training emphasis includes public information, social media use during emergency management, risk communication, and communication with faith-based and community organizations during emergency response.

• Crisis Management & Risk Communication — University of Colorado Boulder
• Foundations of Project Management — Google
• Government Accounting — Cuyahoga Community College