Emily (Barry) Zarecki
President
Emily is a seasoned public relations and communications professional. Her 25- year career spans global Fortune 500 and Fortune 1000 companies, nonprofit and agency settings. During much of her career, Emily has led corporate communications initiatives in the for profit and nonprofit sectors. Within corporate communications, she’s excelled at executive and employee communications, employee engagement and crisis communications. On the agency side, she led public relations strategies for clients in a range of industries including healthcare, foodservice and hospitality, associations, and manufacturing. Her leadership enabled the agency team to strategically approach each client’s situation and develop powerful creative branding and marketing initiatives that drove results.
Currently, Emily is the founder and chief storyteller for Clarion Communications, a public relations consultancy. Previously, she worked for Transcend Strategy Group (formerly RP Marketing), Welltower, Cardinal Stritch Catholic High School & Academy, Owens Corning, and Mercy Health. Emily serves as Treasurer for the PRSA Northwest Ohio Chapter and is a member of Rotary Club of Toledo, the Press Club of Toledo and HerHub. She is also a founding member of Toledo Women for Good. Passionate about a few causes close to her heart – mental health, suicide prevention and breast cancer awareness – Emily has served on the board for Unison Health and supported fundraising efforts for NAMI Toledo in memory of her husband. As a recent breast cancer survivor, Emily is enthusiastic about advocating for research and education about breast cancer and eliminating disparities in access to diagnostics and treatment. She serves as an advocacy ambassador for Susan G. Komen.
Anastasia Ortiz
Vice President / Programming
Emily Wagy is Director of Communications at NAI Harmon Group, a commercial real estate company in Toledo. At NAI Harmon, she leads the team in all aspects of communication in order to tell their unique story and position them as a leader in the market. Her core responsibilities include creating marketing strategies, targeting the desired market for each project or listing, overseeing digital/social media, public relations, and company engagement.
With over 15 years of experience in management and marketing, Emily strives on working on learning new things, working on multiple projects, staying current on digital media trends, and she loves working with people. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Marketing from BGSU as well as her Master’s in Strategic Communication.
Claire Morrow
Vice President / Membership Chair
Claire graduated from Bowling Green State University in 2019, studying public relations and sociology. Originally from Northeast Ohio, she has worked in the Toledo area for the past five years and currently serves as the PR and communications manager at Zepf Center. Claire is an advocate for all things Toledo and enjoys crafting, hiking and painting in her free time.
Becky Vogel
Treasurer
Becky Vogel is Communications Director for The Mannik & Smith Group, Inc. (MSG), a team of nearly 450 engineers, scientists and surveyors throughout Ohio, Michigan, West Virginia and Indiana. Her role is to guide internal and external messaging, expressing the technical skill and creative spirit that makes MSG unique. She leads the firm’s social media efforts, internal newsletter and public relations. She can frequently be found on a Teams call with her hybrid-remote team. In her role, she also acts as a liaison with the firm’s parent company and more than a dozen other consulting firms.
Focused on the architecture and engineering industry, Becky’s career also includes nearly 5 years with The JDI Group, Maumee, Ohio, and nearly 13 years with The Collaborative, Toledo, Ohio.
She enjoys supporting the career development efforts of both her peers and area students. Becky is a long time PRSA Northwest Ohio Member (going back to 2005) and served as President of the Northwest Ohio Chapter in 2019 and 2020.
Kate Zenone
Director-at-Large / PRSSA Liaison
Kate is a community-driven communications leader with a passion for writing and making a positive impact.
Kate has worked in the non-profit and higher education sectors and although her background is in marketing and events, she has worn many hats while working within service-centered roles. Kate is always looking for ways to improve herself personally and professionally. She believes that you should never stop learning and you should always try to leave the world better than you found it.
Aliciana Martinez
Communications
A hybrid design & content creator professional. Anastasia is the Communications Manager at Maumee Valley Habitat for Humanity.
Anastasia aspires to help others and create a positive community. She graduated from the University of Toledo with a Bachelor of Arts degree and a desire to work in the non-profit sphere. Anastasia arrived at Maumee Valley Habitat for Humanity after working 2 years as a News Producer at 13abc WTVG. She is a music lover, a photography enthusiast, and a firm believer in smiling.