President

Ms. Devillier, president and founder of Devillier Communications, Inc. (DCI), has more than 30 years of management experience in the field of broadcast promotion and strategic marketing communications. Since establishing DCI in 1984, Ms. Devillier has supervised innovative and comprehensive public relations campaigns for a diverse array of institutions and organizations in the public and private sectors.

Over the years, DCI has represented some of the most respected brands in the broadcast and cable industries including PBS, Discovery Communications, Inc. (Discovery Channel and Learning Channel) and Comcast. In the publishing arena, she has supervised communications efforts on behalf of National Geographic, CongressionalQuarterly, Kiplinger Washington Editors and The Washington Post; in the aerospace industries, Lockheed Martin and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration; in the scientific community, the National Science Foundation; and in health care, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation ®, among others. In addition, Ms. Devillier has supervised activities on behalf of a wide array of prestigious law firms; professional and trade associations, nonprofit groups and educational and government agencies.

As President, Ms. Devillier provides strategic leadership for her clients and reinforces the widely acclaimed efforts of her staff. Her responsibilities include:

• Overall management of one of the foremost independent public relations and marketing agencies in the Washington, D.C. area.
• Supervision of long-range planning including the development of strategic business partnerships and alliances for the agency and its clients.
• Management of a multi-disciplinary staff, which is charged with implementing creative, cost-effective and successful communications programs and projects for numerous clients, on time and within budgetary limits.
• Supervision of new business development efforts including in-depth analysis of a prospective assignment, developing formal proposals and serving as lead presenter for DCI.
• Creation of several highly successful National Partnership Programs in education, health care and science.
• Strategic consultation and guidance for each of the agency’s account teams.
• Development of strategic communication plans for such clients as Lockheed Martin, Comcast, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Perkins School for the Blind, Wallace-Reader’s Digest Fund, the All Kinds of Minds Institute and scores of nationally recognized law firms.
• Advice and consultation regarding major events including national symposiums, film premieres and Webcasts.
• Advice and consultation on national media relations campaigns including message development, strategic planning and media training.
• Formal presentations at national conferences and events.

Career Highlights

Over the years, Ms. Devillier has been involved in the successful launch of scores of products, programs and institutions. For example:

As director of National Promotion at National Public Radio, Ms. Devillier was in charge of the national launch of Morning Edition, which today is the most highly rated radio news program in the United States.

In 1984, Tom Peters, best-selling author of In Search of Excellence, asked Ms. Devillier to help expand his business endeavors including the promotion of each of his books, television programs and management-related endeavors. DCI served as Tom Peter’s agency-of-record for a dozen years.

Ms. Devillier successfully won the Discovery Communications contract in 1985 and the agency became its official agency-of-record. For the next 12 years DCI was in charge of innovative national promotion campaigns for all of the Discovery Channel programs and series; coordinated scores of film premiere events in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and New York; and also launched and promoted The Learning Channel.

For 18 years, Ms. Devillier supervised national campaigns on behalf of PBS’ two highest-rated entertainment programs, A Capitol Fourth and the National Memorial Day Concert which are broadcast live each year on the lawn of the Nation’s Capitol.

Ms. Devillier is a pioneer in the area of law firm marketing communications. In 1988, DCI was selected by Arnold & Porter, Washington, D.C.’s largest law firm, to undertake an extensive communications effort. Over the next decade, DCI represented more than 20 other national law firms including Steptoe & Johnson, Miller & Chevalier and Holland & Knight.

Ms. Devillier sought and won the Space Day account funded by Lockheed Martin. Under her direction, Space Day became an award-winning educational initiative that focused on science, math and technology. Ms. Devillier created a massive National Partnership Program that helped broaden the support of Space Day and supervised annual celebrations, which took place in all 50 states. She also created and served as executive producer of Cyber Space Day, the first Webcast devoted to science, math and technology. Cyber Space Day became an integral part of the national campaign and was eventually funded by NASA.

Ms. Devillier recommended the creation of the Space Day Foundation, a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization intended to help broaden the financial support for Space Day. Ms. Devillier solicited and gained the approval of Senator John Glenn and Dr. Vance Coffman, chairman and CEO of Lockheed Martin, to serve as honorary co-chairs of the Foundation. She solicited the support of 20 prestigious scientists, educators and aerospace professionals to serve on the Foundation’s Advisory Council, spearheaded the creation of a Board of Directors and wrote the initial Strategic Plan of Action including a proposed fund-raising effort for the Foundation.

PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE

Prior to establishing the agency, Ms. Devillier served as director of Promotion and Public Affairs at National Public Radio (1979-1984). While at NPR, Ms. Devillier helped launch the nationally acclaimed series Morning Edition, spearheaded the 10th anniversary celebration of All Things Considered and launched the radio version of Star Wars. During her tenure, NPR received consistent, positive press coverage and its audience quadrupled in size.

As director of Promotion at WGBH-TV in Boston (1977-1979), Ms. Devillier was responsible for the national promotion campaigns of series produced by the PBS flagship station. A founding member of the PBS National PR Advisory Committee (1977-1978), Ms. Devillier also served as a judge for the PBS annual awards for Promotion and Marketing.

From 1973 to 1977, Ms. Devillier was director of public relations for Tracy-Locke Advertising in Dallas, TX where she supervised national campaigns for Texas Instruments, Phillips Petroleum, Haggar Slacks and the Marriott Corporation, among others.

Ms. Devillier has also held management positions at WMCA Radio in New York City and at PBS in Washington, D.C. Her work has been honored with awards from the Broadcast Promotion Association and the New York Film Festival.

EDUCATION

Ms. Devillier has a double bachelor’s degree in International Relations and Spanish from the University of Wisconsin and spent her junior year abroad at the University of Madrid. She has taken graduate courses in broadcasting and film production at Southern Methodist University.