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SEM Works' Creative Team

Mary Jamis, Director of Business Development

Mary provides the strategic marketing muscle necessary for effective communication solutions. Before joining us Mary spent thirteen years as Senior Vice President at Long Haymes Carr Advertising (now Mullen) where she worked on major brands including Hanes, Wachovia, Thomasville Furniture, Lowes Foods, Zatarain’s, BellSouth, Jefferson Pilot, and Bubble Yum Bubblegum. Mary also has served as Director of Communications Salem Academy and College where she worked extensively with the Admissions Office and Continuing Studies Office to develop comprehensive marketing programs. Since joining our staff, Mary has successfully led marketing and design efforts at Winston-Salem State University, The Winston-Salem Foundation, Saint Mary’s School in Raleigh, North Carolina Arts Council in Raleigh, Center for Creative Leadership in Greensboro, North Carolina, Institute of Minority Economic Development in Durham, and the YMCA of Northwest North Carolina. Mary, who attended Hiram College in Ohio before earning a Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology from Kent State University, is a founding member of The Women's Fund of Winston-Salem.

Amanda King, Senior Designer

Amanda is a senior designer responsible for the art direction and design of major print and interactive projects, although she easily could be talked into salsa dancing on a beach in Mexico. She has received multiple CASE awards, including both National Gold and Bronze, and her work has been recognized by PRINT, the ADDYs, AIGA, the Council on Foundations, the Healthcare Marketing Report, and Marketing Healthcare Today. Amanda was valedictorian in high school and went on to the College of Design at North Carolina State University, where she graduated early and with honors.

Jon Hyland, Designer

Jon hails from the Bull City of Durham, North Carolina. A graduate of Colgate University with a Master's degree from the College of Design at North Carolina State University, Jon has taught English in Japan, sold cheese in Rhode Island, shoveled snow in Colorado and cycled from Nice to Madrid — all the while perfecting his skills in identity, print, motion and interactive design.

Lisa Kirkman, Production Manager

With her many years of print production expertise and freakish organizational skills, Lisa is highly skilled at managing a full service agency. Not content to just make sure our work prints nicely and delivers on time, Lisa is also responsible for coordination of schedules, budgets and generally management. Her print production is truly inspiring, and rumor has it that while proofing print runs, Lisa's eyes actually glow from intense concentration.

Stephen Young, Creative Writer

Stephen Young writes. He writes what ever the moment calls for—letters to his grandmother, apologies to his wife, and silly songs for his son. He's written travel diaries from Paris, Venezuela, and the broken-down lane of the New Jersey Turnpike. As far as unpublished novels, yes, of course—and he forgives anyone inclined to hear this and groan. After graduating from UNC Chapel Hill, Stephen hauled lobster traps off the coast of Maine, tilled manure into North Carolina gardens, taught a high school English, and once nearly died (yes, really) in a disastrous experimental drug study. He now feels fortunate to have less troublesome employment finding and arranging the right words for SEM Works projects.

Catherine Clegg, Senior Designer

Catherine is an award-winning designer with experience in the development of student recruitment materials, campaign identity, annual reports, interactive CDs, websites, alumni magazines, packaging and other collateral. Before taking on her current duties, she was the art director at Wake Forest University. She has been recognized with numerous Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) awards, including CASE National Designer of the Year in 1996, and Grand Gold Award for Overall Publications Program. When not transporting her young daughters to school and summer camp, Catherine spends time on her farm in the North Carolina mountains. She is a graduate of the College of Design at North Carolina State University.

Vanessa Boynton, Social Communication Strategist

The newest member of the team, Vanessa shook things up from the beginning by pushing everyone onto the grid. The social grid, that is. Before arriving joining us, Vanessa spent three years as a public relations professional in Providence, Rhode Island, and it was during that time she began to work social media tools into daily practices for herself, her company and her clients. Now she's our social communications strategist, and when she's not inspiring us to Tweet, Like or post, she's helping us to develop programs that give our clients a chance to build better awareness and create lasting, meaningful relationships with their supporters. Vanessa graduated early from Johnson & Wales University in 2005 with a degree in integrated marketing communications. She uses her free time as an artist, tree-climber, casual gamer, and robot enthusiast.