Lynford Morton

Resume'

Summary

I am an effective communicator with an entrepreneurial spirit seeking my next opportunity as a director of marketing and public relations. I help organizations speak to their key audiences with consistency and authenticity.  You can depend on me for sound, strategic counsel as part of your leadership team. You can also expect creative solutions that help drive growth and deliver measurable results. I can also assemble and lead a team of talented and creative individuals to help us tell your story.
 
Career Highlights

Strategic Communications:
  • Served as program & marketing leader for Canon Live Learning. Responsible for planning, developing, implementing, and measuring all Canon USA workshops, classes, and other educational or engagement activities throughout the country. Produced close to 60 workshops across the program per year. Helped turn around underperforming workshops to selling out all destination style workshops within one year. Improved social media engagement by 10X in one year.
  • Served as the primary public relations leader on four different functional business leadership teams at Raytheon Company. On each, served as the functional authority that guided the business. Led communications campaigns to support $2 billion business development pursuits, one earning best campaign honors across a company of 73,000.
  • Managed organizational budgets of up to $900,000 — achieving organizational goals while staying within budget.
  • Led employee communications campaign to unite employees during an organizational spin-off which instilled pride in the new organization.
 
Publication Management/Writing: 
  • Used content marketing — blogs, email campaigns, and podcasts — to build and promote photo tour business. Maintained a 5/5 rating for workshops, podcasts, and webinars throughout the seven year run of the photography workshop business.
  • Performed managing editor responsibilities, overseeing both editorial and production for four different organizational publications — two monthly magazine-style publications and two weekly e-newsletters.
  • Provided executive communications, to include speech writing, Congressional correspondence, and employee communications. Wrote and placed Op-Eds in national publications, including Washington Post and USA Today.
  • Served as a freelance writer for advertorials that appeared in USA Today.
 
Media Relations: 
  • Led media relations program for Raytheon’s $5 billion business, to include campaigns the supported billion business development pursuits.
  • Led campaign for a $2 billion pursuit by earning 52% of coverage among three major defense industry competitors.
  • Introduced a new Homeland Security capability to the market with a campaign that earned 72% highly-visible coverage and 87% share of positive coverage among its Aerospace & Defense competitors.
  • Won awards for Best PR Campaign and Integrated Communications Campaign in a 73,000-employee company.
  • Led media training program for executives of an $8 billion business.
  • Served as company spokesperson for four different organizations, proactively garnering coverage and leading a crisis communication response that preserved the reputation of the affected company.
 
Community Relations: 
  • Led community relations responses to oil spills and remediation efforts in two different organizations.
  • Led relationship-building effort to generate support for Coast Guard's programs on Capitol Hill.
  • Led acquisition of NASCAR sponsorship and outreach efforts using the Coast Guard Band, Coast Guard Honor Guard, and Coast Guard Art Program.

Professional Experience

Canon USA, Melville, NY
Manager, Canon Live Learning
April 2017 - April 2019

Lynford Morton Creative, Washington, DC 
Marketing & Public Relations Consultant
MAY 2010 - APRIL 2017

Independent Photography Educator
MAY 2010 - APRIL 2017

Raytheon Company, Network Centric Systems, HDQ Dallas, TX
Senior Manager, Public Relations and International Communications
​April 2008 - May 2010

Manager, Public Relations and Communications
September 2005 - April 2008

U.S. Coast Guard, Washington, DC 
Chief, Community Relations 2002 - 2005

Education/Qualifications
  • B.A. Communications; Double Emphasis: Journalism/Public Relations, Southern Adventist University; Collegedale, TN
  • Secret Clearance, Defense Contract Management Agency, 2005
  • Accredited in Public Relations (APR), Public Relations Society of America
  • Public Affairs Officer Course, Defense Information School; Fort Meade, MD