Resume

Profile

  • Messaging specialist with thirty years of experience in communications and twenty years in historic preservation.

  • Excels at translating complex ideas into clear, compelling messages for diverse audiences.

  • Skilled in written, oral, and visual storytelling, particularly about historic places and preservation.

  • Proven ability to manage large projects, craft effective messages on sensitive topics, build and motivate teams, and foster a positive public image for organizations.

  • Strong record of innovating and integrating communications across channels.

Experience

Cindy Olnick Communications — Los Angeles, CA
Owner
2018 – Present

Helps people save historic places by conveying impact and connecting with audiences.

  • Helped Docomomo US clarify its vision and priorities for emerging from the pandemic and managing the first leadership transition in its twenty-five-year history.

  • Researched and developed messaging, content, and strategy to help the University of Southern California’s Heritage Conservation Program attract applicants who’d find the program a perfect fit.

  • Co-hosts the award-winning podcast Save As: NextGen Heritage Conservation, which glimpses the future of the field through the work of graduate students at the University of Southern California.

  • Provided advice, connections, and content for Friends of Residential Treasures, Los Angeles (FORT: LA) through its public rollout and early programming.

  • Led a public engagement campaign that won Church of the Epiphany $150,000 for repair and rehabilitation (through Partners in Preservation, a nationwide grant competition sponsored by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and American Express).

  • Held webinars for the California Preservation Foundation and National Preservation Partners Network to help preservationists navigate the pandemic and racial reckoning.

  • Copy edited, proofread, and advised Angel City Press on the sixth edition of “the bible of L.A. architecture,” Los Angeles: An Architectural Guide, by David Gebhard, Robert Winter, and Robert Inman.

  • Managed and co-produced video oral histories of the Los Angeles Conservancy’s founding president and first executive director, capturing crucial insights into the organization’s history.

Los Angeles Conservancy — Los Angeles, CA
Communications Director / Manager / Coordinator
2004 – 2018

  • Created the communications program for the region’s leading preservation organization. Built and led a team of three; supervised marketing, media relations, social media, branding, and messaging.

  • As a senior staff member, helped guide organizational leadership and strategic planning.

  • Established a cohesive voice for the Conservancy as a thought leader, the voice of reason, and a proactive partner in enhancing Los Angeles through the smart use of historic resources.

  • Centralized and streamlined communications to improve quality, consistency, and efficiency; created and enforced editorial standards; coached staff to build internal capacity.

  • Worked with the Board of Directors to build their capacity as ambassadors for the Conservancy.

  • Modernized the organization’s public image by leading the development of its first-ever graphic identity system, including the first update of its logo in thirty years.

  • Oversaw social media strategy, content, and engagement.

  • Wrote and edited materials, speeches, statements, and quotes for the press and senior staff; served as media spokesperson when needed.

  • Introduced transformative communications technology, including websites, email marketing, and an integrated constituent relationship management system.

Recent Speaking Engagements

National Alliance of Preservation Commissions FORUM
We Need to Talk: What Issues Matter Most to You?
2022

Goucher College Master of Arts in Historic Preservation Program
Reframing Preservation
2022

PastForward National Preservation Conference
Re-Framing History for Public Audiences
2021

California Preservation Conference
Preservation through Podcasts; Relevance Roundtable: Community
2021

Volunteer Work

National Preservation Partners Network
Chair, Communications Committee
2021 – Present

Preservation Priorities Task Force
Member, Steering Committee
2021 – Present

Photo Friends of the Los Angeles Public Library
Board Member
2010 – Present

Long Beach Heritage
Board Member
2019 – 2021

Professional Development

Open Architecture Collaborative
Pathways to Equity
2022

Akimbo by Seth Godin
The Marketing Seminar
2020

Getty Conservation Institute — Los Angeles, CA
Introduction to Conserving Modern Architecture
2018

University of Southern California School of Architecture — Los Angeles, CA
Short Course in Historic Preservation (now Fundamentals of Heritage Conservation)
2001

Education

Boston University College of Communication — Boston, MA
B.S. magna cum laude, Mass Communications