OUR ASSOCIATES > JANET SWIECICHOWSKI
MINNEAPOLIS, MN
Janet Swiecichowski, Ed.D.
An advocate and advisor for schools leaders, Janet Swiecichowski is vice president at CEL
Marketing/PR/Design whose mission is the betterment of business, families, and communities. Initially trained in strategic planning in 1995 by Dr. Cook, Janet is a change agent and results-oriented strategist. She knows that transformational change requires planful internal and external stakeholder engagement. “People only know that they know,” she believes. “Dr. Cook’s strategic Thinking, Planning and Action disciplines allow an educational community to unlock the collective ingenuity of its stakeholders to dream, discover, design and decide on systemic change, all in the best interest of students.”
Janet brings more than 25 years of educational public relations experience to the Strategic
Planning process – both in K-12 and higher education. She served as the associate vice
president for public relations at the University of St. Thomas (MN) and as the executive director for communications with Minnetonka Public Schools, where she served as the internal facilitator for the district’s strategic planning process for more than a decade. Earlier in her career, she led communications in Wayzata Public Schools and Franklin Public Schools (WI).
Her experience in strategic planning dates back to 1995, serving as both internal and external facilitator – working with planning teams, action planning leaders, site planning teams and administrations toward strategic implementation and system transformation. Janet holds a doctorate in Organizational Change and Leadership from the USC Rossier School of Education, with a research focus on employee well-being. She holds a master’s in strategic communication from the University of Minnesota and a bachelor’s in communications and secondary education from Marquette University (WI). She is accredited in public relations and has served as the accreditation chair for both Minnesota PRSA and the National School Public Relations Association (NSPRA). Her professional service includes eight years on the national governing body for accreditation in public relations, the Universal Accreditation Board. She is a member of the College of Fellows within the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA).
A national award-winning communicator, she has presented at AASA, annually at the NSPRA national seminar (24 years), and for state organizations on topics including school referendum campaigns, public school marketing, strategic communication planning, accreditation, trust-building, and navigating school communications in an era of polarization. Janet has received four NSPRA’s Gold Medallion Awards – the association’s highest award for public relations programs.