About / Vannette Tolbert
Senior strategic communications leader
I help institutions earn trust when the stakes are high.
Photograph by k. Kang
For more than 13 years, I have helped mission-driven organizations, global institutions and purpose-led brands turn complex work into stories people can understand, believe and act on.
My work has moved between executive communications, global development, humanitarian response, gender equity, brand strategy and public-facing storytelling. I have worked with senior leaders, technical experts and teams closest to the work because a credible story has to hold up in every room.
Most communicators have a lane. Mine has always crossed borders, sectors and audiences. That is the point. The work is rarely simple, and the communications leader has to be able to make meaning without flattening the people, context or stakes involved.
What I bring to the work
Executive judgment
I help leaders make communications decisions when the organization is moving quickly, the message matters and there is no room for performative strategy.
Translation without oversimplification
I turn technical work, program data and institutional complexity into clear narratives for funders, partners, decision-makers and the public, while preserving dignity and context.
A global and human lens
My perspective has been shaped by work across four continents, a Liberian-American identity and years spent working where gender, culture, power and public trust are not abstract ideas.
The long version
The career has not been linear. It has moved from brand strategy and entrepreneurship in Liberia to senior communications leadership with the United Nations World Food Programme and Plan International USA. The through line is the same: helping important work find the clarity, credibility and visibility it deserves. See how that shows up in the work.
The work that shaped how I lead.
1980s
Maryland
Born in Maryland to Liberian parents. The first generation, shaped early by two cultures and the expectations that come with both.
2004
Maryland
Crowned Miss Liberia in the US, Maryland. Platform … feminine hygiene and sanitation. Have not stopped working on it since.
2004 → 2010
Washington DC
BA in Mass Communications, Frostburg State. First blog: Miss Vannette’s Cosmopolitan Confessions. Wrote my way through young adulthood out loud.
2011 → 2014
New York City
NYU — Marketing Strategy & Branding. Worked across luxury and lifestyle brands (Ferrari, Veuve Clicquot, SoHo House).
2015
NYC
The Phoenix Foundation for Empowering Women (founded 2012) wound down around this time. The work it pointed at … women, advocacy, gender equity … carried forward into everything that followed.
2016
Monrovia
Moved to Liberia. Founded The Aura Agency … a creative consulting firm. Rebranded Orange Liberia. Executive-produced Fashion Week Liberia and World Blood Donor Day events.
2017 → 2021
Global
Senior comms officer at the UN World Food Programme. Gender Action Network. Editorial governance across 80+ countries.
2023
Monrovia → DMV
Left Liberia after seven years and returned to the DMV, bringing a global perspective and a practice built on senior communications judgment.
2024 → 2026
Plan International USA
Senior Comms Manager (handled external comms), Co-Chair, DEIA Collective. CEO ghostwriting. Op-eds in the Washington Post and New York Times.
2026
Here
Launched vannettetolbert.com as the home for my independent strategic communications practice.
Credentials and practice
- B.A., Mass Communications, Frostburg State University
- NYU School of Professional Studies, Marketing Strategy and Branding
- Section 508 Compliance
- Digital Marketing and E-commerce
- WFP Gender Action Network
- Co-Chair, DEIA Collective, Plan International USA
- Training in gender equality, accountability to affected populations and climate justice
How I work
1. Precision and humanity belong together.
The work has to be clear enough to move a decision and human enough to deserve trust.
2. Specificity over summary.
I do not believe in generic narratives. Strong communications names the audience, the evidence, the context and the action required.
3. Strategy must be usable.
A communications strategy is only valuable when the people responsible for it can use it under real-world pressure.
4. Dignity is not optional.
Especially when stories involve communities, children or people navigating harm, communications must never sacrifice consent, safety or context for attention.
Let’s see if the work is a fit.
A 30-minute fit conversation confirms the moment ahead, the decision path, executive access and whether I am the right person to help. Most engagements begin as the Impact Narrative and Visibility Sprint.
