Valerie Denney

President

vdenney@valeriedenney.com

It’s good to be idealistic, but ideals change nothing unless effectively communicated and pursued.

So while Valerie Denney may have strong feelings about social justice and environmental sustainability, progressive clients seek her help because she has the seasoned judgment, strategic sense, energy and attention to detail required if good intentions are to produce measurable results.

For over two decades Valerie has delivered professional public relations services to organizations, agencies and individuals working for positive social change. She does this not by grinding out press releases or badgering the “usual suspects” in the media (though she is a master of the terse, timely release and is well-respected by reporters and editors in Chicago and beyond). Instead, Valerie works with clients to articulate core messages, identify key audiences, translate complex issues into simple but evocative language … and then reach out for maximum impact.

A mentor not a mouthpiece, Valerie’s approach has won for VDC the loyalty of top-line clients such as the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The Chicago Community Trust, The Joyce Foundation, Metropolitan Planning Council, Urban Land Institute and Chicago Council on Global Affairs. The same approach is also valued by clients in the here-and-now worlds of politics, government and organized labor. VDC works with the Chicago Department of Planning & Development, the Chicago Public Schools, the Illinois Department of Mental Health and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

Her background explains a lot. In 1971 Valerie graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Indiana University, where she also earned a masters in English and a teaching certificate in secondary education. She taught English and communications at a junior college, was active in the teachers’ union, and did education research for a labor council. Hands on? She worked for a time as a certified millwright at U.S. Steel.

In 1986, a time of turmoil in Chicago politics, Valerie joined the administration of the late Mayor Harold Washington to help with speech writing, press relations and policy development. At City Hall she found her passion at the intersection of politics and communication, policy and community development. In 1988 she formed Valerie Denney Communications, where ideals continue to produce measurable results.