62 | Acquisition International, Global Excellence Awards 2023 12 Acquisition International - Issue 4 2023 Jan23843 A Guiding Light North Star Communications Consultancy is a consultancy with core capabilities in communications talent development, as well as in employee/change communications strategy. It has provided communications consulting services to a string of prestigious clients over the years. We learn more from Founder and President, Mark Dollins, about his twinkling career to date and the reasons behind the firm’s latest win in the 2023 Global Excellence Awards. ounded in 2011, North Star Communications Consulting (North Star) specialises in creating and executing strategies to keep employees engaged through change, whilst articulating and evaluating competencies and creating development plans to close talent gaps. On top of all this, the firm also offers coaching and training tailored to fit both individual and team needs. With change management communications, North Star develops and deploys leader and employee engagement strategies that deliver measurable returns, and which are connected to business metrics that matter. With talent development, from identification of marketing and communications competencies to deploying assessment tools, change management and coaching for individuals and teams, North Star is uniquely positioned to drive successful talent management capabilities. “The combination of insightful strategy, creative storytelling and metrics-driven communications programming is a powerful, unusual blend of art and science that yields innovative business performance in out-of-the ordinary ways,” explains Mark Dollins, the firm’s Founder and President. “Our values have remained a fixed as the name we chose for our firm: we honor our own North Star. We believe in listening first, delivering solutions that work, measuring what matters to our clients, and honouring our commitments as we strive to make the workplace better than it was before we partnered with our customers.” Mark has been where the firm’s clients work today. As a 35year corporate communications leader, including holding chief communication roles at some of the world’s largest companies, he understands how good communication can deliver results. F Mark began his career in broadcast and print journalism, working with ABC News and other print news outlets. He currently serves on the national advisory council of George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs, served for eight years on LSU’s journalism advisory board for the Manship School of Communications, and holds a seat on The Conference Board’s Change & Transformation Council. He received a bachelor’s degree in Radio/TV from The George Washington University, and a master’s degree in organizational communications from Purdue University. Mark previously spent 17 years in executive communication leadership roles with PepsiCo. He was SVP and Chief Communications Officer at Pepsi Beverages and PepsiCo Americas Foods, and SVP of global internal communications, among other senior corporate roles. He led communications for PepsiCo’s 2011 acquisition of its anchor bottlers and ran merger communications for PepsiCo’s acquisition of The Quaker Oats Company, where he was VP of Corporate Communications. While at Quaker, he led both Corporate Communications and brand communications for Quaker, Life and Cap’n Crunch cereals, Aunt Jemima syrups and mixes, Rice-ARoni, Gatorade, and Tropicana juices. He also led corporate public
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