Sandra is an astute entrepreneur and PR pro who understands the value of building name recognition. She has gained respect among colleagues and clients for her business savvy. Sandra started Sahara Communications in 1989 with just herself and a handful of consultants. Sandra’s success comes from her keen account management skills and her ability to see a bigger picture. Hard work, perseverance, a strong creative mind and faith are no strangers to Sandra. They are her greatest strengths.

Sandra has nearly 30 years of professional marketing and public relations experience. A polished leader, writer and researcher, she has spearheaded numerous statewide public awareness and marketing campaigns that got major results. A talented media planner/buyer, Sandra has managed media budgets of more than $3 million and has placed over $2 million in media buys.

Her forte is working with government and private health care industries, with an emphasis on social marketing. Under Sandra’s guidance, Sahara created and implemented the first-ever statewide anti-rape and sexual assault media campaign in 2006 for the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, which included radio, television/cable, outdoor, print and Internet advertising, as well as an aggressive public and community relations component that gained value-added exposure on Maryland’s radio and television talk shows. The one-year campaign witnessed a 57 percent increase in awareness and utilization of the state’s rape crisis center.

Similarly, Sandra led her team in localizing a brand campaign for Kaiser Permanente during its 2004 Open Enrollment season in the metropolitan Baltimore area; it resulted in a 55% increase in new members for Kaiser Permanente’s Mid-Atlantic office. A crowning achievement for both Sandra and Sahara Communications, among many, was the $1 million Baltimore Believe advertising campaign in 2002, a citywide anti-drug initiative to reduce drug trafficking and drug use in the City of Baltimore. With Sandra’s unceasing determination to give clients superior work, Sahara created the Maryland State Department of Education’s “It’s Never Too Early” campaign in 2000, encouraging parents to introduce their children from birth to five years of age to books. The campaign was a statewide success, drawing countless families to their local libraries for age-appropriate youth activities, programs and reading circles. The campaign garnered a national PR award, one of the most prestigious commendations given to libraries from the American Library Association.

Before starting Sahara Communications, Sandra served as Assistant Director of Public Relations from 1985 to 1989 for the NAACP National Headquarters under the executive directorship of Dr. Benjamin L.Hooks; as Assistant Director of Public Relations from 1983 to 1985 for Wyman Park Health System, where she helped create the PR Office from the ground up; and as Assistant Director of Public Relations in 1982 for Morgan State University.

Sandra is a magna cum laude graduate of Morgan State University, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in English in 1980. Sandra has a master’s degree in journalism from the renowned Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism.

During her leisure, Sandra enjoys walking, jogging and lap swimming. She also loves volunteering at Our Daily Bread, a soup kitchen for the poor and homeless.