Communicating clearly builds powerful connections.
Spoke helps people and organizations who are making our world a better place do more. We work with you to sharpen your vision and amplify your voice, to better connect with your donors, partners, grantees or clients. Here’s how…
Erin Fogg | Founder + Principal
Erin Fogg has dedicated her career to making the world more equitable, prosperous, and just, working with a wide array of charities, philanthropists, government agencies, political candidates, and elected officials. Prior to founding Spoke Consulting, Erin was the vice president and highest producing consultant at a boutique strategic communications firm in Marin County.
Before making the shift to consulting, Erin served as a legislative assistant to Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA 29). She caught the media relations bug working the press for her boss at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. Following her stint on the Hill, Erin worked as a political research analyst, specializing in international affairs.
Erin brings a richly cross-cultural personal background to her work. She has called both Indonesia and Spain home, and has traveled extensively across Europe, Asia and the Middle East. In 2000, Erin helped coordinate donor retention efforts for the Southern California office of the U.S. Fund for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). She went on to found the U.C. Berkeley affiliate of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF (Bears for UNICEF).
Erin graduated with high honors from the University of California at Berkeley with a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies and a Minor in Spanish. She earned an M.A. in International Policy from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, where she specialized in negotiations and conflict resolution. She studied abroad at the Universidad de Alcala just outside of Madrid, Spain, and completed a graduate-level course of study at the Universitas Sam Ratulangi in Sulawesi, Indonesia. She is an alumna of Emerge California and the National Outdoor Leadership School.
Erin’s husband Trevor owns Blink Optometry in Carmel. Erin and Trevor love live music, shared meals, any kind of travel, and all the outdoor adventures with their son (Rowan) and daughters (Samantha and Brianna), dogs (Delilah, Toby and Emmett), cats (Brie and Bleu), and chickens (Rosy and Mimi).
Kelsey (Linder) Prater | Senior Design Associate
Kelsey is Spoke’s graphic design guru, leveraging her strong writing skills and experience with a wide array of communications tools to craft maximally effective visuals of all kinds. Kelsey returned to her native Monterey Peninsula after attending Principia College in Illinois where she earned her B.A. with an emphasis in Graphic Design. While attending Principia, Kelsey served as captain of the women’s lacrosse team and managed the women’s soccer team.
Prior to joining Spoke, Kelsey worked as the interim Communications Director at the prestigious Naval Post Graduate School (NPS) Foundation in Monterey. At the NPS Foundation, Kelsey led communications and graphic design for the school’s largest annual membership events.
In her spare time, she enjoys Sunday dinners with her family, reading, walking along the bike path, and sitting in the sidecar for a weekend coffee date to explore Monterey with her husband.
Cord Bynum | Senior Project Associate
Cord brings a wide range of writing, research, content development, and instructional design experience to his role at Spoke. Prior to joining the Spoke team, he supported advancement efforts at an independent, nonprofit K-12 school, where he crafted messaging and communications, managed the school’s extensive grants portfolio, and built relationships with foundations, allied professionals, and fellow community members to support students who learn differently. After several years working on the front lines in the nonprofit sector, Cord has valuable experience and insight in leveraging client strengths and potential to inspire engagement, action, and change for social good.
Prior to his efforts in the nonprofit sector, Cord worked as a writer and content coordinator in support of the Defense Language Institute, where he helped develop area studies, cultural orientation, and language training materials. His work in this and other areas reflects his passion for communicating knowledge, ideas, stories, and strategies to support organizational effectiveness, community-building, and lifelong learning.
Originally from Wyoming, Cord has lived throughout the western U.S. and is happy to make his home in Monterey County, where he enjoys hiking and spending time with family. Cord holds an M.A. in Art History from the University of Texas at Austin and an M.S. in Instructional Science and Technology from California State University, Monterey Bay.
Autumn (Hays) Brown | Senior Project Associate
Autumn implements her strong communication, marketing, and organization skills to provide excellent guidance and support to many of Spoke’s clients. From thoughtfully crafting content to refreshing brand materials, email campaigns, and websites, Autumn is well-versed in all aspects of traditional and digital communications with a unique focus on (and a passion for) nonprofit organizations.
Autumn has worked her way up at Spoke after graduating magna cum laude from California State University, Monterey Bay (CSUMB) with her B.S. in Business Administration with an emphasis in marketing. At CSUMB, she worked on campus as a Housing and Residential Life Assistant where she scheduled, promoted, and managed a variety of events for students. While earning her degree, she interned with one of the top interior design firms on the central Californian coast, where she gained valuable experience in effective communication and produced design concepts that met the client’s expectations, while working within their budget.
Originally from Fresno, Autumn has fallen in love with the Monterey Peninsula where she can be found teaching barre, hiking, and testing her knowledge of random facts at trivia nights.
Mckenna Hunt | Project Associate
Mckenna brings her unique experiences in journalism, marketing, and corporate communications to the Spoke team. Prior to joining Spoke, Mckenna worked as the head content developer and storytelling lead for a Native-owned marketing and communications firm in Juneau, Alaska, where she focused her time on Indigenous advocacy campaigns aimed at reclaiming land and opportunity for Native communities excluded from the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. She also worked closely with southeast Alaskan tribal organizations and Native corporations, working to enhance company narratives by strategizing and delivering poignant communications.
Before her work in the marketing sector, Mckenna worked as an avid journalist for various radio and print publications. While working for KNKX Public Radio in Seattle, Washington, Mckenna won the 2020 National BEA Festival Award Winner for Radio Feature Reporting on Indigenous tattoo revival in the Pacific Northwest, and additionally won the Indigenous Reporting Award from the Institute for Journalism and Natural Resources (IJNR) in 2020 for a researched reporting series on the revival of the Makah whale hunt in Neah Bay.
Mckenna attended Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington, where she received her Bachelor’s degree in News and Editorial Journalism with a minor in Psychology while on scholarship for the 100 meter hurdles. She is a Pacific Northwest native – born and raised – and holds a special place in her heart for southeast Alaska, where her family has lived for generations. Mckenna is an enrolled member of the Yakutat Tlingit Tribe in Yakutat, Alaska, clan member of the Galyáx Kaagwaantaan, and her Tlingít name is Keil ti’.
When Mckenna isn’t at her desk, she’s all about getting into the outdoors and traveling with her pup, Willie, and her partner, Teague. You can find her surfing on the Oregon coast, hiking in the Grand Tetons, fly fishing in Montana, or berry picking in Alaska. She’s proud to work for Spoke and be a part of a socially equitable company that strives to make the world a better place.
Samantha Godoy | Graphic Design + Project Associate
Samantha brings experience in nonprofit administration and the performing arts world, along with a passion for all things creative, to her role at Spoke. Before joining Spoke, Samantha served as the Executive Director for Friction Performing Arts, the associated nonprofit of the award-winning Bay Area-based ensemble Friction Quartet. Samantha handled communications and marketing throughout her nearly six-year tenure with the ensemble, writing and designing e-newsletters, press releases, event promotions, social media content, fundraising campaigns, grants, and more. Samantha values positive and empathetic communication rooted in gratitude and approaches much of her communications work through this lens to create authentic and engaging narratives. Samantha has also worked as a freelance photographer and graphic designer for projects ranging from web or logo design, to album artwork, merch, and more.
Samantha holds a Bachelor of Music Degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Redlands. She has received professional development training through the nonprofit management program at Cal State East Bay and received one-on-one training with consultant Jericha Senyak through grant support from the California Arts Council.
Samantha loves all things music, art, craft, and nature. In her spare time, you might find her singing along to a record while working on a sewing project or wandering around the Bay Area’s incredible parks and gardens while admiring the region’s extraordinary biodiversity. She lives in Oakland with her composer, saxophonist, and educator husband, two senior rescue chihuahuas, Mochi and Sprout, and cat Boba.
Angela Taylor | Operations Manager
Angela is an administrative professional whose friendly demeanor, keen eye for organizational detail, and inclination to make a positive mark is a huge asset to the Spoke team and their efficiency. Her strengths lie in streamlining existing processes and finding creative ways to support the office and maintain workflow.
Prior to joining Spoke, she worked in Human Resources and supported C-Suite executives at an accomplished landscape architecture and habitat restoration firm. She assisted with a variety of administrative and operational duties, ranging from weekly payroll support to coordinating the redesign and implementation of an annual employee review process.
Angela graduated from California State University, Monterey Bay with her B.A. in Collaborative Health and Human Services with Distinction in the Major. While earning her degree, she interned at the Santa Cruz County Women’s Commission, which advises the Board of Supervisors on a spectrum of issues women and girls face in Santa Cruz County. During her time there, Angela worked with Commissioners to produce a report on Women and Homelessness in Santa Cruz County, which was ultimately presented to the Board of Supervisors in August 2017.
Angela is a Monterey Bay native and was raised along the Magnolia tree lined streets of Salinas. Away from the Spoke office, Angela loves adventuring through the redwood forests with her family in Santa Cruz or spending quality time closer to home in Pacific Grove with her fiancé and their two pets.
Jennifer Guzowski | Bookkeeper
Jennifer has been keeping Spoke’s P’s and Q’s in order since we opened our doors. She brings decades of accounting experience for organizations big and small, for-profit and nonprofit, to her work with our clients and team. Jennifer is a Monterey native, raised along the rugged coast of Big Sur. She loves sunrise walks along the dunes with her dog Tobey, reveling in the genius of the incomparable Dave Mathews Band, and adventuring with her husband Ted and son Parker.