Who We Are...
We are the A-Team you’ve been looking for –
smart, hard-working, ready.
Judy Katzel, APR
President and Founder
Judy founded KDK Consulting Group in 2011, following a successful stint at Burgess Advertising & Marketing for 17 years, the last 6 as President. Prior to her work in Maine, Judy spent 13 years in the Washington, DC market working on national public health education programs for The National Institutes of Health (high blood pressure education, high cholesterol education), the National Cancer Institute, as well as for other nonprofit organizations including the National Association of Home Builders, the American Institute of Architects, and others.
Judy’s background in advertising, marketing communications strategy and plan development goes back nearly 30 years. She has conducted brand audits, developed brand strategies, launched products, created and implemented fully-integrated advertising and marketing campaigns for Maine-based organizations as well as regional, national and international firms.
In addition to direct consulting, Judy routinely speaks at conferences for businesses and nonprofits on crisis communications topics, such as sexual harassment in the workplace, best practices for social media in fundraising, how to apply to concepts of strategic planning to the development of marketing plans, and more.
Through KDK Consulting Group, Judy has pulled together a team of experienced strategists, copywriters, graphic designers and media/web experts able to tackle implementing complex campaigns with efficiency, effectiveness and the ability to measure results in mind. KDK clients get the best of big agency thinking without the associated costs and lead times for implementation. Each campaign is approached with a roll-up-your-sleeves-and-get-er-done attitude!
Judy earned a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and holds the designation of APR (Accredited Public Relations Professional) from the Public Relations Society of America. A past president of the Maine Public Relations Council, Judy has been awarded the Council’s prestigious Edward L. Bernays Award in recognition of her expertise and experience in public relations. She is currently serving on the international Universal Accreditation Board for Public Relations.
Kendall Kurz
Managing Partner
Kendall’s broad experience and diverse capabilities include marketing strategy, client services, account supervision, project management, planning, budgeting, public relations, new media management, copywriting, retail merchandising & management and more. As her client’s eyes and ears, Kendall helps to ensure that our creative ideas have the power to make it in the real world.
Kendall provides a level of organization and problem-solving that has allowed her to direct multifaceted marketing programs for Portland International Jetport, Efficiency Maine, Southern and Central Maine Community Colleges, Maine Office of Tourism, Maine Summer Camps, Kingsley Pines Camp, Camp Alsing, GHM Insurance Agency, Acadia Insurance, Chalmers Insurance Group, Maine Justice Foundation, Medical Care Development, Hodgdon Yachts, Bangor Museum and Center for History, Downeast Energy, Barber Foods, Colorado Ballet, Hearts on Fire Diamonds, Chinet and many others.
Kendall has been in the Portland-area marketing world since 1999 and she holds a BA in French from University of Vermont. She lives in Portland with her partner Patrick and their dog Tally and cat Dulce.
Ken Hallee
Senior Art Director
Ken has over 15 years experience in creative and art direction, including print, web, transit, exhibit, packaging and digital media design, to studio and location direction for commercial photography and video.
His deft design touch and sure sense of branding have earned him five American Corporate Identity Awards and 11 Broderson Awards from the Portland Ad Club. He specializes in strategic brand development and has helped regional, national and global companies or businesses successfully refresh or launch their brands in the marketplace.
Ken has broad experience in communicating the promise and distinctive stories of clients in education, healthcare, finance, insurance, travel, tourism and industry.
Ken’s work has consistently won recognition in the creative departments of award-winning advertising agencies in Maine. Ken has a BFA from Maine College of Art and lives in Portland with his wife Lisa and daughter Emma.
Bridget Finnegan
Creative Director/ Illustrator
Bridget comes to KDK from the University of New Hampshire. As Creative Director she managed the creative staff for both the Durham and Manchester campuses. In her 16-year tenure she oversaw complete overhauls of the University’s branding, graphic identity, alumni magazine and website. In addition, her staff has set the bar for excellence in effective use of social media.
Bridget also creates and illustrates lively books for grown-ups of all ages. After creating three illustrated books for children she dipped her pen into the adult mystery genre. Her first novel is due out this fall.
Bridget has a degree in photography from Washington University and an MBA from Plymouth State University. She lives in Durham, NH with her partner, Mike.
Mark Ferguson
Creative Director/User Experience Strategist
Mark is an experienced writer, creative director and strategist who believes in building user experiences tailored to the unique phases of customers’ interactions with a brand — from prospect to brand enthusiast and beyond.
In his 15+ years as a writer and creative director at L.L.Bean, Mark translated business objectives and branding goals into actionable creative strategies and compelling, award-winning content. Leading and partnering with teams responsible for projects including website redesigns, multichannel product campaigns, multivariate test plans and e-commerce transactional flows, he contributed to the significant, multi-year growth of the company’s web division.
For KDK, he provides strategic recommendations on web engagement, social media, SEO, digital advertising/outreach campaigns via GoogleAds and other online platforms and corresponding analytics. Mark brings a laser focus to fine-tuning the user experience on mobile and web — with the goal of creating happy customers and stronger brands.
Ann Ewing
Copywriter/PR Specialist
Ann Ewing is a PR and marketing professional with 24 years of experience directing award-winning communications programs, PR campaigns, crisis communications, special events, product launches, and employee/corporate/community relations. Her skills include strategic planning, budgeting and implementation in product areas such as consumer products, healthcare, restaurants/food/hospitality, automotive, beer/spirits, footwear/apparel, manufacturing, non-profits, insurance, and associations.
After 20 years of experience at Nashville, Tenn.-based DVL as senior vice president and a key coordinator of major client activity for clients such as Jack Daniel's, Johnston & Murphy, Bridgestone/Firestone, Comdata and Bonnaroo, Ewing launched her solo career in 2009. Today, her focus lies in copy writing, media relations and crisis communications. With clients based in Maine, Tennessee, and Arkansas, she has successfully pitched stories and coordinated interviews with local, regional and national print, radio and TV media, resulting in high-profile placements such as The Food Network's Unwrapped, The TODAY Show, Good Morning America, National Culinary Review, Imbibe, The Boston Herald, Woman's World, Business Insider, Forbes, MSN, Real Simple and Saveur. Ann sits on the Board of the Animal Refuge League of Greater Portland.
Dragos Stancu
Web/App Designer & Developer
Dragos is an entrepreneur who loves design, coding, and photography and he believes that building a company should be fun and exciting.
He is always looking for new ways to solve everyday problems and to improve the products and services of his clients.
Dragos has more than 15 years of experience in Web Design and Development. He worked for 12 years as a web developer for Common Census, an online benefits management system provider, where he had the opportunity to work with partners in the insurance business including Transamerica, UNUM, Allstate, and Aflac.
He is passionate about his work and always eager to connect with other entrepreneurs. He enjoys all aspects of his business, particularly working with the client to understand his or her objectives.
As Dragos works with startups as well as other businesses, it is very important to him to provide cost effective solutions while creating a robust and sustainable product.
Dragos has a bachelor’s degree in Electronics with a focus on Artificial Intelligence, from the Polytechnic University of Bucharest, Romania.
Heather Wasklewicz
Social Marketing Director
Heather was one of the first people in Maine to utilize social media for marketing. She has a unique understanding of how organizations can use their voice to create relationships around brands, products and services using social tools such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and more. Her integrated, highly personalized approach caters to hearty and industrious souls accustomed to wearing several hats by offering marketing education and creative social cross-promotional strategies and integrated marketing solutions.
Heather has worked to build brand relationships for numerous clients including an international ice cleat, a child-care program, an island brewing company, a health and wellness program, a crime author, and a sustainable wood practices firm.
Heather grew up on Monhegan Island, attended USM, moved to NYC for four years, then returned to Maine to raise her own family. She now lives on Peaks Island.
Kitty Wilbur
Copywriter/Creative Director
Seasoned copywriter/creative director Kitty Wilbur offers 25+ years of writing experience along with a commitment to creative marketing that combines styles and substance. Having worked on both the inside/corporate and outside/agency sides of the advertising business, she combines solid technical skill and an exceptional work ethic with the creative passion to publish work that is engaging, compelling and memorable.
Kitty’s work has created solid business results (and won awards) for clients in a wide range of industries, including healthcare and social marketing, travel and hospitality, financial, insurance, retail and retirement living,. Past clients have included The Boston Globe/boston.com, Vantage Deluxe World Travel and Saga Holidays, Filene’s Basement, Mercy Hospital, Maine Bank & Trust, Amato’s, and the Portland Public Health Division, City of Portland.
Happy working in all media, from direct mail to broadcast to the web, Kitty is equally comfortable managing the creative process, from concept development to completion. While she prides herself first and foremost on her strong writing abilities, she also brings savvy and experienced strategic thinking to her work, with a particular love of taking on tough marketing challenges.
Charity West
Strategist
Charity has worked in the nonprofit sector for more than ten years and has extensive experience in creative collaborations that meet critical community needs. She is passionately interested in projects that develop workforce opportunities, support communities and increase economic viability. Recently, she served as a product management consultant working with an organization’s senior management team and was responsible for directing efforts to design a suite of products for employer engagement, college success and career mapping Maine.
Charity brings four key strengths to the table: a focus on communication excellence, a demonstrated ability to foster collaboration that solves problems and creates new opportunities, a drive to make progress toward an organization’s mission, and process design for efficiency improvements and revenue growth.
She has worked with community-based organizations to identify and assess needs and create opportunities that meet these needs; built sustainable public-private partnerships; designed and managed large-scale events; and managed product design processes. She draws upon her experience in leadership and organization management to help clients make breakthroughs in process and communications.
As a community leader she has served as a member of the Portland Conservatory of Music advisory council, a board member of MADE – Maine Ad and Design, and committee member of the MS Society and various other organizations.