Dr. Linda Wharton Boyd, Chief of Public Affairs & Government Relations
	With more than twenty years of outstanding experience and expertise in the organizational and public communications arena, Dr. Boyd has served the academic, government, educational, private, faith-based and nonprofit communities in numerous capacities. Before assuming the role of Executive Director of the WHARTON GROUP in early 2004, she served as a WHARTON GROUP associate working as a media and public affairs consultant, skills development trainer and strategic planner and coordinator with various groups, and for events, conferences, training sessions and campaigns. Among the groups and events were the AMERIGROUP 2004 DC Youth Cotillion, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) Rx4 DC Clearinghouse Program, the DCPS Schools 9- 11 Crisis Management Strategies and Communication Plan, the Executive Media Skills Development and Crises Communications Institute for the Water and Sewer Authority, Department of Human Services, top level executives and administrators in the DC Public Schools, and the Executive Team in the Office of the Mayor; the ABCOTS' "I'm So Excited" Campaign and 36th Annual Conference, the Million Family March, the Million Man Mach, the 37th Anniversary Celebration March on Washington, the UNIVERSOUL Circus Gospel, the Watkins Institute for Lifestyle Change and many others.
	Well known as an innovative thinker and out-of-the box strategist, Dr. Boyd has developed and implemented numerous successful community outreach campaigns at the grassroots level including the most recent: the DC Public Schools Comprehensive Immunization Campaign designed to immunized 40,000 students in 60 days, WUSA-TV 9 Connect with Kids Campaign, a character building values-oriented program for senior high schools, the 2004 UNILOVE Day of Remembrance, Atonement, Reconciliation, and Consecration designed to commemorate of lives of young persons lost to violence, and to encourage the entire Washington DC community to join the effort to stop the violence; the DC Public Schools Emergency Management Strategy and Community Outreach Plan designed to prepare the students, educators, parents and the community for large scale emergencies, disasters and crises; the "Answers, Please!" District of Columbia Multilingual Information and Referral Center designed to provide immediate social service assistance and referral to resident 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 364 days a year; the Y2K Community Preparation Campaign, the Ballou Senior High School Mercury Spill crises management and the Asbestos Abatement Community Outreach Campaign.
	Her former roles as Chief Communications Officer for DC Public Schools, Director of communications/Press Secretary for the District of Columbia Executive Office of the Mayor, Interim Director of the DC Office of Cable Television and Telecommunications and Graduate Assistant Professor of Communications at Howard University and Bowie State University has presented her with unprecedented opportunities and leverage to assist clients in gaining access to the Washington DC political, social and cultural communities.
	Dr. Boyd's work style is creative, inclusive and client friendly. Her demand for excellence, quality and precision leads to uncompromising results and client satisfaction. A national and internationally known consultant, Dr. Boyd is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where she received her doctorate degree in Communications.