Kara LaFleur

Kara LaFleur

Extremely Awesome Human

Biography

Kara is an aspiring mental health partitioner with interests in social justice and community-driven change informed by a wide variety of accomplishments in a variety of creative fields. Her adventures as a documentary photographer led her to arts and culture non-profit marketing and communications followed by a foray into the tech world, where she taught herself how to write code while building experiences focused on social change. During this time she began organizing pay-what-you-can meals under the auspices of Nerd Street Chef at Indy Hall, a coworking space in Philadelphia. Following her passion for food and bringing people together, she began working her way up the ranks of the best restaurants in the city. She is now taking all of her diverse experiences and applying them to the helping professions as an aspiring counseling therapist.

Kara is currently enrolled at Community Colege of Philadelphia, where she is preparing for graduate-level programs and as always, making a lot of friends along the way. Her areas of interest include Cross-Cultural psychology and specifically the application of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) to neurodiversity, anxiety, and depression in the Humanistic tradition of Psychotherapy. If this trajectory has a theme, it is that Kara is a dedicated student of life who follows her heart and that adventure exists wherever you make it. As Jon Kabat-Zinn says, “Wherever you go, there you are.” In her spare time, she enjoys reading, knitting, playing video games, advocating for human rights, hiking, and photography.

Interests

  • Neurodiversity
  • Cultural Psychology
  • Anxiety & Depression

Education

  • Associate of Arts (A.A.) in Psychology

    Community College of Philadelphia

  • Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.) Photography

    University of the Arts

Experience

 
 
 
 
 

Personal and Professional Chef

Nerd Street Companies

Jul 2012 – Present
  • Provided client driven, delicious, healthy, and nutritionally diverse dining experiences with a specialty for menus that are innovative, seasonally themed, and tailored to dietary restrictions and preferences.
  • Prepared fine dining cuisine for 100-300 people per night, managed support staff, ensured consistent team communication and expectations in a high stress environment, coordinated vendor relationships and developed menus at award winning gastronomic institutions focused on local products and culinary traditions.
 
 
 
 
 

VP of Cheerful Communications

Slash7

Jun 2011 – Dec 2011
  • Managed organizational communications, community outreach, and business development efforts, provided campaign management, conducted market research, and designed information architecture.
  • Provided content creation, user experience design, copy editing, product development, and QA support.
 
 
 
 
 

Marketing and Community Relations Manager

Canary Promotion + Design

Jul 2010 – Jul 2011
  • Generated and cultivated community engagement utilizing grassroots marketing communications to facilitate audience participation and implemented marketing and business development strategies.
  • Client communication management, developed, concepted, and executed on content including social media content, branded campaigns, marketing materials, websites, blog posts, and print materials.
 
 
 
 
 

Marketing Coordinator

Night Kitchen Interactive, Marketing Department

Aug 2009 – Nov 2009
  • Executed on all aspects of marketing strategy, generated promotional material, created business development proposals, composed newsletters, managed company events.
  • Coordinated marketing communications efforts, managed and developed relationships with marketing contacts, oversaw communications campaigns, and responded to all public relations opportunities.
  • Managed operations and projects, developed workflows, ensured a healthy, productive work environment across the entire team, and oversaw contractors, vendors, and clients.
 
 
 
 
 

Interactive Experience Producer, Content Strategy

Freelance

May 2005 – Feb 2014
Provided clients with a wide array of services including social media coaching, copywriting, content development, market research, PR, community outreach, UX design, campaign management, product development, information architecture, project management, web production, coding, and SEO.

Projects

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External Project

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Contact