Charlottesville VA, USA
Email: valeria.mcfarrenpiper@bairdscmc.com
Linkedin: Valeria on Linkedin
Valeria is a strategic communications professional with more than a decade of experience developing and implementing communications and advocacy strategies across the United States, Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe. Valeria is the co-founder and principal for Chaski Global, a boutique communications firm that weaves together international public policy, data and anecdotes into effective communications tools. She recently headed Corporate Communications for Pike Corporation, one of the largest power engineering companies in the US, and is an Adjunct Professor at the Federal Executive Institute. Previously at the Millennium Challenge Corporation she was responsible for creating the agency’s results portfolio, and served as the counterpart to communications experts in 23 countries, overseeing budgets over $10 million and executing national communications campaigns. She has provided executive counsel to leaders in government, NGOs and corporations delivered consulting services for IBM, Citibank, the World Bank and several NGOs.
She earned a Master’s Degree in Corporate Communications from Georgetown University and a Bachelor’s of Arts from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. She is the President and founder of the Kappa Charlottesville Alumnae Association and volunteers with Big Brother Big Sister.
Valeria is conversational in French and Portuguese, and speaks Spanish fluently. She was born and raised in La Paz, Bolivia, and lives in Charlottesville, Virginia with her husband.
Roles:
- Associate at Baird’s CMC
- Co-founder and principal Chaski Global LLC
- Adjunct Professor Federal Executive Institute
Areas of expertise:
- Corporate and strategic communications
- International relations
- Technical assistance
- Communicate M&E data
- Develop and implement communications, advocacy and consultation strategies and campaigns
- Oversea communications efforts & branding across Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe.
Project examples:
- Developed and implemented a robust & nationwide closeout communications strategy and campaign for the Government of Senegal as part of the US Government’s $540 million Millennium Challenge Corporation compact in Senegal.
- Adjunct Faculty hired to facilitate and teach courses to USAID Emerging Leaders about effective communications at FEI, the federal government’s premier leadership development center for executives.
- Provided strategic communications guidance and created data-driven products to launch the Inter-American Development Bank’s 5-year institutional strategy.
- Head of all Corporate Communications for one of the largest electricity distribution and transmission companies in the US.