Speakers 2024

Rachel Coffman

Rachel Coffman

  • Title: President & Founder
  • Company: Coffman Collaborative LLC

Rachel Coffman is the President and Founder of Coffman Collaborative LLC, a strategic communication firm in Charleston, WV, specializing in external and internal stakeholder management through community relations, governmental affairs, and public relations for manufacturing, energy and the transportation sectors in the Appalachian Region. With over 15 years of experience in public relations and public policy strategic execution, she serves the needs of the firm’s clients ranging from multi-national companies in automotive and chemical manufacturing, specialty chemicals, trade associations, and nonprofits using her several years of political and communications experience focusing on policy development, state legislative affairs, integrated campaign development, crisis communications, reputation management, media relations, social media planning, photography, and graphic design implementation. 

​Coffman is a past co-chair for the WV Manufacturers Association governmental affairs committee and is a member of the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce’s governmental relations, economic development, and environmental committees. She is the West Virginia representative for the National League of Women Lobbyists and was selected by the Institute of Public Relations for the 2023 IPR Elevate program. She is a past president of the PRSA WV Chapter and serves as the chapter's PRSA Assembly Delegate 2023-2026. Also, she serves on the PRSA National Membership Committee, as co-chair. 

Prior to her founding Coffman Collaborative, Coffman was Vice President at TSG Consulting where she worked over a decade in state governmental affairs. In 2022, she was named the 2022 WV PR Practitioner of the Year by the PRSA WV Chapter, other awards are; State Journal honoree for the 2021 Generation Next: 40 Under 40, Young Gun by WV Executive Magazine 2018, Young PR Professional of the Year Award by the PRSA WV Chapter in 2012, and WV Living Wonder Woman -2023. 

Coffman received her M.B.A. from the University of Charleston in 2011 and was a magna cum laude graduate of Marshall University W. Page Pitt School of Journalism and Mass Communication in 2008 concentrating in public relations. In 2019, Coffman completed a graduate certificate in Business, International Relations, and Political Economy from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Continuing her education journey, she completed a Sustainability for Industry course from the Massachusetts Institute for Technology (MIT) in 2023. 

She holds professional certifications from the Public Relations Society of America in crisis communication, reputation risk management, and FEMA public information officer training in incident command protocol.

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