Senior Leadership
Jodie Slaughter,
President and Founding Partner
Jodie has dedicated her career to the association community. For more than 25 years, Jodie has focused on solving the unique challenges faced by associations. She founded McKinley Marketing in 1994 so she could ensure quality services were provided to associations. At McKinley Marketing, she has overall management responsibilities and works extensively in new business development. She also contributes to project execution by applying her business acumen, marketing expertise and facilitation skills to meet client needs.
Prior to forming McKinley Marketing, Jodie worked for for-profit companies in the development and marketing of member benefit programs including Marsh Insurance, DHL (previously Airborne Express), Hertz Rent a Car and Penny Wise Office Products. Jodie is the Chairman of the Board of the for-profit subsidiary of the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE), ASAE Services, Inc., a Director on the ASAE Board, and past Chair of the ASAE Ethics Committee and the ASAE Associate Member Advisory Committees. In addition to speaking and publishing frequently on critical association issues, she was a contributing author of Generating and Managing Non-dues Income in Associations, which provides industry statistics as well as guidance to associations on program structures and opportunities. Jodie is also a member of the Association Forum of Chicagoland where she serves on the Content Committee. Jodie has a B.A. in English from Goucher College. She lives in Washington, DC with her husband, David and their Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Aidan, whom on many days you’ll find sleeping under Jodie’s desk.
Jay Younger, Managing Partner & Chief Consultant
Jay oversees McKinley Marketing's staff and serves as the firm's chief consultant. During his tenure with McKinley Marketing, Jay has successfully managed hundreds of consulting engagements for a wide variety of association and corporate clients.
Many of Jay's repeat engagements are with some of the world's most respected and influential trade and professional associations. Jay has broad expertise in market research, facilitation and business strategy, honed in his many years of working with C-level executives and boards of directors. Jay joined McKinley Marketing in 1999 from Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, where he managed both association and corporate markets at several properties in the Washington, DC area.
Jay served on the Membership Section Council of the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) from 1999-2005, with a stint as chair in 2004-2005. During his tenure on the council, co-chaired the planning committee for several years of ASAE’s successful Marketing and Membership Symposia and recruited several new active volunteers to the council Jay is a frequent author and contributor to a wide range of industry publications, including the Journal of Association Leadership, Association Management and more. A native Washingtonian, Jay holds a B.A. in English from Duke University in Durham, North Carolina.
John Grifferty, Director of Operations
John engages in a variety of responsibilities at McKinley, including day-to-day project management for high revenue clients, oversight of company operations and providing leadership to McKinley's project management staff. John's consulting and overall association experience ensures sound planning and professional execution for a handful of consulting engagements that require senior-level knowledge and experience. Internal responsibilities include
establishing and maintaining the infrastructure and systems to effectively manage consulting workflow company-wide.
Since joining McKinley Marketing in 1999, John has managed a number of the company's key projects for both associations and corporations. Balancing a marketing background with a strong understanding of market and membership research, John brings a diverse body of knowledge and experience to light for McKinley Marketing's clients.
Previously, John worked in direct mail marketing for Government Institutes, ABS Group, a publishing company headquartered in Rockville, MD developing and implementing strategic marketing plans. John earned his B.A. in Political Science and English Literature at Fairfield University.
Tania Galarza, Managing Consultant
Tania joined McKinley Marketing in June 2005 after completing her MBA at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business. Tania’s academic concentration focused on marketing and strategy, which she leveraged for several DC-based nonprofits and boutique marketing firms while working toward her MBA. As a senior consultant, she applies her private and public sector experience by delivering sound project management and strategy development for McKinley Marketing's clients. Tania supports clients through market research and analysis, association leadership facilitation and presentation, management strategy, and member recruitment and retention.
Prior to working at McKinley Marketing, Tania was a Senior Manager for Capital One. For six years she managed Capital One call centers where her responsibilities included project and personnel management, customer retention and product marketing. Tania also opened a new customer service call center in Seattle, Washington, dedicated to serving customers online. This included the implementation of all operational and management processes for the staffing of a 200 person call center, in addition to working with the company’s leadership to develop and implement strategy for the online growth of Capital One’s customer base. Tania has a Bachelor’s of Business Administration in Finance from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.
Shelley Sanner, CAE, Managing Consultant
Shelley Sanner, CAE, joined McKinley Marketing after eight years as a membership executive with the American Council on Education (ACE). At ACE, Shelley oversaw all membership operations—from identifying new dues revenue streams to ensuring the transparency of all daily operations to promoting new and innovative ways to serve members. She developed and implemented several strategic papers, including a membership development plan that encouraged a member-driven culture and engaged the Board in recruitment and retention efforts. In addition, she leveraged technology to improve the membership experience, initiated new strategies to ensure quality member services, and brought sustainability and transparency to all membership operations. In 2004, she designed and oversaw the creation of a tailored activity report which continues to communicate the value of membership to ACE’s 1,800 members.
On a national level, Shelley is founder and president of the HEMM (Higher Education Membership and Marketing) luncheon group, a series of timely seminars that foster collaboration and provide professional support to higher education professionals. In addition, she has been involved with the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) as a Certified Association Executive (CAE) instructor, a member of the ASAE Membership Council, a coordinator for the Emerging Leaders Online Community, an instructor in several online courses, and a content leader at the Great Ideas Conferences, ASAE Annual Meeting, and Fusion Production's Digital Now Conference. Currently, Shelley serves on the ASAE Strategic Research Committee. She is a certified CAE with a Master's in Liberal Studies from Georgetown University and an undergraduate degree from Juniata College, where she majored in French and Education.
Mike Norbut , Consultant
Mike began his career as a journalist for several Chicago-area community newspapers and the American Medical Association where he covered business issues as they relate to physicians for American Medical News. Prior to joining McKinley in 2008, Mike was a Senior Medical Writer with Sg2, a health care consulting and intelligence firm, where he helped develop operational, financial and clinical strategy publications for hospital clients.
Mike holds a Bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Notre Dame, a Master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University and an MBA from Northern Illinois University. Mike brings a unique blend of critical thinking skills and business acumen to each client assignment.
Tracy Talbot, Project Manager
Tracy Talbot, who began working for McKinley in 2005, leverages her 14 years of association experience for McKinley’s clients. Tracy has held positions at the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors, a credit union consulting company and various part-time consulting engagements. In addition to project management, Tracy supervises McKinley’s qualitative research function. She brings to McKinley a background in association programs and project management along with a BA in English from Bates College.