McCormack Baron Salazar promotes LaShunda Gonzalez to Senior Vice President, Director of Government Relations and Communications
McCormack Baron Salazar is pleased to announce the promotion of LaShunda Gonzalez to Senior Vice President, Director of Government Relations and Communications. In this position, Gonzalez will represent and advance MBS’s business goals and legislative priorities before government decision-makers, including elected officials and their staff members, as well as government agencies. She will be instrumental in building government and corporate partnerships to leverage resources to support the company’s work.
Gonzalez will develop and implement integrated strategic government relations and communications plans and coordinate a team of internal and external marketing and communications staff members to advance the mission and brand of the company. She will manage media relations and will work collaboratively with internal company leaders to ensure the alignment of organizational and project priorities and to advance those goals in the public sphere.
Gonzalez has over 18 years of experience in community development, affordable housing and finance. As Senior Vice President of Development, Gonzalez was instrumental in moving forward the Innovation Square project in Cleveland, where she leveraged Cleveland Clinic’s first social impact investment in the city. Additionally, she managed the housing component of the East St. Louis Choice Neighborhood Planning effort. She also led government relations and worked on the refinance of Duneland Village and Horace Mann in Gary, Indiana.
Prior to joining McCormack Baron Salazar, Gonzalez served as the Choice Neighborhoods Director for Preservation of Affordable Housing (POAH), where she engaged federal and local government along with the philanthropic community to leverage resources toward the $500 million Woodlawn Choice Neighborhoods Initiative. This revitalization effort delivered 995 new mixed-income housing units, human capital programming for 1000 residents, and commercial investments to improve the economic vitality of the neighborhood.