Meet The Strategists: Rachel Nakanishi and Stephanie Bragdon Help School Districts Build Trust, One Conversation at a Time
Successful communications campaigns don’t begin with a single message. They begin with understanding the people you’re trying to reach. For Rachel Nakanishi and Stephanie Bragdon, every successful communications strategy starts with the same question: Who are we trying to reach, and what do they need to hear?
Whether supporting a school district through a bond measure, developing an enrollment campaign, or strengthening year-round community engagement, Rachel and Stephanie believe trust isn’t built through one campaign or one message. It’s built over time through consistent communication, transparency, and meaningful relationships.
Seeing the Work from Every Angle
Together, Rachel and Stephanie offer something many education consultants cannot.
Rachel, a VP of Communications at S360, has worked inside a school district. Stephanie, a Director of Communications at S360, has worked in campaigns and government. Between them, they’ve developed advertising campaigns, managed constituent engagement, produced television, supported elected officials, and partnered with education leaders across Washington.
Those experiences have shaped a 360° perspective on communications. They understand what it takes to connect with families, engage community members, support organizational leaders, and communicate effectively in highly visible, highly regulated environments.
That perspective informs every client partnership, helping organizations communicate with confidence while building trust over time
Different Perspectives. Stronger Partnerships.
Rachel and Stephanie bring complementary skills that help education leaders communicate with confidence through both everyday opportunities and complex initiatives.
Rachel specializes in seeing the bigger picture. She partners with district leaders to develop strategic communications plans, build community trust, and create research-informed outreach that supports enrollment, funding measures, strategic planning, and year-round engagement. She helps leaders anticipate communications challenges, navigate sensitive issues, and respond thoughtfully when the unexpected arises. Her experience working both inside and alongside school districts allows her to quickly understand organizational dynamics and provide practical guidance that helps leaders focus on what matters most to their communities.
Stephanie specializes in bringing strategy to life. She helps districts organize complex communications efforts, refine messaging, strengthen owned media channels, and coordinate the many moving pieces that accompany public information campaigns and community engagement initiatives. Her thoughtful, detail-oriented approach helps clients communicate consistently while navigating the unique responsibilities and legal requirements of public education.
Together, they bring a full roster of strategies to education communications. Rachel helps clients define the strategy, while Stephanie ensures every message, channel, and touchpoint supports that vision. The resulting communications are thoughtful, coordinated, and designed to build lasting trust with the communities schools serve.
Seamless Partners for School Districts
Rachel and Stephanie view every client relationship as a partnership. Their goal is not simply to deliver communications materials but to expand a district’s communications capacity and become a trusted extension of its team.
Sometimes that means facilitating strategic planning sessions or developing a communications roadmap. Other times it means helping refine a superintendent’s message, brainstorming through a sensitive issue, developing content for multiple audiences, or providing additional capacity during a busy season.
The strongest partnerships continue long after a campaign or major initiative ends. By working alongside districts year-round, Rachel and Stephanie help leaders strengthen communications practices, build internal confidence, and establish lasting relationships with the communities they serve.
Communicating in Complex Environments
Public education is one of the most highly visible and highly regulated environments in which to communicate. School districts must balance growing expectations for transparency with legal requirements that shape what, when, and how they communicate, particularly during bond and levy campaigns.
Rachel and Stephanie help clients navigate those complexities with confidence. Their experience allows districts to communicate clearly, remain compliant, and reach audiences through the right mix of community engagement, digital outreach, and strategic communications.
Just as importantly, they understand that every community is different. Successful outreach isn’t about using the same message everywhere. It’s about listening first, understanding local priorities, and meeting people where they are.
Looking Ahead
Communities expect more than information. They expect transparency, authenticity, and opportunities to participate in the conversation.
Rachel and Stephanie see education communications continuing to evolve toward more personalized, year-round engagement that builds trust before important decisions ever reach the ballot. By combining strategy, research, storytelling, and community engagement, they help education leaders communicate with confidence and build stronger relationships with the communities they serve.