Jackie Wright

Biography

Jackie Wright is the president of Wright Enterprises, a full service public relations firm serving the corporate, non-profit and government sectors nationally and internationally. A seasoned media and public relations professional, Wright has 20 years of media experience, including more than a decade of award-winning journalism experience in radio, television, print and Internet communications. She is an emerging award-winning filmmaker (Love Separated in Life...Love Reunited in Honor/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6679790/ https://vimeo.com/236990657) and graduate of the University of Georgia's Henry W. Grady School of Journalism, home of the prestigious George Foster Peabody Awards.

Wright's intense work ethic stems from her hard-working parents and their loss at an early age. The impact of the Vietnam War on her life due to the death of her father Sp5 Wyley Wright Jr., March 9, 1964 in a helicopter crash in Vietnam and subsequently the death of her mother Ouida Fay Wright, March 9, 1970, had not been dealt with until forty years later as expressed in her first writing, "Dead Men Tell No Tales; But Their Children Do," published by Smashwords.com. The book provided the groundwork for Wright's current short documentary "Love Separated in Life...Love Reunited in Honor" (https://vimeo.com/236990657) about removing her father from a segregated cemetery in Jacksonville, Florida to Arlington National Cemetery March 10, 2014, fifty years after he died as an honor guard for then Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara. The film is a display of the positive results of President Truman's Executive Order 9981 that desegregated the military. With less than two weeks notice, to show respect, a White soldier who served with Sp5 Wright in Vietnam in 1963 attended the Arlington ceremony, fifty years after his comrade's death. Additionally, the White widow of a helicopter pilot who died days after Sp5 Wright, also came to Arlington to help the Wright Family honor their patriarch. The documentary concludes in Vietnam where two of the Wright Siblings were welcomed by a Vietnamese Family as they sought answers about their father's service to his country in Vietnam.

At age 20 Wright became responsible for two of her three siblings ages 15 and 10 years old. As a divorcee, she worked her way through the University of Georgia with her elementary age daughter and high school age sister. While working her way through college Wright received two of her Associated Press Awards at WGAU/WNGC Radio Stations then owned by broadcast legend H. Randolph Holder. Focusing on the goals while overcoming immediate challenges has been the strategy of Wright as she has accomplished award winning work in various work arenas.

Prior to launching her own business based in San Francisco and Dallas, Wright served as Public Affairs Manager for KPIX/CW Bay Area TV, where she was responsible for public relations and community relations that included the creation and establishment of multicultural ethnic heritage month celebrations such as Asian Heritage Month, Black History Month and Latino Heritage Month; Wright created unique public service campaigns in which community leaders of different races would honor each other on air. Wright's media and community leadership initiated the establishment of the popular weekly national Jefferson Awards on KPIX. Her work also included the establishment of the award-winning Office of Public Engagement and Information for the San Francisco Unified School District as Executive Director; and leadership for the San Francisco County Office for the American Red Cross Bay Area Chapter as Executive Officer receiving the organization's highest management honor "The Tiffany Award for Excellence."

During a time of high visibility and national media scrutiny for the San Francisco Unified School District, Wright developed the crisis communication plan and set up systems to handle the 9-11-2001 Crisis and the high volume of media calls over a five month period from local, national and international media about the controversial Edison Charter School. Wright successfully worked with staff to maintain a consistent message of the District's concern for the "well being of all students" as the charter school through deliberation by the local board of education transferred to the State. Aside from the media focus on controversy, Wright strategically improved the District's website to give an overall balanced look at the District's operations making it user-friendly for staff, parents and students. In addition, Wright developed the communication plan for the District's new academic plan "Excellence For All" which was rolled-out over a 30-day period with attendance at meetings of over 3,000 people resulting in written input from 2,500 participants. The written feedback was used to improve the plan that was filed in U.S. Federal Court and approved. The SFUSD communication plan was presented at a national association of education public relations directors in Minneapolis as an example of a successful education communication campaign.

While at the American Red Cross, Wright was a member of the Executive Management Team of the Bay Area Chapter, serving as Executive Officer for San Francisco County. She worked her way through the ranks over a 10-year period from a Media Relations Associate to the Director of Special Events to ultimately, San Francisco County Executive Officer. In addition to her leadership as an Executive Officer responsible for budget development and management, program oversight, fund-raising, board development, government relations interfacing with city, state, and national politicians, and community relations, Wright served on the elite National Red Cross Headquarters' Rapid Response Team. As a member of the on demand team, Wright worked during major national disasters responding to national media and international news services with the requirement of being on a plane to head to a disaster within two hours of notice.

Crisis Communications, media training, media and communication plans, community outreach, government relations, international business relations, social media, cause related marketing and fundraising provide the foundation of Wright's expertise. Organizations that have benefited from her skills include the CBS Television, United Way, San Francisco State University, SF Conservation Corps, the American Red Cross, the YMCA, WNGC Radio Station, WXAG Radio Station, KALW Radio Station, the Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, Alliance for Women in Media (Wright created San Francisco Chapter's the Belva Davis Diversity Scholarship) and Leadership San Francisco. Website: www.wrightnow.biz displays Wright's involvement with the community as a community trustee, a concept taught by the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce's Leadership San Francisco Program. Contact information: jackiewright@wrightnow.biz or 415 525 0410.

Contact information: jackiewright@wrightnow.biz; 415 525.0410

Where to find Jackie Wright online

Books

Dead Men Tell No Tales; But Their Children Do
Price: $7.99 USD. Words: 13,960. Language: English. Published: May 30, 2018 . Categories: Nonfiction » Biography » Autobiographies & Memoirs
Amid old headlines and most recent ones generated by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick's "The Vietnam War," the voices of those affected by the war other than generals and politicians are rarely heard. "Dead Men Tell No Tales; But Their Children Do" is the beginning of the beginning of revelations about Vietnam for Jackie Wright and her family impacted at the heart level by the war.

Jackie Wright's tag cloud