Hailey Winkleman, a communications and design specialist from southern Illinois, is a proud advocate for the Rural Schools Collaborative and its work. Hailey worked with RSC and NREA previously as an Advocacy Liaison for the I Am A Rural Teacher campaign, and she officially joined the Rural Imperative Initiative team with NREA and RSC in 2021 as a joint Advocacy Media Coordinator.
Hailey also supports the Association of Illinois Rural and Small Schools (AIRSS) as a Communications and Design Consultant.
Hailey is passionate about telling stories and creating unique experiences, a goal that continually fuels her interest in digital marketing and new media. As part of the IAART team, Hailey facilitated the 50 States in 50 Weeks social media initiative, assisted with several graphics for each social media channel, and pivoted IAART to focus on kickstarting the COVID-19 Rural Community Impact project when schools began closing across the nation. Hailey also coordinated with the Rethinking-EDU Podcast to create an episode discussing rural schools issues, including web design and social media advocacy, alongside Gary Funk (RSC Founder) and Allen Pratt (NREA Director).
Now that she is part of the RSC and NREA teams, Hailey is excited to continue making an impact through rural schools advocacy work!