Pat Wheeler is the director of marketing for Cultural Tourism DC where she is responsible for written, verbal, visual, and electronic communications with the organization's external audiences. She oversees branding, marketing, communications, and publications.

Wheeler comes to Cultural Tourism DC with more than 20 years of experience in marketing and communications for the corporate, government, and nonprofit sectors. Prior to joining Cultural Tourism DC, she worked as an independent consultant, specializing in providing strategic planning, crisis communications, advertising, media relations, and training services for her clients.

Previous positions include: special assistant to the Director of the DC Department of Corrections, responsible for communications, customer service, and risk management; Interim Public Affairs Director for the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority; and Vice President, Marketing and Communications, for the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. During her tenure there she won several national awards for her marketing materials, including two Silver Inkwells and several awards from the National School Public Relations Association, and the Association of Educational Publishers.

Wheeler has held marketing and communications positions with the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy; Washington, DC Office of the Mayor; Gannett Corporation; Time Warner; and the DC Department of Corrections. In addition, she worked as a reporter and producer for television and radio stations in Richmond, Virginia; Portland, Oregon; and Baltimore, Maryland. She received her undergraduate degree in Journalism from the University of Maryland, College Park and her MBA in marketing from Columbia University in New York.

Wheeler has taught courses in marketing and public relations at Howard University, American University, Trinity College, the University of Maryland, and the University of Virginia, Northern Virginia Center. In 1993, she was named Public Relations Woman of the Year by Washington Women in Public Relations.

Photo credit: Yillah © 2009