Along with her love of creative problem-solving, Rachael W. Hammond brings a dozen years of education experience to her role as Associate Director, Programming at WICT, where her primary responsibilities include both the general professional education strategy for the association and the general oversight for the development and delivery of leadership education and programs related to WICT’s mission. Some of these programs include: the WICT Forum; the WICT Chapter Leadership Conference; the Executive Development Seminars; the Betsy Magness Leadership Institute; Coaching; Mentoring; senior women’s programming initiatives; and the continuous development of other educational offerings. In addition, Rachael supervises the site selection; contract negotiation, and budgets for WICT programs. Previously she served as WICT’s Events Manager and focused on conference execution as well as contract negotiation, site selection, and budget management.
Prior to her work at WICT, Rachael served as the Manager of Meetings and Conferences at the Healthcare Distribution Management Association. As an educator, she has taught English, drama, and journalism in various settings, primarily at Shenandoah University, Massanutten Military Academy, Northern Virginia Community College and Lord Fairfax Community College, where she currently teaches literature classes and serves on the Learning Communities Committee. In addition, Rachael conducts writing and theatre workshops.
Rachael earned her M.A. in English from James Madison University. Her coursework there focused on literary criticism, in particular, feminist criticism; and her M.A. concentration was creative writing, which resulted in her first novel, The Limb Dancers. She is currently working on her second novel, The Diminished. Rachael earned her B.A. in English from the University of Virginia, where she also graduated from the McIntire Business Institute.
Rachael is a member of MPI. She is also a member of PCMA and will serve on the 2005 Core Competencies Task Force. Rachael lives in Virginia, near family. And outside of the office and the classroom, she spends her time at her computer, where she creates fiction and poetry; at her keyboard, where she composes music; and at her oven, where she concocts culinary surprises.