2011 Honoree – Claudette Cromartie

HEIDI OTWAY, APR, CPRC
SALTERMITCHELL PR PRESIDENT + PARTNER

Heidi Otway is the President of SalterMitchell PR, a communications consultancy providing strategic insight and guidance to organizations seeking to make an impact in the nation’s third most populous state.

Since joining the firm in 2003, she has led numerous public relations and public affairs initiatives, managed the reputation of top corporations, and developed campaigns targeting diverse stakeholders across Florida and the Southeast. For every client and cause, she relentlessly pursues results that can help them win. Her experience directing campaigns for Fortune 500 companies, mid-sized businesses, state agencies, associations, and large nonprofits, has solidified her as an expert in all aspects of media, communications, marketing, and audience engagement. Heidi’s work around the state includes:

• Rebranding Florida’s summer feeding program as the Summer Breakspot and launching a multimedia campaign to reframe a dated government program as a great place for kids to get healthy food when school is out for summer break
• Positioning Florida A&M University’s Medical Marijuana Research and Education Initiative as a leading conveyer of public education programs where people, especially those in minority populations, can learn and talk frankly about cannabis
• Building support for permanent preservation of a statewide Wildlife Corridor by helping generate awareness and influencer participation in a 100-day, 1,000-mile public expedition from the Everglades to the Okefenokee Swamp

Heidi began her career as a broadcast journalist after graduating from Florida A&M University. She became one of the youngest members of the Capitol Press Corps as the associate producer and writer for a statewide news bureau. She quickly advanced to making coverage decisions for television stations in Oklahoma and Florida. She was recruited to work as an assignment editor for a top-rated news station in Miami and the NBC affiliate in Tulsa. She later helped launch a news department for the NBC affiliate in Tallahassee and soon after became the first morning show Executive Producer for the Tampa CBS affiliate. In these roles, Heidi covered crisis situations including hurricanes, tornadoes, the Oklahoma City bombing, the 911 terrorist attacks, and the Columbia Space Shuttle disaster.

Heidi is called upon to advise diverse community-based organizations and she is very active on several local, state, national and global boards. She is Chair of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) committee for the IPREX Global Communications Network, a member of the DE&I committee for the Florida Public Relations Association, and past chairman of the Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce. She is also on the boards for the Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare Foundation, the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra, the United Way of the Big Bend, and is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated. She’s been serving as the volunteer director of a food bank at her church, ALARM International Ministries, for more than 10 years.

Heidi is a sought-after public speaker, who is called on to serve as a spokesperson, presenter, instructor and facilitator for corporations, associations, governments, universities, and businesses. She is accredited by the Universal Accreditation Board for public relations and is a Certified Public Relations Counselor. She is married to her college sweetheart Richard, and they are the proud parents of three children and two new son-in-loves.