Executive Communications · Strategic Narrative · C-Suite Advisory

Complexity, translated into trust.

I help leaders communicate with clarity and impact — shaping executive voice, strategic narrative, and high-stakes communications across technology companies, national campaigns, federal agencies, and cultural institutions.

Name
Erik Westmoreland
Practice
Executive comms · Strategic narrative · Public affairs
Sectors
Technology & SaaS · Federal · Cultural
Experience
20+ years
Location
Monterey Bay, California
Status
Open to new engagements
$135M+
Funding secured
200+
Executive comms products
+60%
Employee engagement lift
30,000+
Workforce reached
20+ yrs
Tech · Federal · Civic
About

The common thread is translation.

I started as a journalist, which taught me to find the human story inside complicated institutions. That grew into executive communications, technology storytelling, and high-stakes engagement — from startups to national enterprises. I help leaders explain hard things clearly, align stakeholders, and move from complexity to action.

What I Lead

Strategic communications & messaging. Cross-functional teams. Public-facing and internal communications at national scale.

How I Work

Clear objectives. Iterative development. Accountability to audience and mission.

Non-Negotiables

Accuracy. Accessibility. Stakeholder trust. The best communications aren't decoration after the decision — they're how decisions are understood, tested, and trusted.

Selected Case Files

Work where the stakes were high.

Case
National Healthy Homes Campaign
Client
Hayward Score — healthy-homes SaaS platform
Role
Director, Executive Comms & Public Affairs

Taking a SaaS startup's market narrative all the way to a national policy win.

A young technology company had a data-driven platform for housing health assessment — but its biggest market opportunity required building public awareness, founder credibility, and federal-level trust from a standing start.

  • Founder and executive messaging, market narrative, and company positioning
  • National public-education campaign with 85+ digital and campaign assets
  • Translated platform data into clear value propositions for senior decision-makers
  • Advanced the company's first federal SaaS opportunity and growth strategy
Outcome
$135M+ secured

A coherent national narrative that built the company's public credibility and helped secure $135M in NDAA funding for its mission — with coverage across The New York Times, ABC News, CBS Sunday Morning, Fox News, and Military Times.

[ IMAGE — campaign toolkit / press coverage montage ]
[ IMAGE — interpretive center / Perspectives Wall ]
Case
National Historic Interpretive Center
Client
Bureau of Land Management
Role
Creative Director · Tribal Liaison

Telling a contested national story with accuracy, accessibility, and consent.

Update a federal interpretive experience while addressing Indigenous perspectives, historical harm, and public education — among stakeholders with differing, at times opposing, views.

  • Interpretive framework and narrative development to NPS standards
  • Liaison between BLM and Pacific Northwest Tribes, with state-level approval
  • Design oversight, accessibility, and long-term sustainment planning
Outcome
300,000+ annual visitors

A redesigned gallery experience earning positive feedback from tribal representatives and agency leadership — with +43% media share and 91% positive sentiment across supporting engagement.

Case
Enterprise Culture-Change Communications
Client
National Security Agency
Role
Chief, Enterprise Comms & Workforce Engagement

Building shared identity across a 30,000-person distributed enterprise.

Support culture change and onboarding while reinforcing trust, shared purpose, and mission clarity across a complex, high-security, globally distributed workforce.

  • Culture-change narrative and values-based internal communications
  • Trained 83 executives in leadership messaging and shared purpose
  • Global crisis framework spanning 15 countries — response time cut from 24 hours to under 30 minutes
  • Led a 20-member communications team across executive and internal channels
Outcome
+60% engagement

Culture-change framework adopted across the enterprise, with a 60% lift in employee engagement and strengthened onboarding — recognized with the NSA Star Award and honored by the agency's Director.

[ IMAGE — NSA Hawaii / messaging artifact ]
From the Briefing Book
Audience
Senate Armed Services Committee
Location
Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C.
Objective
Frame unhealthy military housing as a force-readiness issue
Role
Writer and strategic communications lead
"Military families do not need to be studied to death. They need to be protected."

— Excerpt from prepared remarks · full text available on request

Career

From the newsroom to the boardroom.

2021 — Present

2Seventy Consulting

Founder & Principal · Strategic Communications

Communications consultancy helping senior leaders shape executive messaging, strategic narrative, and AI-enabled content systems. Built governance workflows that cut approval timelines by 55–60%, delivered 100% of major client milestones on schedule, and led transformation communications reaching audiences of up to 16M annual visitors.

2019 — 2021

Hayward Score

Director, Executive Communications & Public Affairs

Led executive communications and market narrative for a healthy-homes SaaS company — shaping founder messaging, building public credibility, advancing the company's first federal SaaS opportunity, and helping secure $135M in funding for its mission while cutting operating costs by $800K annually.

2011 — 2019

National Security Agency

Chief, Enterprise Communications & Workforce Engagement

Executive communications for a 30,000+ person distributed enterprise: 200+ briefings, speeches, and leadership messaging products; a 20-member communications team; senior-level narratives tied to $240M in enterprise technology decisions; and crisis response cut from 24 hours to under 30 minutes. Concurrent appointment as Adjunct Professor of Leadership & Organizational Development, National Cryptologic University.

1996 — 2011

U.S. Air Force

Senior Manager, Operations & Public Affairs · Broadcast Journalist · Cryptolinguist

NATO/AFN broadcaster across Europe — interviews with the Secretary of State and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs; Mandarin cryptolinguist; Battle Watch Captain in Afghanistan; program lead for the JINDI/Link 16 integration that helped secure $200M in Army funding. Thomas Jefferson Award for Broadcast Journalism.

Education & Credentials

MBA

University of San Francisco

BA, Communications & Journalism

University of Maryland

Graduate Certificate, International Relations

National Intelligence University

Public Affairs & Broadcast Journalism

Defense Information School

Writing

Selected articles & commentary.

LinkedIn

[ Article title goes here ]

One-line description of what the piece argues and who it's for.

Read on LinkedIn → LinkedIn

[ Article title goes here ]

One-line description of what the piece argues and who it's for.

Read on LinkedIn → LinkedIn

[ Article title goes here ]

One-line description of what the piece argues and who it's for.

Read on LinkedIn →
Contact

If the message matters, let's talk.

Available for executive communications, C-suite advisory, strategic narrative, and high-stakes communications engagements — technology companies, corporate teams, federal agencies, and mission-driven organizations.

Email
erik.westmoreland@gmail.com
LinkedIn
linkedin.com/in/erikwestmoreland
Location
Monterey / Pacific Grove, CA