Introduction

Middle-aged Asian woman smiling at camera.

Hi. If you’re here to get to know me better, here is my story as a comms strategist:

If you ask around, I am known for my participation in the arts and activism, and a lot of it informs my work. I’m creative, very attracted to interesting ideas, and highly motivated to do the right things for the right reasons.

I’ve been in comms since 2002. I’ve taken on many types of comms roles, and for the past decade, have focused on leadership roles within strategic communications. I’m a very hands-on strategy person! The tech landscape changes fast, and audiences constantly shift their behaviour. I know it can be easy to lose touch as a strategic comms person. So, I make it a point to dive in with my teams, and work on diverse projects within the region. It’s a good way to make sure that my ideas do more than look nice on paper.

I value collaborating with others who agree that the way things get done is just as important as what is done. I like when teams understand that meaningfully including more views in campaigns will strengthen it. I co-design strategies that have vision but are also realistic, targeted, and effective. Yes, I love a good mind-map, and starting with a chaos of sticky notes that transforms into a campaign.

I started out in digital communications with a background as a successful writer and graphic designer. This gave me a range of practical comms skills — from creating assets or telling a story, to knowing what questions to ask a printing vendor or planning project timelines. I have since expanded to other roles along the comms pipeline: from doing, to creating, strategising, lobbying, advocating, writing policy, managing, leading, and training others.

I’m always doing, always learning, and I coach others to be able to think and do the same.

I usually work with non-profits and advocacy organisations, on a wide variety of causes. I’ve worked with small organisations where the comms team is one person, and with multistakeholder coalitions. My favourite lies somewhere in between: working in small core teams, but with many other voices.

I have campaigned on sensitive issues to even more sensitive audiences. I’ve raised funds, filled seats, created festivals, designed hit campaigns, nurtured small but highly active communities, mapped out various comms strategies, done digital safety audits, designed sprints, and led teams in film, events, and comms.

If you’re looking for the results of strength assessment tests, mine consistently say I am strong in strategy and thinking, very fond of learning and intellectual challenges, and skilled in managing resources — including in seeing people for their strengths and putting us together in teams where we complement each other well. If you get in touch with me, I can share the results over email (lainie [at] senimalaysia.com).

There are many mentions of data in my CV. I am data-oriented, and data-literate, but any person who handles data will note there is no such thing as neutral data. In comms, many assumptions of the available metrics have to be challenged. I do work with projections and measure my results in campaigns (I am very fond of spreadsheets), but all handling of data requires context. I won’t write things like “I was responsible for 2000% increase in Lead Generation”, but I can contextualise my previous campaigns for you in other environments better suited for conversation.

On a personal level, I volunteer in a few non-profit causes, sometimes in organisations, other times as someone patching in a gap where I can. I am an exco member of Malaysian Evaluation Society, a VOPE; and a member of Reproductive Rights Advocacy Alliance Malaysia (RRAAM). I lend a lot of personal time to queer advocacy causes, and used to dedicate nights and weekends to community work with the urban poor in KL. I also occasionally mediate on domestic and sexual violence issues, and of late, I find myself more frequently representing survivors in mediation processes.

I have an interesting work history, so there aren’t many campaigns that can fully surprise me — but that’s the thing about comms. You can plan ahead all you want, but at some point, you have to be ready to respond to new circumstances. I hope my diverse experience gives me many, many tools, and a trusted network of support to draw upon.

My main goal is to communicate well, and to use my skills to help create a world I want to live in.

I’m very much an introvert, which some people find surprising. In my leisure time I love to read, walk, write, cook, garden, or take online courses. I also tend to the needs of a highly demanding and impertinent cat.

Feel free to look around the other sections of my website, or contact me at lainie [at] senimalaysia.com if you’d like to get in touch for job opportunities.

 

STRENGTHS & SKILLS

  • Resourceful, motivated, and eager to learn when faced with complex new concepts
  • Savvy with social media and adapts quickly to new digital technologies
  • Understands the importance of media ethics and accessibility
  • Experienced in covering communications for live events, to generate off-site discussions and increase information dissemination
  • Emphasises data-driven practices with consent-based data-gathering
  • Highly efficient campaigner on paid marketing platforms (expertise in video distribution), delivering high-value results at lowest costs
  • Interested in the use of open platforms and alternatives to social media marketing
  • Able to build and manage media teams across multiple departments and streamline communications to achieve project outcomes

SOFTWARE & SERVICES

  • Graphics software like Canva, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Lightroom and Premiere Pro
  • Website analytics like Matomo, Google Analytics
  • Google Adsense and Facebook Ads
  • HTML, WordPress, basic CSS and website maintenance
  • Digital newsletters services, like Mailchimp and Substack
  • YouTube channel management and development
  • Social media platforms: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram
  • Currently learning Python

LANGUAGES

  • English (written and spoken)
  • Malay (written and spoken)
  • Cantonese (spoken only)
  • German (A1 certification)

EDUCATION

Limkokwing University of Creative Technology
Foundation in Graphic Design (2004)

CENFAD Centre for Art and Design
Diploma in Communications Design (2005–2006)

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