Women’s History Month Profile: Denni Cravins

03/29/2016

Communications manager at Raytheon Intelligence, Information & Services, Denni Cravins, a 1998 Manship School graduate, is an experienced communications professional with organizational and leadership skills in fast-paced, virtual and global environments.

 

At Raytheon, Cravins develops and executes internal programs to connect employees to the business strategy. She provides communications support and coaching and builds the team through innovative leadership and collaboration.

 

Cravins is also the owner and principal consultant of Cravins Creative Consulting, which provides freelance services to organizations and individuals, including writing and editing letters, articles, résumés, cover letters and Web content.

 

In 1998, Cravins graduated from the LSU Manship School with a concentration in political communication, and she later earned her master’s degree in interactive journalism from American University in Washington, D.C., in 2002.

 

Throughout her career, Cravins has worked as an internal and external communications consultant, a business founder and an employee for companies such as the Smithsonian Institution, Giant Food Inc., Lockheed Martin and Raytheon.

 

Cravins said Women’s History Month is an opportunity to celebrate women who have changed the world for the better, and it gives feminists – everyone who believes in equality – a chance to spotlight important issues that affect our entire society, such as gender pay inequality and limited or stereotypical gender roles.

 

“It’s important to celebrate and promote women because our voices have been marginalized for far too long,” she said. “And quite frankly, we’re amazing!”

 

“In mass communication, as in society at large, it’s important to see and hear from a diverse group of women,” Cravins added. “What we see and read matters – in what we believe is possible and what is normalized. In advertising, print, online, etc., there’s room for more than one woman’s story. There’s room for the mother. Room for the person who is childfree by choice. Room for women over the age of 50.”

 

Women are multidimensional, she said, and our communication outlets should reflect that. We must be intersectional about our feminism.

 

“I advocate for the humanity and equality of all human beings because oppressive institutions are interconnected and must be addressed individually and collectively.”