CRM builds workforce development campaigns that help states attract, inform, and guide future educators. Drawing on our statewide and national recruitment campaigns, we develop teacher recruitment strategies aligned with K-12 workforce priorities; we know how to turn broad awareness into meaningful career action.
Our approach combines multimedia marketing, audience targeting, career pathway messaging, and job-seeker support to reach students, career changers, paraprofessionals, and purpose-driven adults. From special education to general education, CRM helps states make teaching visible, accessible, and compelling.
CR Marketing Partners Kathy Schaefer and Joe Ross coordinate a 12-person team of writers, designers, analysts, social media experts, and software developers.
CRM has worked with the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, Manpower Corporation, the State of Ohio, the State of Michigan, and a dozen other public and private sector organizations.

OWNER / PARTNER / PROJECTS DIRECTOR

PARTNER

Writer / Researcher

Marketing Research Expert

GRAPHIC & WEB DESIGNER / DIGITAL MARKETER
PROJECT MANAGER

PROJECT MANAGER

VIDEOGRAPHER

TECHNOLOGY DIRECTOR

WEB DEVELOPER

SEO Manager / Software Developer

OWNER / PARTNER / PROJECTS DIRECTOR
Kathy Schaefer is CR Marketing’s projects director and lead partner for CRM’s The Education Talent Bridge.
She oversees workflow, client communication, timelines, approvals, and the coordination of CRM’s creative, digital, outreach, and technology teams. Kathy works closely with our clients and the firm’s team members to keep complex educator workforce initiatives organized, responsive, and moving toward measurable goals.
Before joining CRM, Kathy served as a hospital administrator, association public policy adviser, and news media spokesperson.
At McLaren Regional Medical Center, she managed one of the hospital system’s largest acute care departments. That experience shaped her disciplined approach to staffing, operations, accountability, and high-stakes project management.
Kathy attended Albion College and earned a bachelor’s degree in dietetics from Michigan State University. She began her career as a registered clinical dietitian specializing in surgical and intensive care.

PARTNER
Joe Ross is CR Marketing’s strategist, business developer, and resident jack-of-all-trades. He leads the firm’s educator workforce development initiatives while supporting CRM’s creative, digital, and client service teams. Joe works closely with state Departments of Education, education associations, colleges, and K-12 school leaders to develop statewide and national strategies that attract, prepare, and retain educators. This past summer he was a featured speaker at the National Forum on Education in Washington, D.C.
Over the past three decades, Joe has helped launch statewide initiatives in education, healthcare, workforce development, economic development, and public policy. He has extensive experience building integrated marketing campaigns that combine digital strategy, storytelling, research, and human engagement to solve complex workforce challenges. He served for 12 years on the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago’s Economic Roundtable, is a past chairman of the Michigan Chamber of Commerce’s Health Policy Committee, and served as an adviser to the Michigan Health & Hospital Association’s Board of Directors.