About
The O’Keefe Group Team
Teryl O’Keefe Taglieri
Founder & Communication Strategist
Teryl is a communication consultant, writer, and executive coach. She works with clients on communication and human resources issues related to Employer of Choice initiatives, workplace change, organizational restructuring, and total rewards. Teryl has proven experience in executing complex communication campaigns, including strategy and planning, focus groups, editorial development, and project management.
Before establishing her own consultancy in 2002, Teryl was a senior communication consultant with Aon Hewitt, where she worked with Fortune 500 companies to develop and implement communication campaigns targeting employees, managers, and senior executives.
Teryl is a member and past board member of The Exchange, an International Association of Strategic Communicators. She was president of the WestFair chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) from 2005–2007. She has also served as a special expertise panel member for the Society for Human Resource Management.
Teryl graduated from Villanova University with a BA in Economics and Philosophy. When she’s not using her decades of strategic communications experience, Teryl is likely binging on foreign crime thrillers, cooking, traveling, or taking way too many photos of her kids, husband, and two black cats.
Thomas Taglieri
CFO & Senior Benefits Communication Consultant
A benefits communication specialist and expert in health care regulatory compliance, Tom has spent over 20 years in employee benefits working for some of the largest providers of benefits in the U.S. Recognized for strong project management skills and technical proficiency, he has expertise with medical, dental, disability, long-term care, and expatriate plans, as well as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
Prior to working with The O’Keefe Group, Tom was a senior consultant with MetLife. There, he was accountable for compliance, and the overall accuracy of group benefits plans. Fostering successful relationships with state examiners and government agencies, Tom managed multiple regulatory deliverables with lines of business, internal product partners, and senior management.
Tom holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Hartford and a Master of Arts in International Finance from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute—Lally School of Management. In his spare time, Tom enjoys teaching his kids tennis, watching college basketball, and cultivating his green thumb.
JoAnne Stauss
Head of Creative Operations
JoAnne is a dynamic and detail-oriented operational leader and project manager. Her laser focus on managing creative processes, people, and technology drives innovative solutions for our clients—on time and on budget.
In both agency and corporate environments, JoAnne has partnered with cross-functional teams to deliver print and digital marketing programs under tight deadlines.
She brings her continuous-improvement mindset to managing the workflow of our team of writers, creative directors, designers, proofreaders, and programmers.
Prior to working with The O’Keefe Group, JoAnne was a marketing manager at MetLife. Her career began on the B2B agency side where she managed creative workflow and projects for a variety of clients, including IBM, Duracell, GE Capital, and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
JoAnne earned a Bachelor of Business Administration with a concentration in Advertising from Pace University’s Lubin School of Business. When she’s not managing creative processes or crunching numbers to keep projects on budget, JoAnne enjoys being outdoors with her husband and teenage son. She’s a sunshine-seeker who likes to walk, read on the beach, or even cast the occasional fishing line into the water.
Jessica Cogan
Senior HR Communication Strategist & Writer
Jessica is a communication professional with more than 20 years of experience developing impactful, cross-media strategies and campaigns targeted to employees and their families. She is a dynamic, creative writer and communicator with experience across many industries, from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies.
Jessica began her career with Towers Perrin (now Willis Towers Watson) as a communication consultant.
Before joining The O’Keefe Group, she was a project manager and writer for other communication agencies, focused primarily on employee benefits and change management. She is an expert at translating complex topics into straightforward, engaging, and inspiring stories.
Jessica earned a Master of Arts degree from the University of Maryland and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California at San Diego, both in English Literature. Her passion – in addition to creating impactful communication campaigns – is making festive headpieces in her home in New Orleans.
Cortnae DelValle
Senior Communications Consultant & Writer
Cortnae del Valle is a strategic communications consultant with more than 20 years of experience helping organizations navigate complex change, technology initiatives, and large-scale business transformation. She specializes in translating strategy into clear, practical communication that helps leaders align teams and enables employees to understand and adopt new ways of working.
Throughout her career, Cortnae has partnered closely with senior leaders, program offices, and cross-functional teams to support major enterprise initiatives within telecommunications and technology organizations.
Her work focuses on developing communication strategies, executive messaging, and change communication plans that bring clarity to complex initiatives and help organizations move from strategy to successful execution.
Cathleen Donnelly
Senior Communication Consultant & Writer
Cathy Donnelly is a versatile, collaborative communication strategist and writer with experience in corporate, consulting, and academic settings. Applying her deep knowledge of business and workforce issues, she helps clients create strategic and tactical plans for diverse audiences; communicate business and program changes to drive understanding and support; and craft stories that inform and inspire.
Prior to her work with The O’Keefe Group, Cathy managed communication and change programs at IBM, including crisis and issues management; mergers and acquisitions; and global workforce, compensation, and benefits.
Before joining IBM, she was communication practice leader in Mercer Human Resources Consulting’s office in Stamford, Connecticut. She also held senior consulting positions at the Kwasha Lipton Group (later part of PricewaterhouseCoopers), and Sheppard Associates (later part of Ketchum Communications).
Cathy holds a Master of Arts degree from the University of Delaware and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Virginia, both in English Literature. When she’s not solving client problems, Cathy spends her time swimming, experimenting in the kitchen, planning trips and family get-togethers, listening to music, trying to keep her plants alive, and reading anything she can get her hands on.
Danielle Foley
Senior Communication Consultant
A seasoned communicator, Danielle joined The O’Keefe Group with over 20 years of experience in employee communication, change management consulting, and project management.
Danielle specializes in crafting targeted communications to ensure employees understand, appreciate, and take full advantage of corporate benefits and programs. Recent projects include assisting a Fortune 500 client with long-term incentive plan changes and streamlining annual enrollment materials to better engage employees in their benefits.
Danielle has a passion for well-being communication and recently created a content strategy, editorial calendar, and ongoing blog articles for WebMD Health Services.
Danielle has a Bachelor of Arts with Distinction in History and Spanish from the University of Virginia. After receiving her Master of Business Administration in Communication from The College of William and Mary, Danielle joined PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Strategic Communication Practice, specializing in communication and change management for large-scale IT implementations. She then spent eight years at Aon Hewitt as a senior communication consultant for the Philadelphia market. When Danielle isn’t busy updating a project plan, she’s likely reading, baking, or spending time at the beach in Rhode Island.
Margo Hackel
Senior Communication Consultant, Writer & Editor
Margo Hackel is a tech-savvy, AI-curious communicator with nearly 25 years of experience. Passionate about internal communications, she crafts clear, concise messages that deliver results. Margo’s expertise spans professional services, human resources, technology, change management, business transformation, sales enablement, employee engagement, leadership development, and intranet communications.
Before joining The O’Keefe Group, Margo was a communications director and intranet managing editor at KPMG, strategizing and advising the Big 4 firm’s Audit, Market Development, and Operations leaders and teams.
Previously, at NCR Corporation, she led a team supporting multiple functions, and at Deloitte, she launched a topical intranet site for the CEO. She also held roles at IBM, advising software, technology services, business services, and corporate function leaders, and was instrumental in launching a global manager portal.
Margo holds a Bachelor of Science in Journalism from the University of Kansas and attended graduate school at Arizona State University. When she’s not working from her home office in Denver, she enjoys hanging out with her dogs; riding her stationary bike while streaming music, shows, and audiobooks; spotting typos in the wild; and not camping or fishing.
Diane Karsch
Senior Communication Consultant, Writer & Editor
Diane Karsch has more than 20 years of experience in internal communications. She has advised Fortune 500 companies for much of her career, including IBM and Johnson & Johnson. Diane is passionate about and committed to delivering exceptional client service.
A gifted strategist, writer, and editor, Diane has created insightful communications that have helped employees across the globe successfully navigate their work environments.
She is an avid learner who excels at delving into complex material, adopting cutting-edge techniques, and creating compelling content.
She earned a Bachelor of Arts in journalism from New York University and a Master of Business Administration from Baruch College-Zicklin School of Business. In her spare time, Diane enjoys reading, music (especially The Beatles), film, and theater.
Peggy Mick
Senior Communication Consultant
Peggy Mick is a communications professional with expertise in developing strategies and campaigns that help employees and their families understand and manage change. With a broad communications background, she has drafted clear, impactful communication materials for print, web, and video.
Peggy specializes in compliance communications. With an eye to giving compliance documents a more user-friendly communications approach, she delivers clearly written, easy to understand documents that are navigable and reflect client brand standards.
Peggy began her career on the Corporate Communications side at Aetna, then joined Watson Wyatt (now Willis Towers Watson) as a senior communicator over a span of 27 years.
She holds an M.S. in English and Education from Pennsylvania State University and an M.A. in English from New York University.
When she’s not working with clients, she enjoys reading and walking through the local neighborhood with her dog, Rusty.
Laura Singer
Senior Communication Consultant, Writer & Editor
Laura Singer has extensive experience using communication to connect with stakeholders, maximize engagement, strengthen brands, and drive results. In recent years, her focus has been on helping employees and organizations work successfully through ongoing, rapid change.
Laura has held positions at US Surgical, where she was Director of Corporate Communication, and Diageo, where she led communication for the IT function. Previously, she held marketing roles in the health care field and communication roles at Harvard Medical School.
Before joining The O’Keefe Group, she was an executive producer at BlueC Studio. She has consulted with a number of large global organizations including ABB, Briggs & Riley, Citigroup, Deloitte, InBev, LexisNexis, Lutheran Medical Center, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Pitney Bowes, The Hartford, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, and Thomson Reuters.
Laura is a graduate of the University of Michigan and has a Master of Business Administration degree from the UCLA Anderson School of Management. When she is not involved in O’Keefe Group projects, she is probably cooking, reading, traveling, hiking, doing the Times Spelling Bee, or entertaining a toddler.
