Mary Little Lester
Media Specialist
With more than ten years of experience turning news into headlines, Mary is an experienced corporate and business-to-business media strategist. Mary managed national media relations campaigns for clients ranging from the world’s leading pencil manufacturer to a university hosting a vice presidential debate.
At The Harbinger Group, Mary is responsible for media strategy and outreach to print, online and broadcast media. She forms personal contacts with editors in the business and financial sectors, in order to match the right story to the right outlets.
Mary began her career with political strategists Jody Powell and Sheila Tate at Powell Tate Public Affairs in Washington, DC. Tempted by an anchor/reporter job offer at a CBS affiliate, her colleagues encouraged her to gain experience from the other side of the news cycle.
Reporting live for CBS affiliates on September 11 and the first day of the Iraq war, her newsroom experience proves invaluable today as she communicates with reporters and producers. Mary has earned media placements in outlets including Good Morning America, USA Today, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Los Angeles Times.
Most recently, Mary spent three years on the corporate public relations team at The Richards Group, a Dallas advertising agency. She authored ten bylined articles in manufacturing and education publications, and managed media relations and crisis communications for one of North America’s largest elevator companies.
At Weber Shandwick in Minneapolis, Mary coordinated tax preparer education for the IRS e-file team. Her efforts on behalf of Case Western Reserve University’s 2004 Race at Case earned her a trip to New York as a finalist for PRWeek’s Promotional Event of the Year award.
Mary managed the local and national media outreach for DFW Airport’s International Terminal D at Burson-Marsteller in Dallas, capturing a Silver Spur Award for the agency, and helping her client earn a Corporate Public Relations Person of The Year award from PRNews.
Mary earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from American University in Washington, DC.
