Tami Hance-Lehr, state director and CEO of Communities In Schools of Nevada (CIS) announces the addition of two staff members to fill newly-created positions, naming Tori DellaRocca director of communications and marketing and Nathaniel Waugh manager of government affairs. Hance-Lehr also announces the promotion of Alexis Benavidez to chief administrative officer.
In her role as director of marketing and communications, DellaRocca is responsible for developing and executing a strategic marketing and communications plan that positions CIS with key networks and generates positive awareness of the organization amongst community partners, donors, other stakeholders and general public. She will also develop and maintain an internal communications strategy to inspire, engage and inform team members. DellaRocca comes to CIS with more than a decade of marketing experience, with former roles including senior programs specialist and marketing business partner for Renown Health, as well as director of marketing for Step2, Inc. A Reno native, she earned her degree in journalism and public relations at the University of Nevada, Reno.
As manager of government affairs, Waugh is responsible for maintaining the organization’s government relations efforts. This includes building trusted relationships with key partners and elected and appointed officials, writing and editing policy and advocacy materials, providing outreach and advocacy support to state agencies, legislators, school districts and key municipalities on CIS’ government relations priorities and developing a strong working knowledge of CIS policy positions and the legislative and regulatory issues affecting education, health and human services and nonprofit organizations, to name a few. Before joining CIS, Waugh was the manager of policy advocacy and training for Nevada Homeless Alliance. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in urban studies and a Master of Arts degree in urban leadership from UNLV.
Benavidez has been promoted to chief administrative officer and is responsible for supervising and coordinating all internal administrative and human relations operations, including risk management, accreditation, tactical teams and infrastructure. Benavidez will work with senior leadership in developing strategies and implementing activities to ensure commitments made by CIS to funding entities, affiliates and the board of directors are being fulfilled. She previously served as senior director of operations and will celebrate 10 years with the organization in January 2023.
