ABOUT WESTFALL PARTNERS
The founder and primary facilitator of events for Westfall Partners, Shawn Westfall has brought improv as a strategy for fostering creativity, leadership, team-building, change-management, business strategy, and organizational development on-site and off-site to various private, public and non-governmental organizations, including Facbook, ESPN, The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Discovery Communications, Touchstone Consulting, Booz Allen Hamilton, 360Live Media, Ogilvy, Burson, The Washington Post Company, GEICO, The World Bank, Chipotle, ShotSpotter, Flying Dog Brewery, the consulate for the Embassy of Indonesia, SRA International, the National Institutes of Health, Sol Systems, and Hello, Cupcake!, among numerous others companies and organizations.
Storied, Legendary Improv Performer/Teacher: His career as both improv teacher and performer is storied: for 13 years, Shawn was the exclusive teacher of improvisational comedy at the DC Improv; in fact, he inaugurated the first improv comedy class there, helping grow and build the curriculum into the DC Improv Comedy School, which now boasts a roster of teachers and hundreds of students. His classes (and the numerous performances they’ve generated) have been featured in the pages of The Washington Post, The Washington Post Express, Washingtonian magazine, as well on NPR and Washington Post Radio. He’s been performing improv for nearly three decades: he was a founding cast member of iMusical (The Improvised Musical), and has been a member of three troupes devoted to improvising in the style of Shakespeare. He was a member of a two-person improv show, ShawnMikael[s], that played to audiences all over the Eastern seaboard, racking up a number of accolades and awards. In addition to co-founding The Unified Scene Theater, a brick-and-mortar improv comedy theater in the Bloomingdale neighborhood of Washington, DC, Shawn was also the Artistic Director, teaching classes in short-form and long-form improv as well as workshops in advanced improv techniques and strategies. Shawn’s former students include a talented roster of performing and writing talent who have graced the main stages as performers at The Upright Citizens Brigade Theater, The Second City Comedy Theater, The iO Comedy Theater in Chicago, and also as writers on such shows as “Broad City” and “Saturday Night Live.”
Industry-Leading Writer/Creative/Strategist: But at the same time he was also forging a career as one of the most respected improvisers in the country, he was simultaneously forging another successful career as an advertising creative and strategist. As a leader in the marketing department of the Washington Speakers Bureau, Shawn was responsible for crafting speech topics and messaging for some of the world’s most revered and respected voices and visionaries in the fields of government, leadership, business, sports, and media. As a senior creative and strategist for Proof Integrated Communications, the in-house creative division of Burson-Marsteller, Shawn took advertising ideas from concept to finished product, shaping strategy and creative into print ads and radio spots to video and digital/social media campaigns for such Fortune 500 brands as Accenture, Intel, Microsoft, Chevron, Coca-Cola, Comcast, HTC, and Raytheon (among numerous others), as well as for non-profit, governmental and non-governmental organizations.
Armed Forces Veteran: Shawn has a B.A. in English from the University of Maryland at College Park, and an M.A. in English Literature from The University of Texas at San Antonio. He is also an honorably discharged veteran of the United States Air Force.
Kathy Baird was most recently the Chief Communications Officer of The Washington Post, and is a marketing and communications strategist with 25 years’ experience across Fortune 500 companies. While at The Post, Kathy led teams across multiple disciplines, including corporate communications, public relations, talent management, community impact and the Washington Post Press Freedom Partnership. In December of 2024, Kathy was named to the 2025 cohort of the Columbia University's School of Journalism's Fellows for the Sulzberger Executive Leadership Program.
Global Comms at Nike: Prior to working at The Washington Post, Kathy was a senior global communications leader at Nike and leveraged the power of sport to shape a healthier planet, active communities, and an equal playing field for all. Her work spanned across Nike’s employee communications efforts for a 73K workforce, the establishment of a publishing function for Nike storytelling (news.nike.com) and purpose and advocacy initiatives for the company including civic engagement and communications for Nike’s eight employee resource groups. She also led communications and engagement for the Nike N7 collection which brings visibility to and representation of Native people and co-chaired Nike’s Native American Network.
Ogilvy’s DC Director: Before Nike, Kathy was the Managing Director and Head of Ogilvy’s Washington, DC office where she oversaw a cross-functional integrated business and profit center. Clients included The Washington Post, Smithsonian Institution, BP, Mozilla, Twitter, and Five Guys among others. While at Fleishman Hillard, she led the Integrated Marketing team, served as one of the agency’s leading digital voices during her tenure and led some of the agency’s largest global accounts including Visa, Inc., the Abu Dhabi Government (Tourism) and others. She served as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University for ten years in their Masters in Corporate Communications and Public Relations school where she taught Digital Communications, Integrated Marketing and Leadership courses.
Proudly Native-American: Kathy is Sicangu Lakota, an enrolled citizen of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe and is also a descendant of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin. She serves on the board of the American Indian College Fund. She was also on the advisory board of IllumiNative, a non-profit that worked to increase the visibility of Native Nations and peoples in American society. Kathy is a recipient of the ColorComm Circle Award, the only award of its kind recognizing women of color changing the face of the communications/PR industry. She was also a Washington Women in Public Relations’ Woman of the Year nominee.
Theatrical Producer and Co-Founder: In 2014, Kathy co-founded The Unified Scene Theater, an improv comedy theater that brought classes and workshops to students and businesses in DC and across the U.S. In her spare time, she enjoys running, sport, Lakota-style beadwork, writing, and improv comedy.
She earned her bachelor’s degree in Political Science from The George Washington University, her MBA from Georgetown University and studied theater at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York.