Doug Stern is an award-winning writer and marketing strategist, helping businesses and institutions nationwide. His clients have included leading...

• Law firms
• Legal marketing and business development consultants
• Real estate and land conservation interests
• Hospitals, physicians and other healthcare providers, and
• Urban designers, planners, architects and engineers

From 1998 to 2005, Doug was the marketing director for a regional, 250-attorney law firm with offices in eight cities. While at Stites & Harbison, he managed a coordinated marketing and business development program that saw a doubling of the firm's size and footprint.

"Doug not only is a superb editor and communicator, he is a pleasure to work with. He quickly discerns the key points in any communication, understands our audience, preserves the writer's voice, hones in on the important concepts, and skillfully adds interest and punch. In short, he makes us all look brilliant! Additionally, Doug consistently meets tight deadlines without complaint."

Susan Post Munafo

He joined the firm after having owned and managed a full-service marketing communications agency for nearly 10 years, working mostly on public policy issues and the marketing of professional services. Doug's clients included the Louisville airport authority and its $800 million expansion and improvement program. He also helped develop communications leading to an increase in the fuel tax for the Michigan Department of Transportation.

Before that, Doug was a political speech-writer and handler. His boss, Harvey Sloane, M.D., was the top elected exec in Jefferson County (Louisville) and the Democratic nominee for one of Kentucky's U.S. Senate seats.

Doug's first career was in historic preservation. He ran two award-winning historic preservation programs in Evansville, Ind., and Louisville (his hometown), where he learned the basics of marketing and PR.

Education

University of Virginia, Master of Architectural History, 1981

University of London, Bedford College, Certificate through the Victorian Society in America, Summer 1977

University of Louisville, Bachelor of Arts in General Studies (Urban Affairs), 1974

More than work

"I'm a do-gooder. Practicing what Jews call Tikkun Olam...literally repair of the universe."

Doug is Recording Clerk of Louisville Friends Meeting (Quakers) and past-president of Interfaith Paths to Peace, Inc. He served on the board of the St. John Center, Inc., a day shelter for homeless men near downtown Louisville.

He's a past-chair of the Butchertown Architectural Review Committee and of the Kentucky Oral History Commission, where he still serves as an adviser.

Besides work

Doug and his wife, Jennifer Clements Stern, live in an old house in the same neighborhood where Doug grew up. She's a psych nurse and the CEO of The Morton Center, a statewide, private, outpatient treatment program headquartered in Louisville.

Daughter Leah (DVM, Tufts ‘06) is currently a surgical resident in Norwalk, Conn., and daughter Margaret is a community organizer (when she's not a professional cook) in Louisville. Son Henry is currently excelling at being adorable.

My first job

"The summer I was 13, my mother suggested that I find a way to get out of the house...and it wouldn't hurt if I made some money while I was at it. I hated the idea of mowing lawns and didn't want the responsibility of a paper route.

"So, one hot and muggy day, I rode my bike to the nearest golf course–-the one at Big Spring Country Club, where I quickly discovered my natural gift for caddying. Eventually, I rose through the ranks and became the #2-ranked caddy in the whole club. (Back before carts, when being a caddy really meant something.) I believe I would have been #1, too...except that I heard that Tommy Knadler had told the pro, Jack Ryan, that young Tommy planned to enter the priesthood.

"Anyway, I caddied for years, even into college. The money was OK, I liked the game, and the caddy shack was where I learned to drink, gamble, smoke and swear–-skills I had trouble refining under the roof of Lois and Kahlman Stern."

Here's a PDF of Doug Stern's bio.