Liz Rightor-Roberts
What’s your current position? How long have you been in this position? Can you give me a brief overview of what it is you do in your work?
Jackrabbit Design is a Boston-based, full-service branding & design firm that creates compelling marketing solutions for a wide and varied client list. As a senior project manager, I lead project lifecycles, across print, packaging, web, video and brand strategy, and oversee our firm's project management team and processes. I've been with Jackrabbit for almost 8 years and am fortunate enough to work for them full-time-remote from my home in Clarks Summit.
What would you say most motivates you to do the work you do? What are you most passionate about?
What I love most about my job is working with uber creative and talented people on a daily basis. While I do consider myself a creative person, I'm not necessarily artistic. So being able to contribute my strategic thinking, organizational skills, and marketing background to help deliver killer creative to our clients is really exciting.
Given the nature of our business, I also have the opportunity to work on all manner of projects and no two days are ever the same. I've worked on packaging designs for some of the top craft breweries in the country, websites for just about every industry you can name, and even worked with a few NFL players. There's never a dull moment!
Where did you grow up and did you go to a college/trade school after high school? Where did you go, and what was that like? How did you end up in NEPA?
I was born and raised in NEPA; I graduated from Abington Heights and then got my BA in Communications from Penn State. A few years after college, I relocated to the Boston area where I lived and worked for 10 years before happily returning to the area in 2020.
Did you have any key mentors or people who deeply influenced who you are? Tell a bit about them and what they did that influenced you.
I would not say there is one single person that I can point to, there are so many people who inspire me. If I were to pinpoint a [very large] group, I'd say I'm most inspired by the amazing women I've encountered in my professional career. From my team of project managers to so many of my clients who work in top jobs in mostly mal-dominated fields, I feel lucky to be surrounded by amazing women. They've collectively taught me to be confident, to strive for balance, to stand up for myself, to know and trust my expertise and experience, to respectfully disagree, and to help other women along the way.
How did you learn about Leadership Lackawanna? Describe your experience. What has your involvement with Leadership Lackawanna been post-graduation?
Before moving to Boston, I briefly served as Director of Communications at The Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce, where I learned about Leadership Lackawanna. I then had a chance to participate in the core program in 2009.
To this day, I am so very proud of my group's project, Hanlon's Grove at Nay Aug Park and the fact that, 12 years later, people are still enjoying it. The hands-on project was my favorite part of the program and, being fairly early on in my career at the time, it was one of the first opportunities I had to really feel ownership of a project like that. Looking back, it helped me understand where my strengths lie and definitely started me on the path toward my current career in project management.
I would be remiss if I didn't say that I also made great connections in Leadership, including making a lifelong friend who went on to introduce me to my now-husband. As you can imagine, Leadership holds a special place in my heart!
When I moved back to NEPA in 2020, I was looking for an opportunity to reconnect with the local community, which proved a bit challenging as a remote worker. Leadership Lackawanna has been a wonderful opportunity to get involved again. I'm so thrilled to be a part of the Board of Directors and am really excited to see what's next for Leadership.