Center for Communication & Engagement

What Center for Communication & Engagement does

Center for Communication & Engagement (CC&E) is a K-12 school public relations and communication agency headquartered in Norman, Oklahoma, serving public school districts, technology centers, and select municipal governments across the United States. The firm is founder-owned and operated by Kathleen Kennedy, APR, a 25+ year education-communication veteran with PIO Crisis Certification, and runs with a 1-10 person team. Its portfolio is built around five core service lines: Bond Campaign Services (research-based campaigns that have facilitated over $1.315 billion in successful bond passage for districts ranging from $6M to $209M), Crisis Communication planning and response, a subscription membership called ConnectED (On-The-Go Communications) at $257/month or $2,777/year, a Fractional Communication Officer offering for districts without full-time comms leadership, and a Speaking/Leadership/Coaching practice. Supporting à la carte services include publications and annual reports, social media management, media relations, event planning, brand strategy, internal communications, and customer service training.

The underlying "technology" is a methodology stack rather than a software platform: a human-centered storytelling approach, a crisis communication framework built around pre-crisis goodwill vaults and consistent transparency, and a ConnectED member community delivering monthly hot-topics emails, live Lunch & Learn trainings, quarterly success stories, and on-demand hotline support. Distribution is direct and relationship-led, anchored by Kathleen Kennedy's personal LinkedIn presence and supplemented by content marketing (educational blog), a free recurring Thrive Conference held 6-8 times per year, and a self-serve subscription signup flow via Google Forms. The company is deliberately positioned as a thought partner rather than a vendor, with all inbound contact routing through a single [email protected] address, underscoring that the firm is effectively a personal-brand consultancy rather than a scaled agency.

Revenue mechanics blend four streams: recurring subscription (ConnectED), project-based professional services (bond and crisis engagements), multi-month coaching packages with a free initial call as entry point, and freemium events (Thrive Conference). Pricing is publicly disclosed only on the ConnectED tier; bond-campaign and crisis-engagement fees are not itemized. Customer concentration is intentionally diversified across dozens of school districts with no single anchor account, though all delivery is bottlenecked through the founder.

Name

Center for Communication & Engagement

Legal name

Center for Communication & Engagement

Website

https://okcce.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Center for Communication & Engagement is a K-12 school public relations and communication agency serving school districts, technology centers, and municipalities nationwide with bond campaign strategy, crisis communication, subscription-based membership, and leadership coaching services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

K-12 Education Communication Consulting

NAICS

Public Relations Agencies (541820), Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services (5418), Educational Support Services (61171)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Communications, Marketing & Government/Community Relations Administration (EDADAKAN)

akta.pro secondary industry

Communications, Parent/Guardian Engagement & Notification Systems (EDAJAHAM)

Keywords

• School public relations
• K-12 communication services
• Bond campaign consulting
• Crisis communication planning
• Education leadership coaching

Headquarters

HQ city

Norman

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. ConnectED Membership Subscription: Monthly or annual subscription providing school districts with ongoing communication support, training sessions, resources, and community access. Includes monthly hot topics emails, virtual summer training, quarterly success stories, and private online community access.
2. Professional Services and Consulting: Project-based engagements for bond campaigns, crisis communication, annual reports, social media management, event planning, media training, and brand strategy development for school districts.
3. Leadership Coaching: One-on-one coaching packages (3 or 6 months) with Kathleen Kennedy for educational leaders seeking communication and leadership growth, including twice-monthly 30-minute calls, goal-setting, and accountability.
4. Thrive Conference: Free professional development conference for educators covering topics like laughter yoga, emotional brain training, leadership, and culture. Provides networking and brand visibility.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Center for Communication & Engagement is a K-12 school PR and communication agency that provides strategic communication, bond campaign management, crisis communication, social media planning, publications, and leadership coaching services to school districts. The firm operates the ConnectED subscription membership program, conducts bond referendum campaigns, provides fractional communication officer services, and delivers training and conferences for educators. Founded by Kathleen Kennedy, APR, the firm has facilitated over $1.315 billion in bond funding and served 211,120+ students across dozens of U.S. school districts.

Product overview

Center for Communication & Engagement (CC&E) is a K-12 school PR and communication agency offering a portfolio of service-based offerings rather than a unified software product. The core services include ConnectED (On-The-Go Communications) subscription membership, Bond Campaign Services, Crisis Communication planning, Thrive Conference, Speaking/Leadership/Coaching programs, and Fractional Communication Officer services. Supporting services include Publications & Annual Reports, Social Media Development & Management, Media Relations, Event Planning, Brand Strategy & Reputation Management, Internal Communications, and Professional Development & Customer Service Training. These services are offered à la carte to school districts across the United States.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ConnectED: On-The-Go Communication Team: A plug-and-play communication membership program providing superintendents with training, resources, hotline support, and team communications tools for school districts.
• Thrive Conference

Products and services

• ConnectED (On-The-Go Communications) A subscription-based communication membership program providing school districts with monthly training sessions, ready-to-use resources, a communication hotline for on-demand support, monthly hot topics emails, virtual summer training, quarterly success stories, and access to a private online community. Priced at $257/month or $2,777/year with annual savings of $300+.
• Bond Campaign Services
• Crisis Communication
• Thrive Conference
• Speaking, Leadership & Coaching
• Fractional Communication Officer
• Publications & Annual Reports
• Social Media Development & Management
• Media Relations
• Event Planning
• Brand Strategy & Reputation Management
• Internal Communications
• Professional Development & Customer Service Training

Quantifiable outcome

• $1.315 billion in bond funding secured for school districts
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers14 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• BCW (Burson Cohn & Wolfe): Top-five global communications agency with an education practice serving districts, foundations, and edtech clients. Overlaps with CC&E on school-district communications and bond campaign work at much larger scale.
• Edelman: Global public relations firm with an established education and K-12 practice. Competes for school-district communications work but as part of a much broader portfolio, lacking CC&E's pure-play K-12 specialization.
• Finn Partners: Global PR firm with a dedicated education practice serving K-12 and higher-education clients. Comparable in serving school districts but operating across many verticals at significantly greater scale.
• Kekst CNC: Global strategic communications advisory firm serving corporate, nonprofit, and education clients on reputation, crisis, and stakeholder communications. Overlaps with CC&E on crisis communications and strategic counsel.

Others

• ICR: Strategic communications and advisory firm focused on investor relations and corporate communications, with select education-sector engagements. Adjacent to CC&E in strategic communications capability but oriented toward capital markets.

Regional players

• The Hauser Group: St. Louis-area integrated marketing and PR firm serving education and nonprofit clients. Comparable in providing strategic communications to schools and community-based organizations, but with a regional Midwestern footprint.
• Lewis Communications: Full-service marketing and communications agency with an education practice serving K-12 and higher-education clients. Comparable in providing strategic communications services to schools, primarily in the Southeast US.

Direct peers

• Hattaway Communications: Strategic communications firm specializing in public-interest and education-sector clients, including school districts. Closely comparable to CC&E in mission-driven focus, education vertical depth, and mid-sized boutique operating model.
• Piper & Gold Public Relations: Mid-sized boutique public relations firm serving clients across sectors including education and mission-driven organizations. Comparable boutique scale and service-led model with similar staffing economics.
• Tier One Public Relations: Boutique public relations firm with K-12 and education-sector experience. Comparable boutique service model and vertical focus on education clients at similar scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCYsD_KjZjs4E6Qbeytc0bJQ
• Facebookfacebook.com/okcce
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/okcce
• Instagraminstagram.com/center4commandengagement

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Center for Communication & Engagement