Introducing Two New Board Members: Greg Padgett and Kaitlyn Coakley!

Unite to Light (UTL) is excited to announce the addition of Greg Padgett and Kaitlyn Coakley to its Board of Directors. Leadership is essential for UTL to flourish and continue to grow. UTL works as a team to bring light and energy to those living without electricity. Passionate, team-oriented, and intelligent leaders are what helps UTL work together to bring light into the world. UTL is very excited to introduce two new board members, Greg Padgett and Kaitlyn Coakley who are both committed, driven, and dedicated to their work to carry UTL’s mission into practice. 

Greg Padgett will advise UTL staff and leadership on ways to connect and engage with the emergency response/disaster response community. An experienced communicator, meteorologist, emergency manager, and disaster response consultant - he’s provided strategic communications for FEMA’s Individual and Community Preparedness Division (ICPD) and Office of External Affairs; and served on numerous federal communications and outreach projects.  UTL is excited to benefit from his experience supporting disaster communications programs, as the Media Relations and Public Education Chair for the National Hurricane Conference, and promoting disaster recovery content. Mr. Padgett serves as the Director of Media Relations and Community Outreach at Rising Phoenix Holdings Corporation, where he manages corporate media relations, promotes community outreach, and hosts the Disaster Recovery Roundtable Podcast.   Greg currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia. ​

Kaitlyn Coakley will advise UTL on public relations strategies, and bridging connections to local and national press and media. Kaitlyn served as Senior Director of Operations and Client Relations for Hustl’d Studio in Boston, Massachusetts where she oversaw startup website development, launch marketing, client acquisition, technology streaming platform creation, and back-end POS software and analytical tools. In just a two week timeframe the business was fully operational and achieved net worth within the first three months. She created an operational process and procedure guide to allow founders to continue the success of the studio in the future. UTL is excited to learn from her management experience and executive leadership support. An experienced leader, she led 130+ employees across three studios developing high performing management teams through her coaching, training, and performance appraisals. Kaitlyn holds a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Mass Communication from St. Michael’s College in Vermont and will add to the Boston/East Coast contingent of the Board. ​

Both Greg and Kaitlyn both hold a range of experience and knowledge within their fields. They are results oriented and enthusiastic leaders who have a passion for the work UTL strives for. Their professional backgrounds have built independent, strong leaders for a great addition to our Board of Directors. In addition to their spectacular leadership and professional history, when they aren’t working, they enjoy walking and spending time with their french bulldogs! ​