Mary Beth Ikard
Public Relations in Nashville, Tennessee
Mary Beth Ikard is an accredited public-relations practitioner who's served government, nonprofit, and private sector organizations—primarily on cause marketing and public affairs. She's led in-house communications or served on PR teams offering strategic and crisis support for a diversity of complex issues, including: early-childhood literacy, human services for vulnerable populations, corporate healthcare, transportation and land-use planning, tobacco prevention, and animal welfare.
She holds a B.A. in broadcast reporting from one of America's top-five journalism schools; earned the Nashville Chamber's Emerging Leader Award in PR/Communications; was honored as both a "Woman of Influence" and one of Nashville's "Top 40 Under 40" by the Nashville Business Journal; and is an active member of the Rotary Club of Nashville.
Ikard served as chair of YP Nashville (Chamber of Commerce's talent-retention initiative), and volunteered as founding co-chair for The Nature Conservancy of Tennessee's young-professionals' development arm, Generation Conservation. Her service record on Nashville-area nonprofit boards includes Homework Hotline, the Nashville Adult Literacy Council, the Tennessee Conservation Voters, and the League of Women Voters.
In 2019, Walk-Bike Nashville gave her their "Government Official of the Year" award for her career contributions to public policy in support of sustainable transportation. Ikard is an MFA (poetry) candidate with the Sewanee School of Letters, and enjoys learning about The Beatles, collecting antiques, and walking with her cocker spaniel Martha at Percy Warner Park.