Public Affairs Team

Mike Carosi

President

Mike Carosi has more than 24 years of public involvement experience including community outreach, public education strategies, stakeholder engagement and public meeting event planning. Mike is also well-versed in creative services, video, website development and online engagement, advertising, crisis communications and media relations. Mike’s experience includes all phases of planning and delivering outreach programs associated with transportation, transit, and infrastructure projects throughout Virginia. Mike also has extensive experience engaging disadvantage populations to deliver project awareness and gain valuable public input. Mike’s contract experience includes state agency, county, and municipal public involvement for On-Call, P3, Design-Build projects and Environmental Studies. Mike collaborates with the project owner to assist strategies that directly engage identified stakeholders and target audience groups. Mike specializes in producing successful public involvement programs that meet the goals of the project owner.

Ha Koehler

Managing Partner

Ha Koehler is a senior public relations specialist with more than 20 years of experience driving strategic communications and project awareness on behalf of the client. Ha is skilled in direct and virtual community engagement, public awareness, social media, and traditional media associated with transportation, transit and infrastructure projects. Ha is well-versed in communication strategies to directly engage communities and maximize public participation. Ha enlists her highly competitive, passionate, and articulate skillset to achieve communications results for the client. Ha utilizes insightful research, trends, and direct outreach to assist the project owner and manage community engagement, mitigate impact, and meet project communication goals. Ha has extensive experience delivering transportation, transit, and infrastructure communication programs throughout Virginia.

OUR CREW

Stefanie Brown

SENIOR PUBLIC RELATIONS SPECIALIST, APR

Stefanie Brown is a senior public relations specialist with more than 20 years of experience in content development, public relations, news media relations, advertising, and marketing. Stefanie has a BA in Journalism from Marshall University and a Master’s in Public Relations from Full Sail University. Her professional experience includes communications, marketing, and PR positions for On Point Transportation PR, the Lawrence Companies, NDP, Optical Cable Corporation and ITT. Stefanie’s skills include technical writing, editing, content development, graphic design, social media strategy and web content management. She has proven experience translating technical concepts into concise content to assist public understanding. Named Advertising Person of the Year in 2018 by the American Advertising Federation of Roanoke, Stefanie develops and delivers results-driven content and community engagement strategies on behalf of the project owner.

Nealy Gihan

SENIOR PUBLIC RELATIONS SPECIALIST, APR

Nealy Gihan is a Senior Public Relations Specialist with over 25 years of experience in communications, media relations, and strategic public relations. She holds a B.A. in Mass Media Arts from Hampton University and an M.A. in Writing from DePaul University. Nealy has worked across corporate, nonprofit, government, and agency sectors, specializing in media relations, influencer marketing, and community engagement. She is a recognized leader in the communications field, serving as the President-Elect of PRSA Hampton Roads and holding board positions with the Virginia Beach Public Library Board and Norfolk Tourism Foundation Board. Nealy is also accredited in Public Relations and was a Maynard Institute Fellow. She was named a 2024 Inside Business Women in Business honoree.

Megan Shearin

SENIOR PUBLIC RELATIONS SPECIALIST, M.ED., FEMA APIO

Megan Shearin brings over 20 years of experience in public relations, media relations and marketing, with a specialization in issues management and crisis communications. She currently serves as the public information officer for the City of Norfolk’s Coastal Storm Risk Management (CSRM) Project, a $2.6 billion initiative and the first federally funded pre-disaster project of its kind. Previously, Megan worked with the Virginia Governor’s Office on COVID-19 communications, focusing on outreach to vulnerable populations and promoting health equity across communities. She also served as the public information officer for the Norfolk Department of Health. Megan holds a master’s degree in educational policy, planning and leadership from The College of William & Mary and a bachelor’s degree in communications/journalism from Virginia Wesleyan University.  She is a 2025 graduate of FEMA’s Advanced Public Information Office (APIO) cohort through the National Disaster & Emergency Management University and is also trained in the CDC’s Crisis and Emergency Risk Communications (CERC) framework.

Shelby Dell

PUBLIC RELATIONS SPECIALIST

Shelby has more than 10 years of experience in all areas of public relations, stakeholder involvement, community outreach and engagement, media relations, strategic development and managing various long and short-term communications initiatives. Shelby’s vast knowledge and experience includes website and email campaign marketing, advertising, social media, event and meeting planning, as well as community and corporate relations. Shelby collaborates with the project owner to assist and deliver public involvement program strategies, messaging, and creative development to directly engage the community, gain favorable community response and mitigate impact. Shelby is specifically versed in all areas of social media engagement.

Melissa Williams

CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Mel is a Creative Director, Web Developer and Graphic Designer with more than 20 years of experience as a producer of high-impact, client-focused visual content. Mel’s creative concepts successfully deliver strategic messaging in print, online and video. She captures the strategic overview of the project and utilizes her web development, interactive coding skills and creative talents to deliver web solutions that support the clients’ communication goals. From creative concept to delivery, Mel manages a consistent workflow that maintains message integrity and produces high-end creative graphic materials that deliver clear concise project communications on behalf of the project owner.

Katie Phillips

SENIOR ART DIRECTOR

Katie is a highly skilled and experience professional as a Creative Director and Graphic Designer. With over 20 years of experience, she has proven herself as a producer of visually compelling and client-focused content. Katie is adept at conceptualizing and developing creative ideas that align with strategic objectives though various media, print, and online solutions. Her combination of creative vision and skills make her invaluable asset to collaborating with her team and supporting community engagement initiatives.

Sharyn Lynch

PRODUCTION MANAGER

Sharyn Lynch is an administrative assistant, production and office manager with more than 10 years of advertising, marketing, and public relations experience on both the project owner and consultant sides. Sharyn combines her experience in detailed communications projects with her organizational talents within a deadline-driven environment. Sharyn is skilled in agency operations, billing, cost estimation, purchasing, database management, document storage and client communications. She is experienced in managing, scheduling, tracking, and reporting for project production and delivery. She is well-versed in research and content development and is a skilled copy editor. Sharyn provides project support and assists in maintaining continuity in company and project owner communications.