Meet the Planning Staff

Kristin Fleckenstein joined MDP on February 26^th as our new Director of Public Affairs with a primary focus of coordinating Planning’s Census 2020 outreach campaign.

With the Census in full swing, Kristin will be focusing her efforts on ensuring a complete count of all Marylanders through effective marketing efforts. The Coronavirus pandemic hitting the state just as the Census was going live has created some significant challenges — much of the advertising originally planned was designed to be seen and engaged with during activities outside of the home, such as during people’s daily commutes, on billboards, transit stops, and bus wraps — especially in historically hard-to-count areas of the state. To respond to these unexpected changes, Kristin is developing and executing new ways to connect with these communities. She will also play a similar role in Maryland’s redistricting efforts following completion of the Census.

Kristin has enjoyed a long career in the field of communications. She served as the Communications Director for the Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney’s Office for almost twenty years handling media relations, community programs, and outreach. She then joined the University of Maryland Medical System as the Director of Marketing and Communications for the Baltimore Washington Medical Center where she oversaw marketing, advertising, media relations, publications, social media, and community health outreach. Most recently, she served as the Communications Director for an international trade association managing all public relations and member-based initiatives for the U.S. and Canada.

A native of Anne Arundel County, Kristin has lived in Maryland her entire life. After graduating with a degree in Communications from the University of Maryland in College Park, she went on to get her master’s degree in Legal and Ethical Studies at the University of Baltimore. She and her husband Tom, an attorney in Annapolis, have three children – Lucy (20) and twins Max and Charlotte (17). They live in Pasadena, Maryland with everyone’s favorite family member, Clovis, an Australian Labradoodle. Kristin loves to travel, watch ice hockey and spend time with friends and family.

Welcome to Planning, Kristin!