With a background in city planning and journalism, Joseph McElroy saw a need for a boutique consulting firm to function at the crossroads of communications and public policy. After studying the media’s impact on decision making, McElroy founded the company in 1991 to assist private corporations and government agencies in promoting their agendas.

A native of Chicago, McElroy holds master’s degrees in social science from the University of Chicago (1999), and in urban planning from Michigan State University (1986).

To read his resume, including list of recent publications, click here.

close »

Beth Bales, (Northwestern, 1978) a long-suffering Wildcat fan, has been with McElroy Associates several zillion years, or at least since 1992. As our first account representative, she has helped a wide variety of clients who have benefited from her outgoing nature and attention to detail.

“As a former reporter, I know what reporters and editors are looking for,” she says, “and I know that it’s not good enough to be close, you have to be right and right all the time.” Over the years, she also has established warm, long-term relationships with her clients.

Before joining our firm, she was a copy editor at the Kane County Chronicle in Geneva and the Beacon-News in Aurora. When not serving our clients, she writes a weekly column for the Geneva edition of the Daily Herald. She also has volunteered to be treasurer for Rising Star Theatreworks in Geneva, which sounded like a good idea at the time.

She is married to Geneva fire chief Steve Olson and the two have three, usually-delightful daughters, Anne, Torie, and Emma. Thanks to Emma, paying college tuition is one of Beth’s new hobbies.

close »

Jean Van Rensselar makes no bones about it—she is an unabashedly fastidious reader, a fussy writer and a vicious copy editor.

Today, she uses those traits as an account rep for McElroy Associates, but earlier in her career, she wore a variety of hats, from that of a newspaper reporter to an environmental researcher to a recreation director.

Jean’s master’s degree is in environmental research and she pioneered a research study on carcinogens in the Great Lakes region that was featured in Newsday magazine in 1996, when she was interviewed about her research on all the major networks.

She also was the first woman to work on the Alaska pipeline. “I think people meet me and they think I’m a nerd, but I’m really an adventurous nerd,” she said.

As a researcher and writer by nature, Jean prefers nonfiction books and reads anything that grabs her attention.

“It’s not unusual for me to get interested in a subject and grab 10 books on that topic to learn about it,” she said.

Her endless curiousity and meticulous writing help create messages that get noticed in the media. She works hard to ensure that information she provides includes all the answers that she would want to know.

“Writing is like a puzzle,” she explained. “When you write, you make all the pieces fit.”

close »

Kay Severinsen (M.S., National Louis University, 2007) is officially vice president of McElroy Associates, but unofficially the director of do-whatever-needs-doing, whether that is orchestrating an enormous retirement party for a client, producing brochures and newsletters or updating a long-awaited website.

One of the original principals of McElroy Associates, Kay has uncountable years of experience as a newspaper reporter, editor, freelance writer, creative mastermind and general know-it-all. She also has spent five years as a high school journalism teacher and school newspaper adviser, and currently teaches college English at College of DuPage and National Louis in addition to her company duties.

close »

In 1993, McElroy Associates had been in business for two years, with company owner Joe McElroy keeping the books. The business was doing well, but the bookkeeping was—shall we say—arithmetic-challenged.

“Hire somebody,” our accountant demanded.

Enter Judy Carlson, an experienced office manager who had worked for General Motors and a national real estate company. Looking for part-time work while raising two kids, Judy agreed to help with the company’s financial reporting.

One thing led to another, and today she runs the office, keeps the books in tip-top shape (the accountant is pleased), and generally makes the trains run on time.

In a firm full of creative types, Judy has the challenging job of keeping things organized. We’re not sure why she’s been putting up with us for 14 years, but we sure do appreciate it.

close »