History
• MarketZing was founded by Aleen Bayard in 1998 as a marketing, public relations and communication consulting firm.

• Early engagements focused on strategic marketing planning, brand strategy development and customer loyalty enhancement.

• Over time Aleen identified professional partners whose expertise and work ethic complemented her own and she collaborated with them to deliver a wider spectrum of related services including communication design, web development and video production.

• Market demands and Aleen’s professional strengths shifted her focus to more outsourced marketing leadership, turnkey program management and marketing staff development engagements.

• Aleen’s growing interest in training and development motivated her to return to academia. In 2007, she earned a master’s degree in Learning and Organizational Change from Northwestern University. She’s now on faculty at the university.

• Aleen continues to expand the firm’s capabilities to encompass her acumen in business planning and integration and organizational training, development and coaching..

Prior Experience
• Vice President/Group Manager, Ketchum
• Deputy Public Relations Director for Global Media Relations, A. T. Kearney
• Director of Marketing, U.S. Equities Realty
• Director of Marketing, Burke, Wilson & McIvaine
• Reporter, Crain’s Chicago Business and The Chicago Tribune Company

Academic Degrees & Professional Affiliations
• Master’s degree in Learning and Organizational Change from Northwestern University, 2005
• Master’s degree in Journalism from Columbia University, 1982
• Bachelor’s degree in Communication from Stanford University, 1981
• Certified Instructor, State of Illinois
• Certified DiSC Assessment Instructor
• Certified "Critical Conversations" and "Emotional Intelligence" by HumaNext
• Member, Society of Organizational Learning

Academic Teaching
Aleen currently serves on the faculty of:
• Northwestern University
• Lake Forest Graduate School of Management
• Columbia College

Courses include topics related to organizational strategy and leadership, marketing, communication and public relations.

Community Involvement
Civic engagement is an important value to MarketZing. The firm commits significant consulting time and financial support to these organizations:
• The Hunger Project
• Congregation BJBE