Meet Kara Addy

Kara Addy is the Founder and President of Addy Advisory, a communications and narrative strategy practice serving colleges and universities, mission-driven organizations, and the leaders who represent them. Throughout her career, she has helped institutions and individuals communicate with clarity during the moments that matter most—campaigns, crises, keynotes, and the everyday work of building trust.

Kara has directed communications through the conclusion of a $1 billion comprehensive campaign at the University of South Carolina and a $62 million campaign at Western Carolina University. At the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, she helped lead communications for the groundbreaking of the university’s first dedicated Student Success Center and created the narrative framework for the winning submission that made UTK a Top Five national finalist for the inaugural APLU Excellence in Student Success award. Her crisis communications experience includes leading a tourism organization through a deadly hurricane that halted the region’s primary economy—work that tested every part of her training in real time.

Beyond higher education, Kara has led communications for a statewide nonprofit, a Fortune 500 company, an independent school, and tourism boards, always returning to the same throughline: when organizations and leaders are authentic, they communicate best.

Today, Addy Advisory brings that experience to a range of services: executive communications and speechwriting, campaign and philanthropic communications, reputation and crisis communications, institutional narrative and strategic communications, fractional communications leadership, and personal narrative coaching for individuals—from college applicants to leaders preparing for a keynote to anyone facing a high-stakes moment of their own.

Kara is Accredited in Public Relations (APR) through the Public Relations Society of America and holds a Professional in Destination Management (PDM) credential from Destinations International. Additionally, she earned a Certificate from the Non-Profit Leadership Institute at Francis Marion University. A communications and media studies graduate of Florida State University, she is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Educational Administration, with a concentration in Higher Education, at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, deepening the expertise she brings to every higher education client.

An advocate for strengths-based leadership framing, Kara’s top CliftonStrengths® are Strategic, Ideation, Communication, Significance, and Command.

Whether guiding an institution through a defining moment or coaching an individual to find their voice, Kara’s approach is the same: uncover what’s true, shape it into a story that resonates, and help her clients communicate what matters most, when it matters most.