Summary of Qualifications

maren working

  • Owner, Maren Showkeir LLC, a freelance writing/editing business focused on helping people develop, clarify and communicate their content and connect with their identified audience. Specializing in helping writers maintain their voice while delivering their key messages in a concise, crisp and compelling way.

  • Editor of Living and Changing: Understanding and Coping with Life’s Desirable and Undesirable Changes by Peggy Pelonis, (first English edition published in Greece. U.S. publisher pending.)

  • Editor of the 2nd edition of The Introverted Leader, a best-selling book by Jennifer Kahnweiler (Berrett-Koehler Publishing, 2018).

  • Developmental writer of No Ego: How Leaders Can Cut the Cost of Workplace Drama, End Entitlement, and Drive Big Results (St. Martin’s Press Inc., 2017). Co-author/lead writer of Yoga Wisdom at Work: Finding Sanity Off the Mat and On the Job (Berrett-Koehler Publishing, Inc., 2013); and Authentic Conversations: Moving from Manipulation to Truth and Commitment (Berrett-Koehler, 2008).

  • Adjunct professor at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communications, Arizona State University.

  • Developed and designed prerequisite online course delivered to more than 700 students yearly.

  • ·Author and/or editor of numerous articles for magazines, professional journals, anthologies, and websites.

  • 20+ years’ experience organizing, structuring, and managing newspaper content, including daily breaking coverage, award-winning narrative journalism, and investigative projects.

  • Directed special projects and weekend newspaper coverage in South Florida, where multicultural/multiethnic diversity of the region made countries such as Cuba, the Middle East, Latin America and the Latin Caribbean “local” beats.

  • Developed, designed, and delivered sections in specialized topics such as entertainment, fashion, health, homes/real estate, religion for top-market newspapers.

  • Assembled and managed teams to critically analyze organization-wide problems, recommend solutions, and implement strategies to achieve goals.

  • Planned/organized workshops for national journalism professional associations, corporations, and nonprofits.

  • Designed and developed training materials and conducted workshops for journalism professionals in English and Spanish.

  • Developed, designed, and delivered workshop content and materials to support organizational culture change, improve staff group effectiveness, and communication.

  • Adept at navigating in international and/or multicultural environments and building relationships that facilitate knowledge sharing.

  • Consulted with corporations and non-profit enterprises on organizational change with an emphasis on creating cultures of accountability.

  • Unique combination of content creation, media management expertise, organizational development, experience in humanitarian initiatives and spiritual pursuits.

  • Certified yoga instructor with 400+ hours of training and 20+ years of practice.

  • Fluent in Spanish.

Employment history

      Owner, Maren Showkeir, LLC — 2016-Present

  • Author, writer, editor, and content development coach

Managing partner, henning-showkeir & associates, inc,  — 2005-2016

  • Author, writer, editor, website designer responsible for developing content for books, articles, workbooks, blogs and other training and consulting-related materials.

  • Consultant, trainer responsible for delivering workshop and managing consulting interventions focusing on partnership as a managing strategy

      Knight Fellow, International Center for Journalists — 2003-2005

  • Adjunct Professor, Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas, Lima, Peru.  Created syllabus for and taught advanced investigative journalism course in Spanish. Contributed to university’s journalism recruiting efforts

  • Developed and presented workshops to working journalists in Peru’s rural provinces.

  • Adjunct Professor, Universidad Católica Argentina, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Co-taught Newswriting in Spanish. Developed, designed and taught senior-level Civic Journalism course in Spanish. Delivered workshops and lectures to professional journalists in Buenos Aires and Mendoza.

Sunday/Projects Editor, Sun-Sentinel newspaper, Fort Lauderdale, FL — 1997-2003

  • Served as weekend news editor and directed special projects. Assigned, supervised and edited stories and investigations. Managed reporters in main newsroom and bureaus. Directed copy editors and designers for Sunday editions. Collaborated and coordinated with all newspaper departments to produce and market newspaper’s Sunday edition.

Features Editor, The Arizona Republic newspaper, Phoenix, AZ — 1995-1997

  • Accountable for content and design of the daily features sections of the state’s largest newspaper. Managed production of weekly special sections including Food, Weekend, AZ Home, Arts and Leisure, Travel, Religion and AZ Style. Supervised four assistant features editors, 25 reporters, copy editors, visual editors, page designers and support staff. Established and managed the department’s annual budget.

Features Editor, The Phoenix Gazette newspaper, Phoenix, AZ — 1991-1995

  • Promoted from Assistant Features Editor (1991-1993) to become responsible for six daily features sections, supervising 12 reporters and an assistant editor.

Reporter, The Phoenix Gazette — 1987-1991

  • Beat coverage included city government and education.

Reporter/editor, The Mesa Tribune, Mesa, AZ — 1979-1987

  • Beat coverage included religion, education, and city government. Also wrote feature and lifestyle articles and worked as an assistant city editor.

Management

  • Serving on the Berrett-Koehler Foundation board (2017)

  • Served on the Berrett-Koehler Authors’ Co-op governing board (President of board 2014-15)

  • Managed staffs of up to 25 people, including making hiring decisions, in a Top 15 newspaper market.

  • Spearheaded membership and convention attendance drive for the American Association of Sunday and Features Editors (AASFE) that resulted in a 20% jump in membership (the highest convention registration to-date).

  • Elected as board member of the American Association for Sunday and Features Editors in 2000, served for three years.

  • Served for three years on steering committee and selected guest speakers for annual National Writer’s Workshop, Southeast Region.

  • Served on steering committee of the 8th Annual International Peace Pals Art Competition and Exhibition (2005), managing publicity, media relations and marketing strategies.

Communications (research, reporting, writing, editing)

  • Co-authored three books.

  • Wrote and edited books and blogs, websites, magazines, professional journals and anthologies.

  • Reporter for a daily newspaper for 11+ years.

  • Directed reporting staffs that included international correspondents (including those from sister newspapers such as the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times) on special projects dealing with immigration, children’s rights, terrorism, immigration issues, national health, environmental issues, political repression in Cuba and more.

  • Created a weekly, tabloid entertainment section, The Rep, at The Arizona Republic, the state’s largest newspaper.

  • Created and launched Zing!, a weekly entertainment section for The Phoenix Gazette.

  • Chaired the Sun-Sentinel’s newsroom intranet, SunSpot, an in-house, online newsletter and resource center that won company wide honors.

  • Worked with multimedia editors to promote Sunday stories and special projects on the Internet and television.

  • Reported, wrote and edited award-winning stories, including investigative, features, and commentary.

  • Created a religion section as a rookie reporter/editor at a small-market newspaper that garnered national awards from the Religion Newswriters Association.

International education/training experience

  • Taught investigative journalism at the Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas in Peru.

  • Developed curriculum and taught a senior-level Civic Journalism course a course at the Universidad Católica Argentina.

  • Developed and delivered an extra-curricular course on “Writing News in English.”

  • Organized and presented workshops on ethics, investigative reporting and civic journalism for 100 journalists who lived in rural Peru.

  • Developed workshops and assembled panels as co-chair of the AASFE outreach committee designed to attract talented journalists to newspaper features departments for minority journalist conferences.

  • Education

Masters Degree, Human and Organization Development                                                      2010
Fielding Graduate University, Santa Barbara, CA

Bachelor of Arts, Journalism                                                                                                      1979
Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ

Certificate, 400-hour yoga teacher training                                                                          2006
Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, Tempe, AZ

Post-graduate work in Spanish