by PIDC
February 9, 2026
Categories: Team Members,
At PIDC, every project tells a story—of opportunity, growth, and collaboration across Philadelphia’s neighborhoods and industries. Behind that work are the people who share those stories, build partnerships, and connect resources to the communities that need them most.
Meet PIDC’s Marketing Communications & Government Affairs Team, the storytellers, strategists, and relationship-builders who help ensure PIDC’s work is understood, supported, and positioned to make a real difference in our city.
Telling the PIDC Story
The Marketing Communications team is responsible for shaping how PIDC’s work is shared with the world. From website content and social media to reports, newsletters, and major announcements, the team works to make sure PIDC’s impact is communicated clearly, consistently, and compellingly. That means breaking down complex development projects, financing tools, and policy initiatives into easy-to-understand stories that highlight not just what PIDC does, but why it matters for Philadelphia’s businesses and communities.
Whether it’s celebrating a project milestone, promoting resources for small businesses, or highlighting partnerships across the city, the team ensures PIDC’s voice reflects its mission and values.
Building Connections Through Government Affairs
The Government Affairs team plays a critical role in strengthening our relationships with public partners at the city, state, and federal levels. They help ensure alignment between PIDC’s work and public priorities, advocate for policies and funding that support economic growth for all, and keep partners informed about ongoing projects and initiatives.
By maintaining strong lines of communication with elected officials and government agencies, the team helps create the conditions that allow projects to move forward—supporting everything from neighborhood development to major citywide investments.
Meet the Team
Kevin Lessard
Senior Vice President, Communications & Government Affairs
3 Years at PIDC
As Senior Vice President of Marketing Communications and Government Affairs, Kevin leads a dynamic team responsible for developing how PIDC tells its story and impact, connects with partners, and engages stakeholders across the city and beyond. He oversees communications strategy, public affairs, media relations, and marketing that help promote PIDC’s financing, real estate solutions, business support services and broader economic development impact. He also works closely with government partners and community leaders to promote initiatives that support business growth, create jobs, and advance development in Philadelphia.
Favorite Project: One of the most rewarding aspects of Kevin’s work has been helping to shine a light on PIDC’s community impact—from financing neighborhood health centers and fresh food providers to advancing major strategic initiatives across Philadelphia. He enjoys uncovering and telling the stories that show how PIDC consistently surprises people with the breadth of its work, touching every corner of the city. That impact spans catalytic developments like the Navy Yard (now home to more than 16,000 employees and growing) to funding mom-and-pop small businesses as they grow, hire, and expand. As a mission-driven lender, this work reflects PIDC’s commitment to strengthening Philadelphia’s economy and neighborhoods.
Quynh-Mai Nguyen
Director, Creative Services
9 Years at PIDC
Quynh leads the creative and digital expression of the PIDC brand and its seven subsidiary brands, including the Navy Yard. In this role, she oversees brand development across websites, advertising, and email campaigns, guiding projects from initial concept through execution. Working closely with the PIDC and Navy Yard marketing directors, Quynh ensures a cohesive, aligned approach to storytelling and brand strategy across all initiatives.
Favorite Project: PIDC’s 60th anniversary in 2018 stands out as one of Quynh’s most meaningful projects and her first long-term campaign at the organization. She embraced the opportunity to apply her multifaceted creative skill set, strategically producing a wide range of deliverables that remained cohesive across print, digital, and video. Among the most memorable pieces were the PIDC history book and the “60 Years, 60 Locations” video, which illustrated how PIDC drives growth across every corner of Philadelphia. To bring that story to life, the team visited 60 client project sites across the city in just 24 hours, highlighting everything from major developments like the sports complex to small neighborhood businesses.
Rachel Hazzard
Director, Marketing Communications
2 Years at PIDC
Rachel leads PIDC’s marketing and communications efforts to strengthen brand awareness and tell the story of PIDC’s impact across Philadelphia. She oversees content development across platforms, manages integrated marketing campaigns, and coordinates messaging across teams. She also supports social media and digital engagement, oversees departmental interns, and ensures consistent, clear communication that connects PIDC’s programs, projects, and services to the broader public and economic development community.
Favorite Project: One of Rachel’s favorite projects at PIDC was launching the Wooder Cooler, PIDC’s new intranet designed to strengthen connection and collaboration across staff. She led the development of the platform’s content and structure, drafting stories that highlight staff successes, promoting fun and engaging staff activities, and centralizing resources that make day-to-day work easier. The Wooder Cooler now serves as a go-to hub for news, tools, and information that keeps staff informed, connected, and engaged.
Cassidy Martin
Policy Analyst
A few weeks at PIDC
Cassidy is PIDC’s new Policy Analyst and is excited to officially join the team after working alongside the organization for years through previous roles at business improvement districts and community organizations. In her role, she tracks and analyzes city, state, and federal policies that impact economic development, monitors legislation tied to financing, real estate, and business support, and translates policy updates into clear, useful briefings for staff, clients, and other stakeholders. Cassidy works closely with colleagues across PIDC to support government relations, stakeholder engagement, and advocacy efforts that advance PIDC’s mission across Philadelphia.
Lashay Smith
Marketing & Events Coordinator
3 Years at PIDC
As Marketing and Events Coordinator at PIDC, Lashay brings the organization’s work to life through compelling digital content, social media, and email marketing, while tracking, analyzing, and reporting on performance across web and social platforms to inform strategy and maximize impact. She also researches, plans, promotes, and executes both virtual and in-person events for business owners through PIDC’s Business Builder Workshop Series, supporting programming in both English and En Español, partnering with Philadelphia-based experts to deliver accessible, practical guidance on business growth and opportunity.
Favorite Project: One of Lashay’s favorite projects was the launch of PIDC’s new video series, QuickTake, which spotlights real estate projects PIDC has helped bring to life, including the inaugural episode featuring Tom and Troy from PIDC’s real estate team highlighting the redevelopment of the Byberry Industrial Campus. She also supported the development of marketing materials for the launch of PIDC’s new scholarship and internship program, PhiDel.
Lashay’s favorite event was the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) two-day conference, Building Blocks: From Credits and Capital to Community Impact, produced in partnership with the Philadelphia Association of Community Development. The conference convened NMTC professionals and industry experts to share resources and insights, helping business owners and developers prepare to leverage NMTC financing for real estate, construction, and other development projects.
Markell Carter
Administrative Receptionist & Coordinator
2 Years at PIDC
Markell works closely with teams across the organization to support day-to-day business operations. His role spans executive assistant support, IT and logistics coordination, and front-desk responsibilities, and you can always find him behind the scenes ensuring events and internal processes run smoothly.
Favorite Project: Markell’s favorite events are all-staff gatherings that bring the organization together to connect and collaborate. These moments range from engaging activities to meaningful conversations that foster understanding, strengthen relationships, and ultimately help everyone do their jobs better.
Nayana Santana
Marketing & Communications Consultant
8 Months at PIDC
Nayana’s role at PIDC has grown from Marketing & Communications Intern to Consultant, where she primarily supports content development across the organization. She helps manage PIDC and Navy Yard social media channels—especially Instagram—spotting trends and turning them into engaging content that highlights PIDC’s mission, staff, business resources, and more. Nayana also supports the development of PIDC’s intranet, helping keep teams connected and informed.
Favorite Project: Nayana’s favorite ongoing project is brainstorming and producing the “Meet the Team” Reels series, which highlights the many talented PIDC staff members across the organization. The series has become some of PIDC’s most highly engaged-with content, making it both impactful and rewarding to develop.
From Message to Momentum
At its core, the Marketing Communications & Government Affairs team’s work is about connection: connecting people to resources, projects to partners, and ideas to action. By helping tell the story of PIDC’s work and supporting the relationships that make it possible, the team plays a vital role in advancing growth across Philadelphia.
Behind every project at PIDC is a network of people making it happen and the Marketing Communications & Government Affairs team helps ensure their work, and its impact, is seen and felt citywide.
Telling PIDC’s Story
See how we share the impact of our work, elevate our partners, and connect Philadelphians to opportunity.