Patience Fairbrother Promoted to Senior Vice President, Talent Attraction
January 13, 2025
Patience Fairbrother’s journey at DCI began as an intern after graduating from Kenyon College in 2014, but her rapid rise to leadership is a testament to her tenacity and dedication to the place marketing industry. Starting in brand and digital strategy before transitioning to lead one of DCI’s three practice areas, Talent Attraction, Patience’s passion for connecting people with places and opportunities has driven her career forward.
Notable campaigns under Patience’s leadership include WonderFL, a talent attraction campaign aimed at repositioning Florida beyond its reputation as a vacation destination to a destination for careers. This initiative earned the highest honor at the AVA Digital Awards and a Gold IEDC Excellence in Economic Development Award, among others. Her work on Chattanooga Calling, which connected displaced workers to jobs during the pandemic (in both English and Spanish), won a PRSA Award, further demonstrating her commitment to inclusivity.
Patience’s efforts in the Love, Kansas campaign, which aims to bring people back to the state to fill jobs, and her work with Fairfax County, VA in supporting veterans’ transitions to the workforce, reflect her desire to connect people with opportunities. Most recently, Patience was selected as one of PRSA NY’s 15 Under 35, celebrating excellence in the public relations and communications space.
“Labor shortages aren’t going anywhere with the most severe shortages expected within the next five years, particularly in critical industries like healthcare and construction,” Patience says. “Forward-thinking communities are increasingly investing in proactive strategies to attract and retain talented workers. As the competition gets fiercer, we predict that we will see more places investing heavily in talent attraction marketing and increased collaboration among economic development, tourism and other key talent stakeholders. In the year ahead at DCI, we are working internally and with strategic partners to provide new data and marketing solutions to make talent attraction programs smarter.”
For the past three years, she has been co-chair of the agency’s DEI committee, leading initiatives that earned DCI the Best Internal DEI Initiative award in the boutique category from the Diversity Action Alliance. She has also played a pivotal role in expanding opportunities for staff, including organizing speaker events and volunteer initiatives that allow DCI to champion DEI both individually and collectively.
Despite a demanding schedule, she finds time to share her expertise outside the office, speaking at 17 engagements in the last two years alone, from a keynote address at the largest business event in Alaska to her session at City Nation Place Americas. Last year, Patience also launched Talent Wars: A Podcast by DCI, the first podcast of its kind focused on how cities and states are responding to global talent challenges. Her passion for connecting people with places is evident in every aspect of her work.
