Professional Biography
Lansie Sylvia is a strategy professional specializing in user research, communication, branding, messaging, audience engagement, and fund development. She’s been hailed as “a ball of energy with a hell of a laugh” and “a national treasure” by past collaborators. She currently works for MoStrategy, an experienced team of relentlessly curious researchers and strategists that help organizations leverage the power of branding to accelerate growth.
Most recently, as Senior Strategist for J2 Design, Lansie helped mission-driven organizations understand their audiences, refine their brands, and communicate with clarity. Widely regarded as a leader in the next generation of nonprofit communication strategy, Lansie directed multiple audience engagement initiatives on behalf of clients in the nonprofit, cultural, and education sectors. Key clients included Episcopal Community Services, Fels Institute of Government, the University of Pennsylvania, Tyler Clementi Center, Settlement Music School, Perkiomen School, and the City of Philadelphia.
Lansie uses human-centered design to both identify and create brand enhancement opportunities, and helping organizations delight current audiences while cultivating new supporters. Her work has been featured on NPR, WHYY, Next City, PHL17, Philly.com, and more. She’s a featured columnist at Generocity.org with her popular philanthropic advice column for millennials, “How To Give.” An award-winning storyteller, she frequently presents to groups and businesses and was a featured speaker at San Antonio’s Big Give Training Camp, MCON 2016, the Knight Foundation’s KCC Summit, Independent Sector’s PPAI Conference, and Ignite Philly.
Lansie also serves as founder and Project Director for Next Stop: Democracy!, a public art project improving Philadelphians’ voting experience funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. She is also the founder of Philly Give & Get, a volunteer-run organization that promoted local nonprofit partners and raised more than $20,000 to support them via charitable auction events. For her work with G&G, she was selected as a 2013 Social Impact Fellow by the University of Pennsylvania and a grant recipient at the 2013 ReGenerate Philly Summit.
Lansie received her M.S. in Nonprofit Leadership from the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Social Policy and Practice and completed her AmeriCorps Year of Service in Providence, RI.
On a more personal note…
My favorite thing is helping people. It brings me great joy to leave things better than I found them. I enjoy the great outdoors, especially reading next to lakes, and making overly fancy cocktails for my friends. Jellyfish, themed dinner parties, curiosity cabinets, and sports movies are my jam. I’m currently training to become a Master Gardener and I run a progressive Girl Scout Troop out of Indy Hall, Philadelphia’s oldest coworking space. In fourth grade, I won an essay contest sponsored by New Jersey’s National Organization of Women and got to meet then-Governor Christine Todd Whitman. She had a giant container of Atomic Fireballs on her desk. How rad is that?!