Kit Bernardi
Kit Bernardi is a published writer and photographer as well as principal of her marketing agency, Kit Bernardi & Associates, Inc.

Bernardi’s work has been published in several national and international magazines including Midwest Living, The Golfer, Troika, Gourmet, Hemispheres, This Season and Schwing!  Her stories appear in the Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Magazine, Chicago Home & Garden, Chicago Life and Golf Chicago!  Other national publishing credits include features in Women in Aviation Magazine, the National Association of Advertisers’ Even Marketing Magazine and Starbucks Coffee Company’s consumer newsletter Coffee Matters. She has appeared on Chicago’s CBS TV as an expert on using the Internet to plan travel and contributes to the United Airlines Silver Wings Plus Web site.

Before the six-month global odyssey, Bernardi was a senior marketing executive at Frankel & Company, one of the nation’s leading marketing communications agencies, where she led integrated marketing and public relations initiatives for clients United Airlines and ARCO Chemical Company. She also managed retail, food and packaged good accounts.

Prior to joining Frankel & Company, Bernardi was director of public relations responsible for publicity and promotion for the Chicago Hilton and Towers Hotel and Hilton Hotels Corporation’s Midwest Region. Early in her marketing career, Bernardi managed public relations programs and special events for Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg, Illinois, the nation’s second largest shopping mall. She began her communications career as a TV reporter and producer and radio broadcaster in Chicago and South Bend, Indiana.

Kit Bernardi holds a Master’s of Art degree in writing from DePaul University, Chicago and a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and History from Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Indiana. She has been awarded writing and marketing industry awards from the National Women’s Press Association, Public Relations Society of America and Publicity Club of Chicago. Bernardi speaks at international conferences on integrated marketing and teaches travel writing at Chicago’s Columbia College.

For over a decade, Shepherdson has been recognized for her excellence in writing on a national level. Last year, an article of hers for the Web site http://www.OnHealth.com earned the title of Best Online Article from the 3,000-member National Federation of Press Women. In 1999, three of her articles earned the title of Best Business Articles. And in 1992, a feature story published by American Heritage magazine, "Credit Card America" was awarded Best Historical Magazine Feature nationwide by the same group. All together, she has won fifteen national awards for writing.

Some of Eugenia’s most recent projects: Roosevelt University’s downtown Chicago campus is the gathering spot for the High School Journalism Workshop. Professionals from The Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, CLTV, Catalyst Magazine, the Chicago Defender and CBS (WBBM-TV) share their work experience for a day. She also designs and staffs workshops for new teachers/advisers.

The Chicago Association of Black Journalists is back online after an 18-month hiatus. She has given the site a new look and is training a team of designers and content editors. As media specialist, Eugenia also trains teachers and students at Hirsch Metro High School of Communications in the ways of the WWW, journalism and marketing/PR.

With the Community Media Workshop, Eugenia works with PR professionals to economize words and to use technology to get results.

Black Entertainment Television’s Web site BET.com is allowing Eugenia to empower the fastest-growing segment of Internet users as Technology Editor. She is also a contributing editor/writer for other channels on the site.

Eugenia recently added Time Magazine to her freelance portfolio—mainly covering the technology beat.

The B2B publication Advertising Age allows Eugenia to cover a wide range of assignments as contributing writer—from interviewing CEOs and executives to covering behind-the-scenes work in the pharmaceuticals industry.