LISA VALLEE-SMITH:
Founder and CEO, Airfoil Public Relations in Southfield. Vallee-Smith co-founded the company in 2000 and her responsibilities include strategic planning, sales, and reputation/market positioning. She is active in many of the agency’s accounts, including Microsoft, ePrize, Trinity Health, and Faurecia, among others. Airfoil has seen strong, rapid growth as a PR agency that focuses on technology companies as clients – not exactly a natural client base for a southeast Michigan agency. Vallee-Smith is an accredited member of the Public Relations Society of America and has more than 20 years of agency experience. She is a board member of the Grosse Pointe Academy, Wayne State University’s College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts, as well as Forgotten Harvest. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism and public relations from Wayne State. Recently, she received Wayne’s Alumni Achievement Award, and was a finalist in the 2006 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year program.
