Catherine Gaa

Experience

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  Freelance Writing / Editing

  Aug 2007 - now

  Blogger and Freelance Writer

  Award-winning blog about expat life in Seville, Spain. Sunshine and Siestas covers Spanish culture and food, travel within the Peninsula and beyond, expatriate issues and advice for surviving and thriving far from home. My extensive freelance work includes Trip Advisor, Latitude 42 and The Local Spain, among others, and I contribute regularly to Typical Non Spanish - Powered by Caser, Around the World in 80 Jobs, The Spain Scoop, Rough Guides to Andalusia and Backpacking Matt.

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  Junta de Andalucía

  Oct 2007 - May 2010

  Auxiliar de Conversación / Language and Culture Assistant

  Implementing a new bilingual model into a secondary school, I prepared and executed a number of educational projects including language immersion, pen pals and cultural exposure.

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  Forenex

  Jul 2009 - Aug 2013

  Director of Studies

  I planned and executed a language program in an intensive camp with a focus on oral communication during several consecutive summer sessions. My duties focused on training teachers, teacher well-being, classroom management, project management and all administrative tasks.

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  Saint Mary's International School

  Aug 2010 - Jun 2012

  Teacher

  For two years, I served as a classroom teacher for preschool-aged students and children in their first years of primary, planning and teaching English, PE, art, music, social sciences and Trinity Exam preparation. I was also the theatre monitor.

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  Academia de Idiomas Marly

  Sept 2012 - Jun 2016

  Director of Studies and Cambridge Teacher Trainer

  As director of studies of a small language school, I organized everything concerning the academic course. This included teacher training, curriculum planning (preschool to adults), preparing students for the Cambridge language assessments (with an emphasis in B2 and C1) and serving as the link between parents and the academy, as well as working with distributors.

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  COMO Consulting Spain

  Jan 2014 - Nov 2020

  Co-founder, Content Strategist and People Manager

  COMO Consulting Spain was a relocation and consulting firm dedicated to helping North Americans make a smooth transition to living in and working in Spain.As Content Manager, I planned media and communication campaigns across our blog and social media platforms and generated eBooks and PDFs relevant to expat issues in Spain. In addition, I worked as an account manager for a client list that grew three-fold each year in operation.

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  Genera Games

  Jan 2014 - Sept 2016

  Translator (ES<>EN) and Voice-Over Artist

  As a freelance worker with Genera, I assisted the PlayTales division in translating and later recording modern versions of popular children's books and fairy tales.

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  Saint Louis University, Madrid Campus

  Jul 2016 - Jul 2019

  International Admissions Counselor, Graduate and Undergraduate Admissions

  As an international admissions counselor, I recruited outstanding international students to further the Jesuit ideals and educational standards of Saint Louis University at our free-standing Madrid Campus. Guiding stakeholders through the recruitment funnel, our team increased total student enrollment by 47% while I executed this role for three cycles. My areas of expertise were Western and Northern Europe and the United Kingdom, English-speaking Africa and Graduate Admissions, and I worked closely with applicants in the American, IB, British and other European education systems. Recognizing the need for easy-to-decipher and to-the-minute information, I took on the challenge of redesigning standard print and email communications from the Office of Admission, which led to my current role. Working closely with university-bound students and their families, in addition to this college counselors, is what I greatly miss about this role. Show less

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  Saint Louis University, Madrid Campus

  Dec 2019 - now

  Admissions Communications Manager, Content Strategist and CRM Operations Specialist

  Responsible for the student and other stakeholder journey, from discovery of the American Jesuit university in Spain through to enrollment. In my role, I manage all outgoing communication from the Office of Admissions: email marketing funnels from top to bottom, digital advertising campaign messaging via Slate, content strategy, database management, writing and designing print materials and web content. I also get a kick out of solving puzzles in Slate as we approach year two of launching our instances. Position highlights:- Spearheaded a YoY gain of 40% of incoming, first-time students in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024.- Formed an integral part of the team to launch a new CRM and responsible for Madrid Campus projects and troubleshooting. I get the Slate hype - it's a game-changer.- Elevated engagement in email marketing funnels by +25%.- Overhauled processes for outreach and yielding to achieve strategic enrollment management goals three years prior to campaign end date.- Oversee and mentor a team of eight to ten undergraduate students in all areas of communication, particularly community management and content strategy as part of job mentoring.- Project management across diverse teams within internal and external stakeholders, all conducted remotely.- Successfully launched an in-house student app on Raftr with more than 75% of incoming students onboarded and engaging weekly.- Designated as the data protection officer and delegate for all clients. Show less