Rachel Coffman, President and Founder of Coffman Collaborative LLC, serves as a Senior Advisor for Gray Space Strategies. With over 15 years in experience in public relations, risk and reputation management, and governmental affairs, Coffman is a top communications expert in public policy messaging, communications strategic execution and stakeholder engagement.

Named the 2022 PR Practitioner of the Year by the Public Relations Society of America – West Virginia Chapter, she represents Fortune 500 companies, trade associations, small businesses and nonprofits. An advocate for some of West Virginians largest private-sector employers, Coffman is the lead strategist to provide workforce development strategies through community engagement and education resources. Coffman earned a 2022 PRSA East Central District Diamond Award for Reputation/Brand Management for Belle Chemical Company and 2022 PRSA WV Crystal Award for her development of community relations campaign connecting clients to community programming and STEM education.

Coffman is an expert in manufacturing and industrial workforce development. An advocate for the manufacturing industry in West Virginia, Coffman understands the needs of these employers and how identify barriers in workforce retention, engagement and mobility to the workplace. Coffman serves as the co-chair for the WV Manufacturers Association governmental affairs committee and is a member of the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce’s governmental relations and environmental Committees.

She is on the board of the directors for the WV Manufacturing Educational Fund serving as the program committee Vice Chair, connecting the state’s manufacturers to K-12 workforce development programs. She has been an avid supporter of STEM education, supporting the Clay Center of the Arts and Sciences raising over one million dollars for the center through their Friends of Clay Board and annual gala. Coffman serves as the West Virginia representative for the National League of Women Lobbyists and is a member of the Business Advisory Council for her alma mater, University of Charleston.

Prior to her founding Coffman Collaborative, Coffman was Vice President at TSG Consulting where she worked over a decade in state governmental affairs and public relations. In 2021, she was name by the State Journal as an honoree for the 2021 Generation Next: 40 Under 40 list. In 2018, she was named a Young Gun by WV Executive Magazine and was awarded the Young PR Professional of the Year Award by the PRSA WV Chapter in 2012.

Coffman received her M.B.A. from University of Charleston in 2011 and was a magna cum laude graduate of Marshall University W. Page Pitt School of Journalism and Mass Communication with a concentration in public relations. In 2019, Coffman completed a graduate certificate in Business, International Relations and the Political Economy from the London School of Economics and Political Science. She holds professional certifications from the Public Relations Society of America in crisis communication and reputation risk management.