Senior Staff

Marlee J Ehrenfeld

President and Creative Director, is a highly-acclaimed creative director whose work has been featured in international graphic design publications. She has won three regional Emmy® Awards and fourteen national Telly Awards for her documentary and film work. She also has led the agency's team of designers, writers, programmers and producers in the development and implementation of award-winning ad campaigns for clients like UCSD, San Diego International Auto Show and the Port of San Diego's cruise industry.

During the past 15 years, Ehrenfeld and her agency have helped mold, refine and elevate the identities of some of the biggest brand names in San Diego. Among them: San Diego Unified Port District, San Diego International Airport, San Diego County Bar Association, San Diego Magazine, City of San Diego (Think Blue), County First 5 programs and San Diego Bay. Her national work includes developing integrated marketing programs for public companies like XEROX, UPS, QUALCOMM and Novell.

Prior to co-founding MJE Marketing, Ehrenfeld worked for The San Diego Union-Tribune and was a vice president of marketing and a corporate spokesperson for companies in the financial and technology industries.

Her many years of community work includes a three-year role as president of the Gaslamp Quarter Foundation where she was one of the pioneers responsible for revitalizing downtown San Diego. She currently serves on the board of the San Diego Ad Club, U.S. Midway Aircraft Carrier Museum and San Diego Film Commission. She is a member of the downtown Rotary and a Red Coat for the Pacific Life Holiday Bowl.

Ehrenfeld is a third generation San Diegan and holds a bachelor of science degree in Photojournalism and Telecommunications and Film from San Diego State University. She has certifications in Financial Analysis and Accounting courses and is a graduate of the Dale Carnegie School of Management.

Susan Smith

MBA, Chief Marketing Strategist, is a brand communications expert with more than 20 years' managerial experience in sales planning, marketing research and integrated marketing communications. Her expertise includes marketing strategy, corporate communications, brand building, new concept development, consumer behavior and interactive/Internet marketing. She has worked in a variety of industries including professional services, consumer products, retail and health care. Her marketing communications strategies and creative strategic plans have garnered awards from the American Association of Port Authorities; California Travel Industry Association, American Marketing Association and the Airports Council International - North America's highly coveted Peggy G. Hereford Award for Excellence.

Smith oversees all research and strategic planning for the agency and her integrated marketing/communications plans demonstrate measurable ROI for a long list of clients. Her expertise is wide-ranging and speaks to many of the core disciplines of marketing and communications - brand identity creation, product development, sales training, crisis communication, online marketing, and direct marketing. Smith also has been a key driver in developing long-term organizational plans for clients desiring to meet world class status for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.

Prior to joining MJE Marketing in 1999, Smith was a long-time director of marketing and communications in the health care industry including Sharp HealthCare in San Diego.

Smith earned her Master of Business Administration degree with a marketing emphasis from the University of Montana, and has taught courses on consumer behavior at the University of Montana and the University of California, San Diego. Her research on Consumer Rumors and Corporate Communications has been published in the Journal of Marketing Management.

Aaron Ishaeik

Art Director, is an award-winning art director with 10 years of design experience in multiple mediums. He is an accomplished illustrator, print maker and fine artist. His work has been featured in galleries in Chicago, Washington D.C., Los Angeles and San Diego. His illustrations and design work for the Port of San Diego's environmental program will be featured this year in the international Creativity annual. Ishaeik's award-winning designs on behalf of MJE's clients range from large out-of-home formats like wrapped buses and trolleys, LED dioramas for airports and stadiums to detailed graphic design for corporate identity packages, annual reports and packaging.

Ishaeik's experience prior to joining MJE includes extensive advertising agency work. He has designed for clients such as National Geographic Channel, Discovery Communications, Booz-Allen Hamilton, NeighborWorks and The Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. His print work has appeared in local, regional and national publications and his Web sites have run in the nation's largest markets. Ishaeik also brings vast experience in the government and defense industries, designing for Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and Titan.

Ishaeik continues to expand his design capabilities to include animation and after effects programming for film and Web. He recently completed three projects that required 3D rendering, After Effects video software graphics and Flash video creation. Ishaeik has been instrumental in producing graphics featured in many MJE client documentaries and commercials.

A graduate of the prestigious The School of Art Institute of Chicago, Ishaeik began his design and fine art career in Chicago and Washington D.C.

David Nielsen

Senior Advisor, spearheads the Public Affairs division of MJE Marketing. He is the co-founder and former president of MNA Consulting. This well-respected public affairs agency merged with MJE Marketing in 2008. Nielsen specializes in strategic planning, project coordination, entitlement processing and political and community outreach. He has represented more than 50 private sector, non-profit and public sector clients, including the San Diego Padres Baseball Club, the Otay Mesa Planning Coalition, UCSD Health Sciences, the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, and various property owner and home owners groups.

Prior to founding MNA Consulting, Nielsen served as Executive Vice President of the San Diego National Sports Training Foundation, where he oversaw the development of the $80 million ARCO Training Center in the City of Chula Vista, including overseeing the CEQA process and production of the Environmental Impact Report. The center is the largest Olympic training facility in the United States.

Nielsen has more than 20 years of experience in local government in San Diego. At the City of San Diego, he served as Principal Assistant and Chief of Staff to the Mayor and Assistant to the City Manager. While in the Mayor's office, he served on the planning team responsible for the development of the San Diego Convention Center. Nielsen also spent 11 years at the County of San Diego serving in many roles: Director of Special Projects, Deputy Planning Director, Environmental Analysis Coordinator and Assistant to the Health Care Agency Administrator.

He began his career working for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico Planning Board. He is a graduate of Wheaton College in Illinois. He earned a Master of Public Administration Degree from the University of Washington Graduate School Of Public Affairs (now the Evans School) in Seattle. He currently sits on the Board of Management for the Border View YMCA.

Kristen McDade Byrne

Vice President, manages the Public Affairs and Public Relations departments. She is the former Vice President and principal for MNA Consulting. The Southern California government and community relations firm MNA merged with MJE in 2008. Byrne's core expertise is in message development, strategic planning, and the development and implementation of community outreach, public involvement, and government relations programs. At MJE, Byrne manages the CEQA public input process for a number of clients, and is experienced in helping clients work with key stakeholders and government representatives throughout the entitlement process. Byrne has worked on many high-profile projects and major policy initiatives in San Diego County, including San Diego State University's Campus Master Plan, the Salk Institute Master Plan Update, SANDAG's Region2020 comprehensive growth strategy, MTDB's TransitWorks Strategic Planning effort, the San Diego Zoo's Park Boulevard Promenade project, and the San Diego Rescue Mission's relocation. Byrne began her career in community and government relations as a Council Representative for a San Diego City Councilmember. Subsequent to her work for the San Diego City Council, Byrne worked for an established government affairs agency where she served as an on-site consultant to the City of San Diego's Metropolitan Wastewater Department.

Byrne is a native of San Diego and has been active in community affairs for many years. She served as a member of the Board of Directors of the San Diego County Taxpayers Association and a member of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce's Infrastructure Committee. She was also a Special Advisor for San Diego Youth and Community Services, and served as the Secretary of BIA Cares for Kids, the charitable arm of the Building Industry Association.

Byrne received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of California at Santa Barbara. She has completed the certification coursework for IAP2 Facilitation.