Kathy Tunheim co-founded Tunheim Santrizos Company in 1990 with four colleagues from Honeywell, Inc, and has served as president and chief executive officer throughout the firm's evolution to Tunheim Partners, Inc. With her own areas of specialization in corporate communications and communications strategy, she maintains an active role in many of the agency's client relationships. Another area of distinction is Kathy's significant experience in governance: she has worked as communications counsel to numerous corporate boards of directors, and has served as trustee and board chair of numerous large nonprofit and philanthropic organizations. She is also a well-known crisis communications counselor to senior executives, and is honored to have had the opportunity to provide support to clients in their most challenging situations.
Prior to cofounding the agency, she gained experiences in both the corporate world and the political arena that profoundly shaped her approach to creating value as an agency counselor. She worked at Honeywell, Inc. for 10 years, rising to the post of vice president for public relations and internal communications. In that role, she led a global team of professionals with ultimate responsibilities for media relations and employee communications. Earlier in her career, she handled media relations and speechwriting for Wendell R. Anderson - both when he was governor of the State of Minnesota, and during his tenure in the U.S. Senate. Collectively, these experiences cause her to be particularly intrigued by the challenges of helping clients navigate the intersections of business, public policy, and the media.
Kathy grew up in Northfield, Minn., in a family that was bipartisan politically, deeply engaged in community service, and steeped in a passion for football. With brothers who played quarterback, she spent many afternoons "going long" on passing route patterns – experience that she believes not only kept her in shape, but contributed to her fascination with dynamic strategy formulation.
With a tentative interest in studying engineering, Kathy attended the University of Minnesota, ultimately choosing to shift her focus into political science. Part of her education was financed by her work as a musician; she regularly appeared in coffeehouses and clubs throughout the Midwest while in college, and continues to enjoy music of every variety.
"Words matter and ideas matter. Our job is to connect the right words, and the right ideas, to deliver excellent results for each and every one of our clients – every day."
-- Personal quote
