About

Awards

Rannah Gray  Communications, formerly Marmillion/Gray Media, is a Baton Rouge, Louisiana based public relations consultancy. One of the state's most experienced public relations professionals, principal Rannah Gray has been responsible for managing community and media outreach efforts for public projects throughout Louisiana, including the Capital Region, New Orleans, Southwest and coastal Louisiana. She brings over 30 years of experience in working with state and local elected officials, MPO leadership and other stakeholders critical to the success of public projects. She has provided public involvement support for the Capital Region Planning Commission (CRPC), the Imperial Calcasieu Regional Planning and Development Commission (IMCAL); the Capital Area Expressway Authority, the East Baton Rouge Planning Commission, Office of the East Baton Rouge Mayor-President, and the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA).  She has worked with the world’s leading engineering firms, providing public engagement for transportation projects.

 Rannah has assisted project teams and state departments by coordinating public and media outreach; designing creative branding and efficient public meetings, open houses, public hearings and workshops to engage citizens and effectively gather input.  The firm has produced informational videos, presentations and reports, implemented award-winning social media strategies and managed media relations that have helped increase community awareness and involvement. 

 She serves as the communications lead for MOVEBR, the largest infrastructure program in East Baton Rouge Parish history, and was the public involvement lead on the environmental assessment process for a modern streetcar system connecting downtown Baton Rouge and the LSU campus, branded TramLinkBR. She is also working on the update of the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Transportation Plan, or MOVE 2046, and a travel demand management project for the Capital Region of Louisiana branded the "Commuter Krewe of Louisiana."

 In 2014, Rannah was the lead public involvement manager for the update of the Calcasieu Transportation Plan, coordinating public meetings, surveys, stakeholder briefings and graphic design for the final report. In 2011, she developed an advertising campaign for bicycle and pedestrian safety for CRPC which helped bring about a 32% reduction in bicycle crashes. This project included extensive media outreach, public meetings, focus groups and surveys to gather community and stakeholder feedback. The firm developed an updated bicycle and pedestrian campaign in 2014-2015 for CRPC to educate young audiences about sharing the road safely.

 For the comprehensive land use and development plan for East Baton Rouge Parish, FUTUREBR, Rannah was the lead Public Outreach Manager, implementing community outreach strategies, media relations, public official coordination and public meeting management, and building a database of more than 2,000 interested "citizen planners" to provide input.

 For the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA), she coordinated public meetings and media outreach held in Lake Charles, Houma, New Orleans and throughout coastal Louisiana and managed production of the first comprehensive master plan for coastal Louisiana.

 She helped develop and implement three Cultural Economy Summits for the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism and a series of 12 summits sponsored by the America’s Wetland Foundation to promote the sustainability of the Gulf Coast region. 

 In 2010, Rannah developed a grassroots public outreach program targeting hard to reach citizens who had not responded to the 2010 Census through its mail survey. Working with Census and parish officials in East Baton Rouge Parish, its official count was the highest in the state, benefitting from a strong, custom-designed public outreach effort.

Rannah has also spoken to audiences around the country on her award-winning book, Familiar Evil, and was a co-host of the nationally syndicated radio program, The Common Sense Show.

As a public relations consultant whose career highlights include Louisiana’s two favorite pastimes—politics and sports, Rannah’s work has been honored with numerous national awards, including three Pollie Awards from the American Association of Political Consultants and eight Telly Awards, two Classic Tellys for outstanding television produced over the past 20 years. Politics Magazine named her one of the Top 100 Influencers in Louisiana. In Baton Rouge, Sales and Marketing Executives International named her Marketer of the Year, and Business Report Magazine listed her as one of the city’s Influential Women in Business.  Rannah's first book, Familiar Evil, won 14 national and international book awards for Best True Crime and Best New Nonfiction. He second book, a mystery for young readers, won four national book awards for best chapter book and best juvenile fiction.