Eddie Fam
President and CEO
Eddie Fam has been planning major events for business, non-profits and private affairs since 1997. With over 15 years of experience, Eddie is highly skilled at event planning and coordinating marketing campaigns coupled with promotional programs, media outreach and relations, and strategic marketing programs.
Eddie is the founder and owner of IMPACT Marketing & Events, a full service company based near Washington DC that specializes in special event planning, nationwide and destination weddings, conference planning, networking events, marketing campaigns, public relations, corporate event marketing, and charity fundraising events. In 2000, Eddie signed a local DC rock band named SEV to a major record deal with Geffen Records. This helped land them a commercial for Pepsi Blue which aired during the MTV Video Awards. In 2001, Eddie helped coordinate a fundraising campaign for Coptic Orphans that generated over $1.2 million dollars to help break the cycle of poverty. In 2005, Eddie was selected for Bono’s ONE Campaign to serve as a U.S. elegate to help promote the “Commission for Africa” which increased global funding to the world’s poorest people by $50 billion. He has been involved with events and campaigns that included General Colin Powell, dignitaries and ambassadors, and celebrities such as Sir Richard Branson, Maroon 5, Quincy Jones, Denzel Washington, Beyoncé, and Dave Matthews Band.
Eddie has served in various event planning and marketing board member and committee roles for BNI NOVA; is a committee member of Reston Chamber of Commerce; and serves as the Vice President of the Marketing and Communications committee on the Board of Directors for International Special Events Society in Washington, DC, the largest nationwide chapter, where IMPACT won two Capital Awards in 2012 for event planning and management. He is also the founder of Networking for Good, a series of exciting networking events in the DC Metro area that benefit both the business and nonprofit communities.
Elise Ravenscroft
Event Planning Consultant
Ms. Ravenscroft brings to her role more than 16 years of event management and production expertise. She has produced numerous galas, dinners, groundbreakings, memorial unveilings, congressional receptions, large scale entertainment productions, conferences, concerts, political rallies, and marathon walks. She has produced and directed events at The White House; The Supreme Court, The United States Capitol; Departments of Education; Homeland Security and State; and for NASA, The Armed Forces, and Diplomatic Embassies. She has handled protocol and security details for the aforementioned and also for the U.S Press Corp & International Media, high-ranking U.S. Government Officials, Ambassadors and foreign delegations. Additionally, she has experience in the areas of marketing, communications and nonprofit fundraising. Ms. Ravenscroft’s extensive experience includes event conceptualization, site selection, contract negotiations, décor and staging designs, program flow development, entertainment selection, catering requirements, speaker and panel presentation coordination, managing A/V and technical requirements and video production, vendor management and budgeting.
Ms. Ravenscroft has worked with speakers including former presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush; vice presidents Al Gore and Joe Biden; former first ladies Hillary Clinton and Barbara Bush; secretaries of state Madeleine Albright, Condoleezza Rice; Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, and Antonin Scalia; world leaders Nelson Mandela, Ban Ki-Moon, and Queen Sylvia of Sweden; performers such as Annie Lennox, Jennifer Hudson, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw and Julian Lennon; and celebrities like Ted Turner, Denzel Washington, Will Smith, George Lucas, Tom Brokaw, Gary Sinise and Ashley Judd. Previously Ms. Ravenscroft was the director of development for the Service Members Legal Defense Network, and a Director for The Webster Group.
Natasha Hamad
Marketing & Event Assistant
Natasha Hamad graduated from George Mason University with a Bachelor of Science in Tourism & Events Management. While studying at GMU she interned with Celebrate Fairfax, assisting with the success of Northern VA’s largest community-wide celebration which hosts tens of thousands of visitors yearly. After graduating she began her career in the events industry with a small non-profit foundation out of Sterling, VA, called The Brenda MacDonald Melanoma Research Foundation. She was hired as a full service planner to coordinate the foundation’s annual Wings of Hope Gala in 2010, supporting melanoma research. The event was an amazing success raising nearly $250,000 for the important cause; and with such an experience she gained great knowledge of the industry as well as attention to the importance of non-profit work.
Natasha has a love for event planning that she discovered while studying at GMU which continues to blossom as she gains experience in the event industry in Northern VA. She has an exquisite attention to detail with regards to coordination as well as aesthetics, and her cheerful attitude is contagious, all of which absolutely carries through the events that she is involved in. Natasha is currently assisting with events and wedding planning at The Winery at Bull Run and working directly with Eddie Fam and IMPACT Marketing & Events.
Maria Jacoby
Wedding Planning Consultant
Maria Jacoby is known for her creative flair and ability to design and execute one-of-a-kind events that reflect the values of her clients. Maria brings an extensive knowledge of event venues and catering options in the Washington, DC area and is a fierce negotiator for her clients, ensuring they receive the best price and service available. She has developed strong vendor relationships in the region during her years in government and management consulting. Maria has a passion for perfections and unique talent for creating individualized and memorable events.
Shawn Flaherty
PR Consultant
Shawn Flaherty, a veteran PR practitioner, has worked with avariety of companies and nonprofits, developing and implementing successful communications plans and strategies. Her award-winning client work has touched national and local issues, including workplace, small business, public policy, child welfare, housing, and financial services. Her creative ideas and ability to bring them to life have shaped many organizations’ communications programs, helping them achieve significant and lasting results.
Prior to consulting, she directed the comprehensive and multi-faceted public relations activities for Freddie Mac’s corporate citizenship efforts, including the Freddie Mac Foundation, minority outreach activities, affordable housing products, corporate governance practices, and workplace issues. She is credited with helping the company navigate a number of crises and was instrumental in building the company’s reputation as an employer of choice and good corporate citizen.
In addition, she developed major events to bolster the company’s reputation as a good corporate citizen, including Hoops for the Homeless, a charitable basketball tournament headlined by Magic Johnson, which garnered more than 20 million local media impressions.
Before Freddie Mac, Shawn served as a public relations officer for the Travel Industry Association of America, where she revamped and grew its public relations program. During her tenure, she helped build the association’s image as the industry-wide leader while promoting the industry as a major economic force.
Active in the community, she is a Stop Child Abuse Now committee member, the chair for the Independent Public Relations Alliance, a board member of the National Capital Chapter of PRSA, a Loudoun County Chamber member, and a graduate of Leadership Loudoun.