April Zepeda, Principal
About
As owner and principal of Zepeda Communication, April is a tenured communication leader with extensive experience.
She served as Chief Communication & Marketing Officer for Envision Healthcare during three years of the pandemic and saw the company through multiple industry changes that demanded a keen understanding of crisis communication, public relations, employee communication and reputation management.
April also served as Vice President of Communication at Optum where she oversaw the development and continuous improvement of the business’s internal communication strategy while also leading communication for multiple large scale Merger and Acquisition transactions.
Prior to that, she served as Vice President of Corporate Communication for DaVita Medical Group, setting the overall direction for the company’s internal and external communication strategy to drive employee, patient and community engagement while building the organization’s reputation as a best practice provider.
April also led communication and legislative affairs at The Everett Clinic - Washington State's largest independent medical group at the time. There she built the communication capability, team and strategy from the ground up, as well as set the legislative agenda for the business while building strong relationships with state and federal lawmakers.
April got her start in journalism. She spent more than a decade working as a television reporter at KOMO News, the ABC network affiliate in Seattle. During her career in broadcast journalism, she won three regional Emmy awards, several Society of Professional Journalists awards and Associated Press honors, as well as an Edward R. Murrow Award for live reporting.
Additionally April has been honored with a National Ava Award and National Hermes Award for Public Relations, and three National MarCom Awards for e-Communication, Marketing, and Recruitment Communication.
April attended Washington State University where she graduated summa cum laude with a major in journalism and a minor in political science. She would later serve as a communication advisory board member for the university’s Murrow College of Communication.
She has additionally served in multiple board of director roles for non profit organizations including United Way, The Jeremiah Center for Youth, Edmonds Public Education Foundation, Trinity Lutheran Endowment Board and Leadership Snohomish County.
April splits her time between the Seattle area and Palm Springs. When she's not helping organizations with strategic communication she can be found on the golf course performing poorly, traveling for music and sporting events, painting, and documenting home DIY projects with far too many before and after photos.