As a member of Wilmer’s Board of Governors, Jo Merlau brought a unique perspective to the table. A lifelong marketing professional, she had worked across industries and served as a consultant for numerous entrepreneurial enterprises.
Merlau knew of Wilmer’s many strengths — its rich history, clinical expertise and protocol-defining research. But she realized there was much more happening at Wilmer that stayed at Wilmer. There were stories of incredible dedication and care, of sight-saving surgeries and cutting-edge research that simply weren’t reaching the outside world.
Never one to sit on the sidelines, Merlau convinced Wilmer Director Peter J. McDonnell, M.D., that what was needed was a communications team, one that could help disseminate news of the exciting things that were happening at Wilmer every single day.
In 2019, Melanie Brown became Wilmer’s inaugural director of Marketing and Communications. In consultation with Merlau, Brown hired writers, content strategists and a photographer to help translate Wilmer’s often complex research and tell the stories of those whose sight had been saved or restored.
Today, the Wilmer communications team includes a six-member staff that oversees the promotion of Wilmer’s 150 faculty members’ accomplishments, research and patient care stories to a national and global audience. The team also highlights the work of Wilmer support staff — the technicians, nurses and administrators who are a vital part of the patient care team — through articles and an internal communications effort.
“These are the first people patients see when they come into the clinic,” says
Tim Thompson, a writer who brings a unique perspective to the role: Thompson came to his current position after having served for eight years as an ophthalmic technician at Wilmer. These days, he writes profiles of staff members that are then published in digital newsletters.
Thompson says he gets a lot of feedback from fellow employees who are happy to be seen and to know they’re recognized for their work. “They’re excited about the marketing team and about the message we’re sending to everyone,” he says.
Mike McElwaine, who started his career at Wilmer in 2001 as a graphic artist before joining the communications team as a photographer in 2019, says the attention has increased morale. “When Melanie came in, Wilmer pride came to the forefront. It wasn’t that everybody was all of a sudden proud, it was that it was a priority to show why we’re proud,” says McElwaine
MEETING THE CHALLENGE
Brown says that working at Wilmer is a bit of a dream. “In communications, we are always trying to find an event to promote or create new content, and here it was just a matter of telling a story that’s already occurring. We’re not generating new content, we’re just telling a story that’s been going on for almost a century,” she says.
Still, Merlau says that change — even change for the good — can be hard, especially when it represents a departure from traditional attitudes long held at a storied institution like Wilmer: the belief that you do the best work and it speaks for itself. Brown acknowledges the challenge, but says that with the creation of the communications team, faculty members have been given a platform to talk about their important work, which drives interest in their research and their efforts. “We’ve created a voice for Wilmer in the modern digital world,” she says.
Merlau points to the positive attitudes and collaborative spirit of the communications team in helping to overcome any pushback. “They were so easy to work with. They were all in,” Merlau says. But Brown is quick to credit Merlau. “Jo has been instrumental in the development and success of our group. She has given up much of her time and dedicated herself to the mentorship of our group to ensure we have a firm foundation on which to build.”
In November, McDonnell honored Merlau with the Aida de Acosta Root Breckinridge Award. “Jo Merlau has generously shared her experience in the business world to help us at Wilmer understand how best to communicate to the outside world the work being done at Wilmer to improve the care of those suffering from eye disease,” McDonnell says.
In accepting the award, Merlau said, “The Breckinridge Award is about a steadfast, determined, purposeful woman with a singular goal in mind: creating the Wilmer Eye Institute. I am honored to be receiving this award. My goal and mission was to create a world-class digital communications department at Wilmer to tell the stories of all the wonderful things happening at Wilmer every day.
“I am so proud of Melanie Brown and her team. We have created a voice for Wilmer, an incredible amount of content telling the Wilmer story to the world. I am inspired every day by working with this team and seeing what we’ve been able to accomplish, at lightning speed.”