Shonna James is president of Shonna James Communications, LLC. For
more than 25 years she has worked within the Valley's real estate, senior,
travel & hospitality industries, and been highly visible within the
community
.
Prior to starting Shonna James Communications, Shonna served as the director of public relations for Moses Anshell. In this position, for which she was recruited, she was responsible for the growth and development of the advertising agency's in-house public relations division. Within 14 months, she grew the division to 19 clients, which included four previous clients who followed her move: Del Webb Corporation, Peter Piper Pizza, The Plaza Companies and T.W. Lewis Company.
From 1994 to 1997, Shonna was a national account executive at Hanson, Moser & Associates. In this position, she oversaw the company's national accounts and maintained the daily transactions for 12 clients. Industries serviced ranged from professional employer and real estate advocate organizations, to homebuilders and restaurants.
Prior to joining the agency environment, Shonna spent more than 10 years in the corporate world. In 1986, she was hired by Del Webb Corporation, where she worked for eight years as the company changed from a multi-faceted national company to an entity focused solely on active adult community development, and later, conventional building operations. As the public relations administrator in the corporate office, she was responsible for the national image and positioning of Del Webb's Sun City communities in Phoenix, Tucson, Las Vegas, Palm Springs, Roseville and Hilton Head. She was also responsible for the publicity of Del Webb's Coventry Homes. Following her departure from the company in 1994, Del Webb remained a client for the next seven years.
Throughout
her career, Shonna has planned and staged many events, for clients and as a
volunteer for the Fiesta Bowl since 1990. For Del Webb she assisted with
the groundbreaking of Sun City Palm Springs,
attended by more than 900 people, including California officials and delegates;
the grand opening of Talara, a Scottsdale community by Coventry Homes;
and the donation of a Presidential Portrait Collection to Mayor Paul Johnson
and city officials for the historic City Hall Building. She was also
instrumental in the creation and implementation of the World's Championship
Chili Cook-Off, which raised more than $25,000 for Boys Hope of Arizona.
Active within the community since 1983, Shonna currently serves as vice chair of the Scottsdale Unified School District (SUSD) Foundation board and is a member of the SUSD Booster Council. Since 1990 she has served as a volunteer and member of the Fiesta Bowl committee, and in 2014, served on its leadership committee. Previously she volunteered for two years as a member of the City of Phoenix's Human Services Commission and served as the chair and a 10-year member of the City of Phoenix's Senior Services Committee, to which she was appointed by Mayor Skip Rimza. She is a former board member of the Foundation for Senior Living, as well as a previous member of AAED, PRSA, the Arizona Office of Senior Industries Development's marketing committee, the Home Builder's Association of Central Arizona, and the National Association of Real Estate Editors. For two years she chaired the Arthritis Foundation's Arthritis Awareness Committee, and from 1995-2002, the publicity committee for Oscar Night America, an annual fundraising event held in conjunction with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.