A New Era of Strategy: Marilynn Stratton, CPSM, Elevated to Chief Strategy Officer

Six years ago, Marilynn walked into K+W as Marketing Director, inheriting one marketing admin, a stack of Word-based proposals, and no roadmap.

LIVERMORE, CA, UNITED STATES, May 22, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Six years ago, Marilynn Stratton, CPSM, walked into Kier + Wright (K+W) as Marketing Director, inheriting one marketing admin, a stack of Word-based proposals, and no roadmap. What she found beyond that stopped her in her tracks. Fifty years of showing up for clients, doing excellent work, and delivering on every promise. A culture so deeply rooted that no competitor could replicate it. She poured everything into it from day one. And so has the firm.

"You cannot change 50 years of values. Taking care of clients the right way is either in your DNA or it is not. They had that. For me, that was the foundation everything else could be built on," said Marilynn Stratton, CPSM, Chief Strategy Officer of K+W and KWRE.

She did not wait. She created a marketing team unlike anything the industry had seen, shaped not on traditional roles but on individual strengths and intentional career paths. That was only the beginning. Working alongside firm leadership, she helped develop a multi-year strategic plan, a national launch for KWRE, and the emerging leaders seminar and senior leaders boot camp that are shaping the firm's next generation.

Chuck McCallum, PE, CEO of K+W and Co-Founder of KWRE, has watched Stratton's impact grow across every corner of both organizations.

"Her ability to look at the overall strategy of this company, not just the marketing, but how we grow, how we show up for our clients, and where we are headed, has been critical. This title is a recognition of everything she has delivered," McCallum said.

"We needed someone who could see the whole picture, drive the process, and help our principals fulfill the vision we are all working toward together. Marilynn is that person. She always has been," he added.

As CSO, Stratton's focus is clear: deepen client relationships from transactional to genuinely strategic, align two growing firms around a unified direction, and invest in the talent that will carry both organizations forward. For the clients K+W and KWRE serve, this is more than a leadership change. It is a commitment that their goals, their growth, and their future are being looked after with the same intention the firms bring to every project they deliver.

"It is not just about a client's experience on an individual project. It is about how we come alongside them, understand their strategy, and think about how we support where they are going. Their legacy is our highest priority," Stratton said.

Ryan Amaya, PLS, Senior Principal, has seen firsthand how strategic clarity shapes the firm's ability to show up for the people it serves.

"Our clients count on us to tell them what we are seeing across the industry. We touch so many market sectors at once. Having a Chief Strategy Officer means we can bring that intelligence to them intentionally and help make sure they are going down the right path," Amaya said.

For Emad Sarieddine, PE, Chief Operating Officer, this recognition reflects something the firm has needed for a long time and is now positioned to fully deliver on.

"Strategy without alignment is simply a plan on paper. Marilynn thinks about where we are going and makes sure every single person understands why. That is what moves a firm forward," Sarieddine said.

The industry is shifting fast. Private equity is rewriting the competitive landscape. AI is changing how firms work and deliver. Stratton's answer is unequivocal.

"You can teach anybody to do what you do. But they will never do it like you do. That comes down to your culture, your heart, your values. Our job is to own that so completely, so deeply, that it becomes untouchable," Stratton said.

That clarity did not come overnight.

Twenty-six years. Firms that shaped her, roles that stretched her, and environments that saw only part of what she had to offer. She learned from every single one and never stopped moving forward. And throughout all of it, she made a point of bringing others along with her. Mentorship has always been at the core of how Stratton leads. Not as a program or an initiative, but as a daily practice of seeing potential in people and refusing to let it go unnoticed.

This appointment is not just a title change. It is personal.

"For so long I was told I needed to be quieter, more compliant, less honest. I was put into very small boxes. This is an honoring of who I am and who I was created to be," Stratton said.

And now, she is focused on what comes next. Alongside the leadership team at K+W and KWRE, the future is clear. Together, they are not following the industry. They are leading it.

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