Lea Hanson, Ph.D.

In her role as Communications Manager, Dr. Hanson leads the strategic stewardship of NBCE’s reputation and brand by integrating systems thinking, high-level messaging and writing, technology platforms, and internal structures to ensure alignment, clarity, and sustained organizational impact. She joined NBCE in 2025, coming from senior communications roles in the nonprofit, association management, and higher education fields.

Dr. Hanson earned a Ph.D. in education and human resource studies from Colorado State University in 2012. She holds a special appointment as Assistant Professor in Colorado State University’s School of Education and has also instructed in the CSU College of Business’s MBA program. In addition to brand, marketing, and communciations strategy, her areas of professional expertise include organizational perfomance, change, and culture, student development theory, and phenomenological qualitative research methodology.