Rita Dragonette

Rita Dragonette is an Executive Career Consultant, Coach and Organizational Change expert who offers customized consulting services for C-suite executive and entrepreneurs, and the organizations they lead. A 1972 graduate of NIU, she holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.After a career in Public Relations and Marketing during which she advised hundreds of clients on branding and expansion strategies in both mature and growth industries, Rita established Dragonette Career Strategies (formerly Dragonette Consulting) in 2003, to apply her strategic approach to the individual. She is nationally known for her skills in helping pioneer the use of consumer research to create and credential trends, for developing marketing strategies to pre-condition environments for maximum receptivity to product and services messages, and for using issues management and crisis communications to ensure external factors don’t inhibit growth. Her experience spans most business categories, with particular areas of expertise in health care, technology, professional services, retail, and all aspects of real estate and the built environment. Her signature achievement was the development of the market for migraine and the introduction of Imitrex, the first proven remedy for the condition.She is a speaker and author on strategic planning, organizational change, leadership and career development.This scholarship has been created in loving memory of Rita’s sister, Roxane Hoey, who earned a Bachelor of Arts in History from Northern Illinois University in 1978.