Lindsey Wyckoff was born in Columbus and moved to North Canton, Ohio as a toddler. She attended the Mary L. Evans Kindergarten Center, Northwood Elementary, the North Canton Middle School, and is a 2002 graduate of Hoover High School.
High School
In high school, Lindsey was involved in a variety of activities, including sports, publications, and clubs. Lindsey was vice-president of her class each year of her high school career and was also a member of the leadership and student council. She played tennis for four years and basketball for three, serving as varsity tennis captain for three years. As a junior in 2001, Lindsey qualified for the state tournament in singles, becoming the first Hoover female athlete to do so. She earned Federal League honors in her sophomore, junior, and senior year and committed to continue her career at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania.
Off the court, Lindsey enrolled in journalism as a sophomore, serving as The Viking Views’ ad manager as a junior and co-sports editor as a senior. During that time, former advisor Ms. Pam McCarthy told students that if they liked sports, to remember that, ‘every college has a sports information department.’ Lindsey never forgot that and it shaped the trajectory of her college experience and, eventually, her career.
College
At Bloomsburg, Lindsey majored in mass communications with a focus in PR and minor in marketing. She made the Dean’s List in her last semester, graduating with her Bachelor’s Degree in May of 2006. Lindsey was co-captain of the women’s tennis team for three years, helping lead the Huskies to three conference titles and appearances in the NCAA Division II Sweet Sixteen. In addition to serving as president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee for three years, she spent three years working in the sports information department, learning the ropes of working in athletic communications, including serving as the primary contact for wrestling, Bloomsburg’s lone Division I sport.
Professional Career • Rutgers University
Following graduation and an internship with the then-Charlotte Bobcats, Lindsey took a job at Rutgers University as an athletic communications assistant. She served as the day-to-day contact for 11 sports and provided support for football and men’s and women’s basketball, having the opportunity to travel to the Big East Tournament with the eventual championship-winning women’s basketball team in 2006. Following the women’s appearance in the 2006 National Championship game, radio D.J. Don Imus made racist remarks about the athletes, catapulting the Rutgers women into the national spotlight. Lindsey stepped up to work with the primary women’s basketball contact to handle over 600 media requests and prep athletes for national interviews including TODAY, Good Morning America, CBS This Morning, and BET.
Professional Career • New Orleans Saints and Pelicans
After one year at Rutgers, Lindsey moved to New Orleans, La. to become the New Orleans Hornets basketball communications coordinator beginning in the 2007-08 season, realizing her dream of working in the National Basketball Association. She was elevated to corporate communications manager in the fall of 2011, and, following an ownership change, served in the role for both the Hornets, who transitioned to the Pelicans in 2013, and the National Football League’s New Orleans Saints. In that role, she handled PR, appearances, and speaking engagements for now-Owner Mrs. Gayle Benson and managed the foundation for Mrs. Benson and late owner, Mr. Tom Benson. She led media efforts in crisis situations, including an ownership transfer and change in the succession plan, a player receiving a legal transgression, and player family crises. She also had the honor of working with What You Give Will Grow, the foundation established by Super Bowl XXIV Champion and Pro Bowl Punter Thomas Morstead, including raising more than $320,000 in February 2018.
Professional Career • American Diabetes Association
Realizing the impact of an athlete’s platform and their opportunity to create positive change, Lindsey transitioned to working in the nonprofit sector in 2016, taking a role in the sports and entertainment department of the American Diabetes Association (ADA). In that role, she created and executed engagement plans for athletes committed to increasing diabetes awareness and support for ADA’s mission, as well as coordinated all aspects of media relations for sports & entertainment initiatives and events. The department also planned and launched Team Tackle, a collaboration with current and former NFL players and the ADA, including securing a feature (online and print) in USA Today.
Professional Career • Kids In Need Foundation
Following a year in the agency sector, Lindsey took a job with Kids In Need Foundation, a national nonprofit that helps create equitable learning spaces through the distribution of supplies and resources, investing in teachers and students in underserved schools. Kids In Need Foundation focuses its programs and initiatives on teachers and students most under-resourced, those where 70 percent or more of the enrolled students are eligible for free or reduced-cost meals through the National School Lunch Program. In her current role, Lindsey leads strategy and manages the execution of all brand awareness and engagement, including social media, cause marketing campaigns, PR, email, digital marketing, fundraising, website, and messaging. She also helps manage a roster of 200+ sports and entertainment personalities who support Kids In Need Foundation.
Personal Passions
Outside of work, Lindsey spends time volunteering her time for organizations national and local in scope. Nationally, she’s involved with SheJumps, an organization that partners with nature to create educational outdoor experiences for girls and women that nurture growth and transformation. as a volunteer communications and fundraising specialist. She also serves as a board member for StarkFresh, a local organization that is tackling the causes of hunger by creating realistic pathways out of poverty in Stark County, and Queer In Canton, an organization that increases access to resources, hosts events, and advocates for a more equal Canton for the LGBTQ+ community.
Advocacy work has become a priority for Lindsey outside of her full-time job. She is the Legislative Lead for Akron/Canton for Moms Demand Action, working to advocate for legislation to end gun violence. She has also spent time canvassing and phone banking for local candidates, with a focus on those who have prioritized human and civil rights and education as a part of their platforms.
Lindsey is an avid lover of the outdoors and serves as a City Project Leader for the Outbound Collective, working to create community through nature in Northeast Ohio. She loves to travel, backpack, hike, paddle, and camp and, in 2019, solo hiked the Wonderland Trail around Mount Rainer, a 10-day, 93-mile backpacking trip.
Residing in North Canton, Lindsey has two rescue dogs — JoJo and Rosie.
exploration and transformation through the outdoors and travel. 