Whitney Szentesi took on the role as the City of San Luis Obispo’s first-ever Public Communications Manager in May 2021 and has been building a solid communications program since. She serves as the primary public information officer and strategic communications advisor for the City Manager’s Office and the City’s Leadership Team. In this role, she handles strategic communications planning, media relations, social media management, crisis communications and public engagement for the City’s 10 departments, which serve more than 47,000 people.

Prior to her role at the city, Whitney served as a Communications Analyst for the County of San Luis Obispo’s Administration for nearly seven years, during which time she served as the Lead PIO for County Public Health during the COVID-19 pandemic emergency. She taught Public Relations Writing and Editing for the Journalism Department at Cal Poly SLO for five years and before that worked as a digital and PR strategist for a marketing agency. Other experience includes nonprofit public relations and communications, working as a journalist for a local daily newspaper and a local weekly newspaper, and freelance public relations work.