Full Name
Sonja Dosti, APR
Job Title
Communications Director
Company
County of Fresno, Administrative Office
Speaker Bio
Sonja Dosti, APR is the Communications Director for the County of Fresno (County Administrative Office), which serves over one million residents. She has more than 10 years of experience in public sector communications and PR.
Prior to working in communications and PR, she worked in the film and TV industry in Los Angeles as a production, studio, and network executive, developing film and TV projects with Academy and Emmy Award-winning directors, writers, and actors including JJ Abrams, Aaron Sorkin, Francis Ford Coppola, Katheryn Bigelow, Demi Moore, and Josh Brolin, among many others.
Her first position in communications included almost six years as the Communications and PR Officer at Central Unified School District. Her team won the National School Public Relations Association’s (NSPRA) 2020 Award of Excellence for a video PSA titled, The Dangers of Sexting, and the 2020 Award of Merit for the video PSA, Hoax Threats. She developed social media best practices training for staff, parents and students and created the district’s first crisis communications plan.
In her role as the Communications Director at Fresno County, she started as a team of one and expanded it to include an Emmy-Award winning photographer/videographer and a bilingual outreach and marketing specialist. Her communications team has won several awards. Both the CAO and District Attorney’s Offices received the 2023 CAPIO Epic Award of Achievement in the Preparedness/Public Safety Education Campaign category for their Fresno County Fentanyl Awareness Campaign as well as the 2023 Achievement Award from the National Association of Counties (NACo). The Juvenile Correctional Officer Promotional Video won the 2023 CAPIO Award of Distinction for In-House Video Production and the Fresno County Water Flows & Flood Warnings won the 2024 CAPIO Award of Distinction for In-House Video Production PSA. She and two of her colleagues won the Frank Potter Cowan Crisis Communicator of the Year Award in 2024. The team’s 2024 Traffic Safety Campaign received the CAPIO Award of Distinction in the Preparedness/Public Safety Education Campaign category.
She has served CAPIO for more than four years as the Central California Regional and Membership Chair, President-Elect/Treasurer, and now President. She’s a proud Star Wars/Marvel/DC/Harry Potter geek, women’s ministry director at her church, and loves to travel, watch movies, read books, and spend time with her family, Golden Retriever Buddy, and Doodle-mutt Chewy.
Prior to working in communications and PR, she worked in the film and TV industry in Los Angeles as a production, studio, and network executive, developing film and TV projects with Academy and Emmy Award-winning directors, writers, and actors including JJ Abrams, Aaron Sorkin, Francis Ford Coppola, Katheryn Bigelow, Demi Moore, and Josh Brolin, among many others.
Her first position in communications included almost six years as the Communications and PR Officer at Central Unified School District. Her team won the National School Public Relations Association’s (NSPRA) 2020 Award of Excellence for a video PSA titled, The Dangers of Sexting, and the 2020 Award of Merit for the video PSA, Hoax Threats. She developed social media best practices training for staff, parents and students and created the district’s first crisis communications plan.
In her role as the Communications Director at Fresno County, she started as a team of one and expanded it to include an Emmy-Award winning photographer/videographer and a bilingual outreach and marketing specialist. Her communications team has won several awards. Both the CAO and District Attorney’s Offices received the 2023 CAPIO Epic Award of Achievement in the Preparedness/Public Safety Education Campaign category for their Fresno County Fentanyl Awareness Campaign as well as the 2023 Achievement Award from the National Association of Counties (NACo). The Juvenile Correctional Officer Promotional Video won the 2023 CAPIO Award of Distinction for In-House Video Production and the Fresno County Water Flows & Flood Warnings won the 2024 CAPIO Award of Distinction for In-House Video Production PSA. She and two of her colleagues won the Frank Potter Cowan Crisis Communicator of the Year Award in 2024. The team’s 2024 Traffic Safety Campaign received the CAPIO Award of Distinction in the Preparedness/Public Safety Education Campaign category.
She has served CAPIO for more than four years as the Central California Regional and Membership Chair, President-Elect/Treasurer, and now President. She’s a proud Star Wars/Marvel/DC/Harry Potter geek, women’s ministry director at her church, and loves to travel, watch movies, read books, and spend time with her family, Golden Retriever Buddy, and Doodle-mutt Chewy.
Speaking At
