Bill Toliver
Executive Director | Strategy

After 20 years developing successful branding and communications for Fortune 500 clients like Westin Hotels and Hewlett-Packard, Bill has spent the last several years bringing non-traditional thinking to organizations involved in social change. As executive director of The Matale Line, he has helped a number of international nonprofits and foundations—from The U.S. Fund for UNICEF to The Oprah Winfrey Foundation—reframe their approach to strategic decision-making and communications. Bill has developed a solid reputation for helping organizations define their brand, and then using that new “touchstone” as way to improve communications, strategic planning and fundraising. His experience in strategic communications has afforded him the opportunity to consult with, and make keynote presentations to, a range of audiences—among them, American Marketing Association Symposium on Higher Education, Association of Fundraising Professionals Annual Conference, Deutscher Fundraising Kongress (Germany), Festival del Fundraising (Italy), International Fundraising Congress (Amsterdam), National Council of Nonprofits International Conference, United Way International Leadership Forum. Bill grew up in the developing world, and, by the time he was 18, traveled to more than 30 countries.

 

 

 

Teresa Riefflin-Ellis
Director | Client Services

A founding partner of The Matale Line, Riff (no one calls her Teresa) has more than 20 years of experience in production, process improvement and direct marketing. At award-winning DM agency Herring Newman, Riff ran national and international programs for Apple, Hewlett-Packard, Nike, Microsoft and Westin Hotels. Several of her campaigns, in fact, were honored by the Direct Marketing Association’s International ECHO Awards and by the John Caples International Awards, two of the most prestigious award shows in the field. At Think Inc., a nationally renowned interactive agency, Riff acquired a knack for applying her DM sensibilities to the Web, in particular, online social networking, a passion she continues to harness for clients here at The Matale Line. Riff is also responsible for a number of production and process systems that have saved our clients a great deal of time and money. She is our go-to resource as we are working with clients to find the most cost-effective way to implement their communications systems, and is the lead strategist in helping them become more self-sufficient. Riff has a husband, one son and three dogs: Dan, Kirby, Donnie, Penny and Gary, respectively.

 

 

 

Paul Singer
Executive Director | Creative

After a youth spent drumming—in marching bands, pep bands, symphonic bands, jazz bands and three very loud, very forgettable rock bands—Paul earned two bachelor’s degrees from Michigan State University. He then traded in his drumsticks for an AP Stylebook, and joined Truscott Rossman, Michigan’s premier bipartisan public affairs firm, where he wrote under the unrelenting red pen of a former Detroit News political bureau chief. Before long, Paul was recruited to edit Writer’s Digest magazine and soon was promoted, overseeing creative services for Writer's Digest Books, North Light Art Books, HOW Design Books and Story Press (the latter, the imprint that helped launch the likes of Truman Capote, Norman Mailer and Charles Bukowski). Paul went on to hold creative director posts at GYRO, a digital advertising agency, named “Top B2B Agency” in Europe and the United States nearly two dozen times, and at BBDO’s digital agency, Proximity Worldwide—where he worked on GE, P&G, MillerCoors and a bevy of other blue-chip brands. His work has been featured in CA Advertising Annual, CA Interactive Annual, Graphis Advertising Annual, Graphis Interactive Annual, and National ADDYs, as well as in Ad Age, Adweek, Archive, PRINT and Creativity magazines. Paul is married with two daughters, is completing a master’s degree in philosophy and, much to the chagrin of his neighbors, is once again playing drums.

 

 

 

Brad Roberts
Director | Art/Design

Nearly as tall as he is talented, Brad studied theology in England for a year before returning to the states to complete his bachelor’s degree at the University of Washington. After graduating, he moved quickly into both advertising and an old house. Between home improvement projects, Brad has directed visual communications for clients such as Hewlett-Packard and Westin Hotels at Herring Newman, an award-winning direct marketing agency; ShopNow.com and F5 Networks at Think Inc., a nationally renowned interactive agency; and U.S. Fund for UNICEF, Oprah’s Angel Network, Good Samaritan Society and PetSmart Charities here at The Matale Line. Brad is married with two sons and a daughter. In his free time, he can be found on the links, golfing, more times than not, in the rain.