Kristina von Tish, CPSM
Since 2019
Active
SMPS Virginia member
AEC marketing professional
As Marketing and Communications Content Strategist at Quinn Evans, Kristina creates high-impact communications that engage audiences and enhance the brand of the 2024 AIA Architecture Firm Award winner. She brings a distinctive background in museum exhibition design to AEC communications, leveraging her passion for architecture, art, and history to tell authentic brand stories. Her work focuses on content strategy for one of the nation’s largest women-owned architecture and historic preservation firms, specializing in cultural, institutional, and educational projects.
Kristina’s career at Quinn Evans spans nearly nine years across three progressive roles, beginning as Marketing Coordinator in the Washington, DC office in 2017, advancing to Senior Marketing Coordinator specializing in complex federal and state government proposals, and evolving to her current strategic communications position. She has led proposal efforts for cultural realm projects and government clients across all geographic areas, supporting a 200+ person firm with offices throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest.
Her unique professional foundation combines museum studies with architectural marketing expertise. Before joining Quinn Evans, she held marketing positions at SmithGroupJJR, where she designed proposals for cultural and higher education clients and coordinated award submissions. Her museum experience includes roles at the National Museum of the United States Navy as Exhibition Specialist, Pope-Leighey House as Tour Guide interpreting Frank Lloyd Wright architecture, and internships at the Chrysler Museum of Art and Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art.
This intersection of museum exhibition design and AEC marketing enables Kristina to approach architectural communications with the storytelling sophistication and audience engagement strategies typically found in cultural institutions. Her Master of Arts in Museum Studies from George Washington University and Bachelor of Arts in Art History and French from the College of William & Mary provide the scholarly foundation that distinguishes her content development approach.
Kristina serves as CPSM Committee Chair for SMPS Virginia, where she leads twice-annual study groups for professionals preparing for the Certified Professional Services Marketer exam. Her leadership of Virginia’s CPSM education program provides structured guidance, exam preparation resources, and peer support that helps AEC marketing professionals across the Commonwealth achieve certification. The chapter offers exam fee reimbursement ($275) for study group participants who successfully complete the CPSM credential, demonstrating Virginia’s investment in professional development.
As CPSM Chair, Kristina regularly presents on the value of the CPSM credential and leads informational sessions that introduce the certification to emerging and established marketing professionals. She emphasizes how the credential proves proficiency in the six SMPS Domains of Practice: Market Research, Marketing Plan, Client and Business Development, SOQs/Proposals, Promotional Activity, and Information, Resource and Organizational Management.
Her thought leadership extends beyond Virginia through presentations at multiple SMPS regional conferences. She presented at Building Virginia 2024 and Amplify AEC 2024, sharing insights on AEC marketing best practices. She also presented at “Be Extraordinary: The SMPS Southeastern Regional Conference” in March 2022 and at “MERGE: The SMPS Northeast Regional Conference” in March 2018, bringing her expertise to audiences across multiple regions.
Kristina’s LEED Green Associate credential demonstrates her commitment to sustainable design principles, enabling her to effectively communicate Quinn Evans’ sustainability leadership and stewardship-focused preservation approach. This technical knowledge enhances her ability to translate complex preservation and sustainability concepts for diverse audiences.
She describes her approach to AEC marketing as leveraging her museum exhibition design background to create engaging content that tells brand stories in authentic and relevant ways. As she notes in her professional summary, “I imbue my work in AEC communications with my passion for architecture, art, and history; I’m thrilled to be a part of the process that breathes new life into old buildings and creates the ‘historic buildings’ of the future.”
Quinn Evans, under President and CEO Alyson Steele, FAIA, LEED AP, has grown to become one of the nation’s largest women-owned design practices, with 56% women ownership among 36 women shareholders. The firm received the 2024 AIA Architecture Firm Award and was certified as a Women’s Business Enterprise in 2024. Kristina’s marketing and communications work supports a portfolio that includes the National Air and Space Museum modernization, Michigan Central Station redevelopment, and numerous cultural landmarks throughout the United States.
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