Rebecca Elder, CPSM
Since 2020
Active
SMPS Nashville member
AEC marketing professional
Rebecca leads strategic pursuit and proposal development for Arcadis, a global design and consultancy firm with over 36,000 professionals across 70 countries delivering sustainable solutions for infrastructure, water, environment, and resilience projects worldwide. As Pursuit & Proposal Specialist based in Nashville, she manages the complete capture process from opportunity identification through proposal submission and interview preparation, supporting complex pursuits across transportation infrastructure, water resources, climate resilience, and environmental engineering serving federal, state, and municipal clients.
Her expertise spans capture planning and strategy development, comprehensive market research and competitive intelligence, client account planning and relationship management, and proposal leadership from kickoff through quality review. Rebecca brings specialized knowledge in Oracle Sales Cloud pipeline management, proactive procurement tracking, and strategic positioning for major infrastructure pursuits throughout Tennessee and the Southeast region.
With over 13 years of professional services marketing experience, she has built a distinguished career supporting civil engineering, landscape architecture, and transportation firms across both private and public sectors. Her comprehensive background includes seven years at RaganSmith (recently acquired by Pape-Dawson), where she advanced from Assistant Marketing Coordinator to Marketing Manager, leading proposal development for land planning, civil engineering, transportation, and landscape architecture projects including the Hilton BNA Nashville Airport Terminal and major mixed-use developments across Tennessee.
Rebecca demonstrates exceptional professional leadership through her CPSM certification achievement and dedication to advancing marketing excellence in professional services. Her commitment to professional development reflects the high standards expected of marketing professionals supporting global infrastructure and environmental consulting firms addressing climate resilience, sustainable water management, and community infrastructure challenges.
As owner and photographer of Rebecca Vaughan Photography since 2008, Rebecca brings unique creative expertise to AEC marketing through her professional photography skills. Her 18-year photography practice specializing in events, weddings, portraits, and sports photography demonstrates sustained entrepreneurial commitment and visual storytelling capabilities that enhance proposal presentations and marketing communications. This creative background complements her strategic marketing work, bringing compelling visual narratives to complex infrastructure proposals.
Her early career foundation includes newspaper photography for The Daily Beacon at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, where she covered sports, meetings, concerts, and campus events. This journalism experience built essential skills in fast-paced deadline management, visual storytelling, and content creation that translate directly into competitive proposal environments where clarity and compelling presentation determine success.
Rebecca’s diverse professional background includes communications leadership at Nashville Sports Council and Woodmont Christian Church, where she managed social media platforms, developed e-newsletters, and created marketing graphics. Her Bachelor’s degree in Communications from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville provides theoretical foundation for her practical marketing expertise across proposal development, content strategy, and visual communications.
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