Paula Stone has broad and extensive experience and expertise in the fields of communications. As a teacher, former First Lady of Michigan and public relations practitioner, she has effectively guided individuals and organizations in meeting their communications needs. Currently, she is Founder and President of The Paula Blanchard Companies, a public relations consulting firm with clients in Detroit, Lansing and Windsor, Ontario. She also is a partner in McCarthy ▪ Blanchard, which specializes in presentation training for executives. Prior to those ventures, she was Director of Midwest Regional Communications for EDS. She is a member of the Executive Committee and the Board of Directors of the BoarsHead Theater in Lansing and a member of the Governing Board of the Athena Powerlink program in Lansing. Stone also sits on the Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce PAC Board. In 2008, she was given the Athena Award by the Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce in recognition of her leadership in helping women in the Lansing area lead and succeed. As Michigan’s First Lady from 1983 - 1987, she served as a top-level advisor to two former directors of the Michigan Department of Commerce, where she established the Office of Michigan Products Promotion and directed its activities for several years. Active in the promotion of travel and tourism, she was one of Michigan’s chief spokespersons. In December 1996, Governor John Engler appointed her as one of the five original members of the Michigan Gaming Control Board, which licensed three casinos in Detroit. He reappointed her to another three-year term in 1999. In May 2001, she was elected president of the Women’s Economic Club (now called Inforum), the largest organization of its kind in the country, after serving as its vice president and president-elect. During her term as president, she spearheaded the creation of Inforum’s Center for Leadership. In 2003, she helped found Inforum’s first chapter, located in Lansing, Michigan.