Stephanie Cepak adds to mayor’s recent second term appointments, advancing
One Chattanooga Vision.
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (May 5, 2025) – Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly has
appointed Stephanie Cepak, an award-winning journalist and strategic
communications professional, to the role of press secretary.
Cepak has lived in Chattanooga with her family since 2020. Like many people
who migrated to the area during the COVID-19 pandemic, she took advantage
of EPB’s world’s fastest internet to work remotely. This included roles at
two creative agencies specializing in strategic communications planning and
tactical execution for issue advocacy and candidate campaigns. Cepak
oversaw media relations for multiple state and local ballot initiatives and
clients across sectors. She’s also worked as a freelance communications
consultant and writer.
“Chattanooga has a tremendous talent bank and we’re excited to welcome
someone with the level of strategic communications experience that
Stephanie possesses,” said Mayor Tim Kelly. “She will build on the city’s
continued efforts to communicate clearly and consistently with residents,
business owners, and everyone who contributes to making the Scenic City a
great place to live, work, and play.”
Cepak previously lived in Michigan, where she oversaw communications for
the Honors College at Michigan State University. In that role, she led a
research-based rebranding initiative and helped raise a historic amount of
money for the Honors College during the university’s capital campaign.
No stranger to higher education, her husband, Anthony, is an assistant
professor at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga. Together, they are
raising two children who attend Hamilton County Schools.
Cepak loves exploring Chattanooga and meeting people who call this place
home, including lending her professional skills to local organizations such
as the League of Women Voters and Forward Tennessee, along with co-leading
her daughter’s Girl Scout Troop.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Michigan State University,
and cut her teeth as a newspaper reporter covering local government and
business news in Frankfort, Indiana. That is where she met her future
husband. When the two moved to Michigan, Cepak worked as a staff writer
covering state politics and policy for an online news organization. During
that time, she won multiple awards from Capitolbeat, and was named one of
the best state-based political reporters by readers of The Washington Post.
Cepak will join the city’s communications team, led by Senior Advisor Eric
Holl.
“We’re very excited to have secured a candidate of Stephanie’s talent and
experience, and we know she’ll be an asset to the city as our press
secretary,” Holl said. “Her experience reporting and providing commentary
for print, digital, radio, and broadcast news outlets, and working in
public relations for two decades will bring just what we need to the team.”
Media outlets are encouraged to continue using the
mayorpress@chattanooga.gov email address to make inquiries.
“I want to thank the mayor for appointing me to serve as press secretary
for the great city of Chattanooga,” Cepak said. “I love the power of
stories and how they communicate so many things - our wants and needs, how
we seek to change the world around us, and how we are successful at making
an impact. I look forward to helping tell the next chapter of Chattanooga’s
story as we implement Mayor Kelly’s One Chattanooga vision.”