Leadership //

Angela Stiff | Managing Principal and Creative Director

Angela is Copperwing’s founder and serves as both Managing Principal and Creative Director. Copperwing quickly became one of Alabama’s leading communications firms after first opening its doors just ten years ago in 1999. An identity management firm known for strategic thinking and creativity, Copperwing has served accounts such as Neptune Technology Group, Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama, Jackson Thornton, Jim Wilson & Associates, Norment Security Group’s Norshield Division and the Business Council of Alabama.

Angela’s brand-building for these and other companies has been recognized with Communicator Awards, ADDY® awards from the American Advertising Federation (AAF), and the prestigious Starr Award from the Montgomery chapter of the Public Relations Council of Alabama (PRCA). She has been named three times as Designer of the Year and twice as Copywriter of the Year by the local AAF chapter.

Prior to founding Copperwing, Angela was tapped by Gannett’s Montgomery Advertiser to produce the multimedia “Choose to Know” campaign. The campaign won the Gannett International Marketing Competition’s top award.

Angela has also served as art director with Southern Progress Corporation, publisher of Southern Living and Southern Accent magazines, and Regions Financial Corporation.

Angela is a proud graduate of Auburn University, where she earned a BFA in Visual Communications.

Nell Rankin | Principal and Account Director

A 25-year veteran of the advertising industry, Nell joined Copperwing in 2000 after a two-year leadership role as major accounts supervisor and then as strategic marketing manager with Gannett’s Montgomery Advertiser. She spearheaded the major accounts department, working with all major national and regional retail accounts, then managed marketing for the newspaper itself, developing promotional and media alliances. Nell launched and edited special sections for the paper while coordinating and drafting annual strategic and marketing plans for the news organization as a whole.

Since her acceptance as principal at Copperwing, Nell has directed the accounts and marketing initiatives of clients including Neptune Technology Group, Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama, Jackson Thornton, The Shoppes at EastChase, Holloway Credit Solutions and Waterscape Marine.

Nell is a recipient of the prestigious International Council of Shopping Center MAXI award, and her account work has been recognized by the American Advertising Federation’s ADDY® awards, the Communicator Awards and the Montgomery, Alabama chapter of the Public Relations Council of Alabama (PRCA).

Nell is married and enjoys reading, cooking and spending time with family.

Brian Key | Account Executive

Executive director of the Alabama Association of Habitat Affiliates. Public relations and marketing manager for Legacy, a statewide environmental awareness initiative. Area marketing manager for Sprint Nextel. In less than a decade, Brian has developed an impressive cache of credentials, one that benefits the clientele of Copperwing Design.

A member of the Public Relations Council of Alabama, he has provided his expertise to the marketing and communications support team of Montgomery’s Jubilee CityFest since 2005. In short order, Brian’s leadership has been recognized, as he was named its media coordinator in 2008.

Brian added a Masters degree in public administration from Auburn University Montgomery after earning his Bachelor of Science degree in advertising and journalism from Troy University – where he serves as a board member for the Journalism Alumni Association.

Actively involved in his church as a Sunday School teacher, choir member and Worship team member, Brian was named the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce’s Ambassador of the Year in 2006. He enjoys golf, sports and spending time with his wife and two boys.

Shawn Constance | Digital Media Director

For the better part of a decade, Shawn Constance has designed and engineered software solutions for a variety of successful projects for Aflac and other organizations, including the U.S. Army. Constance gives Copperwing a technological edge as a programmer, troubleshooter, efficiency expert and team leader.

An expert in web and portal technology, he develops programs for digital media with an eye for simplicity, elegance and ease of maintenance. Constance is a Sun Certified Java Programmer and NTSSI Certified (INFOSEC) Professional, offering extensive skills in Java EE and .NET, as well as Ajax, DOM, Mashups, social computing and other web services. He provides technical services on both mainframe and distributed systems in accordance with Service Oriented Architecture (SOA).

A graduate of Mississippi College, Constance earned a Masters degree in Software Engineering from Auburn University.