Mary Cracchiolo-Spain, Communications Director, MGM Resorts International, to serve on the Military One Coast Board

Military One Coast, a division of the Mississippi Gulf Coast Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce Mary Cracchiolo-Spain, Communications Director for MGM Resorts International, will be joining the Military One Coast Board of Directors.

A 30-year veteran of the Mississippi hospitality and tourism industry, Mary Cracchiolo Spain serves as the Communications Director for MGM Resorts International and is responsible for strategic development and execution of external communications programs for Beau Rivage Resort & Casino in Biloxi.
 
Cracchiolo Spain spearheads national, regional and local media relations, manages community marketing sponsorships, supports community relations initiatives and plays an active role in corporate social responsibility initiatives.
 
Prior to joining MGM Resorts in 2001, Cracchiolo Spain spent three years managing the South Mississippi Tourism Office for the Mississippi Development Authority. Prior to that, she served as the Director of Communications for the Mississippi Gulf Coast Convention & Visitors Bureau where she was responsible for marketing, advertising, public relations, inquiry fulfillment and research for Mississippi’s top tourism destination.
 
Cracchiolo Spain currently serves on the board of the Mississippi Tourism Association Political Action Committee and recently completed a five-year appointment on the Mississippi Gulf Coast Regional Convention & Visitors Bureau’s (Coastal Mississippi) board of commissioners, serving as board president in FY21.
 
Cracchiolo Spain has been an active Red Cross volunteer and board member since 2001 and served two terms as Chairperson of the Southeast Mississippi Chapter of the American Red Cross, as well as the American Red Cross Biloxi Community Advisory Board.
 
A former mentor for the Gulfport School District and member of the Gulfport Planning Commission, Cracchiolo Spain is active in the community and non-profit organizations that focus on youth and education including serving on the board of the directors for the NASA-inspired Moontree Foundation and as a volunteer for the Mississippi Aviation Heritage Museum and St. Patrick Catholic High School PTO.
 
Cracchiolo Spain served as the 2014 Chairperson of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Travel & Tourism Section, a national network of travel, tourism and hospitality public relations professionals. In 2014, she became one of only 4,000 public relations professionals globally to earn the Accreditation in Public Relations (APR), one of the highest marks of distinction that a public relations professional can acquire.
 
Cracchiolo Spain is a past recipient of the Southern Public Relations Federation’s (SPRF) Professional Achievement Award, the organization’s highest honor, and is a past board member of SPRF, an association of more than 1,400 public relations professionals from Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida.
 
She is a past president of the Public Relations Association of Mississippi (PRAM) and past president of the PRAM-Mississippi Beach chapter.
 
Cracchiolo Spain graduated Magna cum Laude from Park University with a bachelor’s degree in Marketing. She is a graduate of Leadership Mississippi, Leadership Gulf Coast, the Gulf Coast Business Council's Master’s Program, MGM's Marketing Senior Management Development Program and the Southeast Tourism Society’s  three-year Tourism Marketing College.
 
In 2017, Cracchiolo Spain was recognized as a ONE COAST AWARD Community Leader. Cracchiolo Spain has also been recognized as one of the Mississippi Gulf Coast’s “Top 10 Business Leaders Under 40” and one of “Mississippi’s 50 Leading Businesswomen.”
 
Cracchiolo Spain is a member of St. James Catholic Church. She is the proud wife of husband Mark Spain and 15-year old son Logan Spain.