Ysabel Bilbao started Bilbao & Co. in 2015, a public affairs and public education firm in Idaho. She has 15 years of experience in developing messages and disseminating information to inform and educate the public.
Through her extensive experience both on and off the airwaves, Ysabel is an expert in crisis management and message development as well as has an in-depth understanding of how to get ahead of a story.
Before venturing out on her own, Ysabel was a principal at Gallatin Public Affairs where she worked on several issues pieces including outreach and education for Your Health Idaho and assisted in developing messaging that focused on road safety, the economy and the environment for the Right Truck for Idaho coalition. Most recently she acted as support in messaging and public engagement for Advantage Dental’s brand development and public awareness campaign in Idaho.
Before joining Gallatin, Ysabel was the regional integrated communications officer for the University of Idaho. Based in Boise, she helped promote and expand the university’s brand through earned media in southern and eastern Idaho. Ysabel worked closely with university leadership and helped guide the university in its crisis communications and legislative agendas.
Ysabel is an award-winning journalist who has spent her career covering the news from around the state of Idaho. Before entering the world of public relations, she worked at KTVB-Channel 7 where she anchored the Saturday Morning News and reported on a number of stories, specializing in crime, courts, and the legislature. Prior to joining the KTVB team, Ysabel worked as a general assignment reporter for KIFI-Channel 8 in Idaho Falls.
Ysabel served on Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter’s Public Information Emergency Response team, PIER. She is trained in the National Incident Management System by FEMA, and the Bureau of Homeland Security.
In 2012 Ysabel was named one the Idaho Business Review’s Accomplished Under 40. Ysabel attended Arizona State University where she majored in broadcast journalism as part of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Telecommunications. She also minored in Spanish after attending Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea (University of the Basque Country) in Bilbao, Spain.
Ysabel is a native of Nampa, Idaho. She is active in the Boise community, the Basque community and has served on the board of directors for several area organizations and non-profits.