51吃瓜

Recorded September 22, 2024.

Panelists include: 

AmySue Mertens (BS 鈥�96 and MS ’97, advertising) has 20+ years of communications, community engagement and corporate responsibility experience spanning the nonprofit, public, and private sectors. She鈥檚 worked at all levels of government, including five years with her alma mater at University of Illinois Extension. In 2017, AmySue was recruited by Ogilvy鈥攖he world鈥檚 most awarded creative agency鈥攖o direct community engagement for FEMA鈥檚 Great Lakes Coastal Flood Study. She went on to garner and lead the Chicago Department of Public Health鈥檚 COVID-19 vaccination marketing contract totaling $27 million including media buying. AmySue pivoted again to work with Ogilvy Consulting as a subject matter expert for Verizon鈥檚 corporate responsibility initiatives. Always looking toward the future of her field, she recently received a Certificate in Sustainability Studies focusing on ESG/SDG. AmySue plays ice hockey, worm composts, and lives in a historic Marshall Field鈥檚 row house in Chicago鈥檚 Bucktown neighborhood with Bear, her newly adopted foster dog. AmySue Mertens earned her master鈥檚 and bachelor鈥檚 degrees in Advertising from the College 51吃瓜 at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Aaron Stash (BS 鈥�00, advertising) is a 24-year veteran of the aviation industry beginning his career as United Airlines鈥� in-house Copywriter, then MileagePlus Brand Manager to Advertising Lead on the relaunch of the 鈥淔ly the Friendly Skies鈥� campaign before pivoting to Environmental Sustainability and Social Impact. He led United鈥檚 first, public greenhouse gas reduction goal and created the airline industry鈥檚 first amenity kit upcycling program which impacts over 100,000 people in need, annually. He managed relationships with more than 50 nonprofit organizations and built employee engagement programs for a global workforce. He鈥檚 a theatre kid, a Disney adult, a tech geek and avid traveler 鈥� who once had 3,000 Assembly Hall (State Farm Center) audience members shaking their hips like Elvis during an IUB (Illini Student Musicals) Mom鈥檚 Day Weekend production of 鈥淛oseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.鈥� 

Melissa Wagner (BS 鈥�18, journalism) is currently the Philanthropy & Community Relations Manager at Zebra Technologies where she is responsible for driving outreach and advocacy efforts that further the company鈥檚 vision of inclusion and diversity. This includes strategic philanthropy, employee volunteerism, community relations and Inclusion & Diversity outreach. Melissa joined Zebra as an intern six years ago, originally focused on Corporate Social Responsibility communications. In 2023, Melissa moved into HR on the Inclusion & Diversity team to dedicate her time fully to philanthropy and community relations. Melissa manages all of Zebra鈥檚 strategic philanthropic partnerships, administration of Volunteer Paid Time Off and Donations for Doers programs, external outreach, and more than 30 Zebra Gives teams globally. Melissa is based at Zebra鈥檚 global headquarters in Lincolnshire, Ill., and resides in Chicago. She was recognized as a 鈥楻ising Star鈥� in PR NEWS鈥� 2022 Top Women Awards. Melissa holds a bachelor鈥檚 degree from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign where she majored in news-editorial journalism and minored in public relations.

Recorded March 26, 2024.

Panelists include:

Victoria Kao (BS 鈥�14, journalism)is currently the Lead Creative Strategist for Telco and Gaming clients at Snapchat Inc. She designs and creates Augmented Reality (AR) experiences for major global brands like Electronic Arts, Activision, Roblox, AT&T and MAX. In her 7 years at Snapchat, she’s developed over 100 AR builds that have won awards such as Media Plan of the Year – Best Use of AI / VR / Machine Learning, made headlines in AdWeek, and her work was showcased at the 2023 Cannes Lion International Festival of Creativity. She also authored Snapchat’s gaming playbook: “How to Launch a Console or Mobile Game on Snapchat.” Outside of work, Victoria writes travel guides filled with detailed itineraries for friends and family to enjoy. She resides in New York City but needs to visit UIUC again– especially Murphys.

Nikki Newsome (BS 鈥�03, advertising) is the Chief Culture Officer and Site Lead at Meta. Through Nikki鈥檚 dynamic leadership, she has consistently implemented new employee engagement initiatives and professional development opportunities by creating powerful and memorable office events which have featured some of Meta鈥檚 prominent global executives, local celebrities and elected officials, all while maintaining the office’s spirit of community investment and philanthropy. Named one of Chicago Business Journals Women of Influence, a Crain’s Chicago Business 40 Under 40, a 2024 Leadership of Greater Chicago Fellow and a Chicago Urban League IMPACT Fellow, Nikki is a prolific speaker, teacher and motivator. She works to manifest her strategic vision by implementing key principles that guide Meta Chicago鈥檚 time, talent and resources through maintaining culture, which is essential for Meta Chicago, which has been named a Chicago Tribune Top Place to Work two years in a row.

Amy Wang (BS 鈥�12, advertising) is currently a Sales Team Lead at TikTok, working across the CPG vertical on the PepsiCo business. Amy Wang is a seasoned marketing professional with over 12 years of experience in digital advertising. Her advertising career began on the media agency side, working with clients such as Pfizer and American Express. She then joined TripleLift, an ad tech start up, for 7 years on the sales team that ultimately led to her current role at TikTok.

Recorded February 6, 2024.

Panelists include: 

Adam Harris (BS 鈥�09, journalism) is a former producer, anchor and host for the number one sports radio station in Chicago (670 The Score). After nine years in the radio business, he noticed a desire to impact people at a more intimate, 鈥渃ommunity鈥�, level. That desire led him to Arlington Heights where he became the Head of Communications and Storytelling. This is his ninth year telling the District’s story and connecting with the District’s community.

Derek Russell (BS 鈥�08, advertising) is the Manager of Global Sponsorship Activation at United Airlines, charged with exploring, negotiating, strategy setting, and activating United鈥檚 sponsorships across the globe. Derek has built a career on building strategic, relevant, and successful cross-functional sponsorship programs; from initial conversation, deal structure and negotiation, through asset management and leading cross-functional campaigns.

In 7 years at United, Derek has led activation strategy for United across 10+ of United鈥檚 sponsorship properties including the NYC Marathon, Team USA, Golden State Warriors, Chicago Bears, San Francisco 49ers, and several others. Most recently, Derek has overseen the award-winning United Airlines 鈥� Golden State Warriors Franchise Fund program which supports minority owned businesses in the Bay Area with the training necessary to work with enterprise-level corporations. The program has won awards at the club and NBA level in inclusive innovation.

Prior to working at United, Derek was employed at TSMGI, a sports, events, and promotional marketing agency in Deerfield, IL. While at TSMGI Derek held various account management roles supporting several clients, including Valvoline, USG, Aon, Motorola Solutions, and Bosch.

Derek holds an MBA in Management from DePaul University, and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He lives in the Jefferson Park Neighborhood of Chicago with his wife and two daughters.

Tommy Polcyn (BS 鈥�19, journalism) currently is an award-winning Cinematographer-Editor, who works full-time for Banner Studios in Chicago. His primary focus is long-form documentary style productions centered around the Chicago Blackhawks series “Every Shift.” 

In addition to his work with the Blackhawks, Tommy also works with a variety of other Chicago sports organizations such as the Cubs, Bears, Whitesox, and Fire, as well as a mix of commercial clients including Wilson, Weber, Anheuser Busch, Pop Tarts, and more.

Recorded October 4, 2023.

Panelists include: 

Joan Cetera (BS 鈥�97, journalism) is currently the Vice President of Communications at PepsiCo Foods North America, where she is responsible for internal and external communications across customers, employees, the media and other key stakeholders. Before serving in this role, Joan led public relations strategy and reputation management for Frito-Lay and its portfolio of snack brands. Prior to joining Frito-Lay in 2015, she served in various leadership roles directing consumer communications across a variety of brands and companies in both domestic and global public relations at the most highly regarded public relations agencies. Her expertise spans industries: from consumer packaged goods and health and wellness to home products and financial services. Joan holds an MBA in marketing from the Keller Graduate School of Management and a B.S. in news-editorial journalism from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Joe Hercik (BS 鈥�04, advertising) is currently the product owner for the Quantum Computing team at State Farm’s Innovation Group. Over the past four years, he has been a part of horizontally-focused teams and enterprise-wide initiatives in roles that have involved driving out leadership directives and strategies, creating various media deliverables, as well as coordinating department meetings and executive-level council sessions. Most of his responsibilities at State Farm to date have centered around internal communications, change management, and employee engagement. Prior to State Farm, Joe spent 15 years in the nonprofit industry working with organizations of different sizes and with varying scopes of impact, establishing or growing fundraising initiatives for nearly every aspect of the philanthropic lifecycle. Beginning with sales, marketing, and communications roles, he eventually moved to operations and project management work, before settling into database administration where he enabled business units to leverage the technology they relied upon to be successful.

Angie Hummels (BS 鈥�01, journalism) is currently the Dealer Communications Strategy Manager at Caterpillar Inc., an American construction, mining, and other engineering equipment manufacturer. The company is the world’s largest manufacturer of construction equipment.  She has a rich background in global, multi-channel communications and brand management, project leadership, event planning, speechwriting, crisis response, customer experience, and employee awareness/engagement programs. Angie has held other roles at Caterpillar, Inc., including serving as the Marketing Communications Manager for Caterpillar Defense, Recruitment Marketing and Communications Lead, and Communications and Talent Development Consultant. Prior to her tenure at Caterpillar, she also worked as a Speechwriter at Bradley University, Director of Public Relations at the Alzheimer’s Association and Newsroom Assignment Editor for the Journal Star in Peoria, IL. Angie obtained her Bachelor of Science in Journalism (鈥�01) and Master of Business Administration (鈥�21) from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. 

Recorded September 8, 2023.

Panelists include: 

Mike Dalton (BS 鈥�12, journalism) is currently the Programmatic Sales Director at Raptive. Mike has a dynamic background in adtech, specializing in programmatic and social media sales with a track record of driving revenue growth and forging strategic partnerships, most recently in alcohol/CPG, retail and travel sectors. As the Programmatic Sales Director at Raptive, Mike has developed innovative sales strategies that capitalize on data-driven insights to optimize results. He spearheads revenue generation while nurturing strong client relationships within the competitive landscape of retail and travel industries. Before joining Raptive, Mike held roles at Twitter as the Senior Client Partner for Alcohol/CPG, Mike facilitated impactful advertising campaigns and helped brands maximize their presence in the digital space in the midst of a public transition of ownership. He also worked at Teads, as the Senior Sales Director, he led the Mid-Market Team, driving revenue growth and shaping Teads’ market position within the SSP space. Additionally, during this time at Tumblr/Yahoo his was the Sales Director where Mike worked to pair the power of Yahoo (former owner) and Tumblr to deliver innovative social solutions for brands looking to reach the unique audience set on the social platform. Mike earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Broadcast Journalism, with a Minor in Cinema Studies, from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2012.

Stephanie Macias (BS 鈥�16, advertising) is currently the Inside Sales Account Executive at SpotOn. Before SpotOn, Stephanie worked at DoorDash as a Regional Account Executive and Sales Development Representative. In these roles, she was able to manage a portfolio of over 200 restaurant partners across multiple markets, developing and executing strategies to increase revenue, retention, and loyalty. She has also worked at companies such as Ruby鈥檚 Resaurant Inc., LaSalle Network, and the Bradford Group. Stephanie obtained a Bachelor of Science in Advertising from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. 

Recorded March 1, 2023.

Panelists include: 

Adam Hamilton (BS ’11, advertising; MBA ’19)
Adam is currently the Global Social & Digital Director at McDonald’s. Adam is a digital and social media expert with experience in digital content strategy, building and executing multi-channel programs, branded and sponsored content and social activations, and community management. Having worked for two of the world鈥檚 most iconic brands, McDonald鈥檚 and Caterpillar, he understands what it takes to build and lead a communications team in complex, global organizations. Once he traded bulldozers for burgers, Adam built McDonald鈥檚 first team dedicated to brand-led, creative storytelling鈥攖he Global Story Lab. Organized like a true newsroom, an Editor in Chief leads a team of storytellers who are 鈥渞eporters鈥� covering key reputational beats. The team established a tone of voice to ensure content is consistent, recognizable, authentic and uniquely McDonald鈥檚. Most recently, in his expanded role as Director of Global Social and Digital, he transformed the corporate channels ecosystem, creating a new corporate website and newsroom, kickstarting an SEO strategy, unifying social handles, establishing a community engagement program and launching the CEO鈥檚 social presence. While he鈥檚 lovin鈥� moving the needle in brand reputation, Adam feels his most important role as a leader at McDonald鈥檚 is in the company鈥檚 PRIDE network.

Steven Pratten (BS ’15, media and cinema studies)
Steven is currently the senior digital media manager at Gies College of Business, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He collaborates with professors and instructional staff to produce, record, and edit video for the launch of several online-open-courses on coursera.org. He has been able to reach over 20,000+ prospective students. Previously, he worked as a multimedia content editor for Smile Politely magazine in Urbana-Champaign. He produced, recorded and edit weekly video features that spotlight the political, artistic, and business culture. He also managed digital media content for publication in articles and on social media platforms including photography and graphic design.

Recorded February 1, 2023.

Panelists include: 

Maggie Huynh (BS 鈥�14, journalism)
Public Relations Coordinator at Chicago Police Department

Amelia Sacco (BA 鈥�14, media and cinema studies)
Production Coordinator at Edelman 

Recorded November 1, 2022.

Panelists include: 

Alex Hedlund (BS ’05, media studies; MS ’06, journalism)
Head of Development & Production at Eat The Cat

Barb Markoff (BS ’94, journalism)
Investigative Producer at ABC 7 News Chicago 

Catherine Schramm (BS ’96, advertising)
Freelancer at Smooth Still & Motion Production  

Libby Smith (BS ’15, media and cinema studies)
Production Manager at Nickelodeon

Recorded February 9, 2022.

Panelists include:

Stephen Feder, Producer, T-Street Productions (BS ’02, Media Studies) 

Emma Miller, Senior Vice President, Scripted Development and Programming, AMC Networks (BS ’08, Media Studies)

Mike Vainisi, Head of Original Content, ATTN: (BS ’08, Journalism)