From the newsroom to communications leadership

My career has taken me from covering communities as a journalist to leading communications for one of Virginia Tech’s largest audiences. Along the way, the scope got bigger, the problems more complicated and the teams larger.

Virginia Tech

2015–2026

I joined Virginia Tech in 2015 as a web editor and, over the next 11 years, took on increasingly broad leadership roles spanning digital communications, alumni engagement, and philanthropy.

Director of Advancement Communications | 2021–2026
Led an eight-person communications team and an integrated portfolio serving alumni and donors across content, digital, email, social media, design, photography, video, events, our flagship alumni magazine.

Director of Communications for Alumni Relations | 2017–2021
Led communications for Virginia Tech’s alumni community, overseeing strategy across digital, email, social, direct mail, advertising and engagement communications.

Web Editor | 2015–2017
Managed and created content for flagship university digital channels, including web, social and daily email, after initially supporting University Development’s digital presence.

Journalism

2006–2015

Before higher education, I spent nearly a decade in newsrooms in Virginia, Alabama, Georgia, and Maryland. I covered education, local government and communities — often writing about complicated issues where accuracy, context and trust mattered enormously.

Education Reporter | The Roanoke Times | 2012–2015
Covered some of Southwest Virginia’s largest school systems, including breaking news, data-driven reporting and complex and often contentious public issues.

Education Reporter | Montgomery Advertiser | 2010–2012
Covered K-12 and higher education in Montgomery, Alabama, with a major focus on the city’s public schools and the intersection of education, community and history.

Reporter | Columbus Ledger-Enquirer | 2009–2010

Education Reporter | Lynchburg News & Advance | 2007–2009

Reporter | Delmarva Media Group | 2006–2007

Education

B.S., Mass Communications
Virginia Commonwealth University | 2006