Seventeen years telling Division I stories to a national audience

The mandate

Directed the strategic communications and brand storytelling function for a large, high-profile Division I athletics department — setting vision and priorities across media relations, content creation, digital communications, and crisis response, and serving as senior communications advisor to athletics administration and university leadership.

• Standards, not one-offs. Established content standards and messaging frameworks for internal and external communications — publications, feature stories, executive communications, speeches, leadership talking points, press releases, and digital content.
• An editorial engine. Developed ongoing editorial and storytelling plans showcasing student-athletes, programs, and achievements across digital platforms and publications.
• Institutional reach. Represented the department on the University's social media leadership group, helping shape platform strategy, governance, and best practices across the institution.
• Ownership of the budget. Oversaw the communications budget and resource allocation, aligning spending with strategic priorities and operational needs.

Building visibility

Advanced institutional visibility, stakeholder engagement, and brand reputation through strategic media relations, storytelling, and partnerships across national, regional, business, and industry outlets. In college athletics the coverage is not optional — the only variable is whether you shaped it.

The moments

Championship weeks, tournament travel, and draft nights compress a season of relationship-building into 72 hours. These are the days the infrastructure either holds or doesn't.

Under pressure

Led comprehensive media relations strategy and served as senior communications advisor to athletics administration and university leadership on high-profile issues, sensitive matters, and institution-wide messaging.

Developed and led emergency and crisis communications strategies in coordination with university officials and local authorities, managing reputational risk in fast-moving, high-visibility situations — the environment where every word is scrutinized and the first hour sets the frame for everything after it.

“Managing rapid-response communications in a politicized, high-visibility environment is transferable to any sector. The principle holds: speed, accuracy, empathy.”

The work itself

In 2019 the national spotlight on Buffalo men's basketball was as bright as it had ever been. The Tournament Guide we produced that year is probably the most comprehensive document I built in my time there — 68 pages of records, rosters, statistics, features, and background, written to be the reference every broadcaster and beat writer worked from.

Recognition