Education
American University — Washington, D.C.
American University School of Communication, Master of Arts in Journalism and Public Affairs, specializing in Broadcast Journalism; Graduation May 2014
William Peace University — Raleigh, N.C.
Bachelor of Arts in Communication, specializing in Mass Communication; Political Science and Spanish language minor; Graduation May 2012
Universidad de Granada — Granada, Spain
Spring 2011
Awards
Missouri Broadcasters Association, 2016 Award for best website for a large TV station for KSHB.com
Tennessee Associated Press, 2015 Second place award for best website, WATE.com
Regional Edward R. Murrow Award, 2015 Award for best website, WATE.com
Professional Experience
The University of Virginia — Charlottesville, Virginia
Social Media Director (May 2020-present)
- Leads University Communications’ social media communications programs on platforms including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other emerging platforms.
- Develop and implement social media stratgies and campaigns that reach target audiences and align with departmetns overall content strategy
- Partner with departmetn to identify opportunities to incorporate social emdia components into digital storytelling sites and products
- Maintain social media content calendar
- Use data to identify, assess and calibrate communications engagement and output on the University’s social media presence
Blue Cross NC — Durham, N.C.
Social Media Community Manager (September 2018-May 2020)
- Develops, promotes and maintains a vibrant online community presence for Blue Cross NC
- Engages first by listening, then actively participates in communities to connect with customers to share information, diffuse negative situations and humanize our brand
- Monitors online conversations, understands and keeps up with the uniqueness of each social channel
- Recommends strategies and content that consumers are most likely to engage with on each social media channel
- Develop and publish social media content and manage the content calendar
Shaw University — Raleigh, N.C.
Adjunct Instructor (August 2018-May 2020)
- Effectively teaches knowledge-relevant college-level mass communication courses, with a commitment to providing excellence in education — reporting and writing (MCO 210), multimedia convergence (MCO 231) and social media management (MCO 460)
- Presents course teachings in such a way that students are encouraged to develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills, to increase motivation, to develop a positive self-image, and to clarify their values.
- Actively engages in planning, developing and improving curriculum offerings.
The News and Observer — Raleigh, N.C.
Regional Audience Growth Producer (January 2018-September 2018)
- Sought ways to cultivate conversation around the News & Observer and the Herald Sun’s journalism
- Collaborated with three newsrooms — The News and Observer, The Herald-Sun and The Charlotte Observer — to listen to audience questions, design and implement social media promotion plans for the NC Influencer series. This was a Hearken’s public-powered model to identify topics that resonated with our audience.
- Familiarized newsrooms on how to have comfortable online conversations with readers
- Used Omniture and Chartbeat to inform coverage and promotion decisions
- Managed homepages for newsobserver.com and heraldsun.com
- Worked with regional growth team on strategies for soliciting subscriptions on social media
- Facilitated digital newsroom training in social media best practices, connecting with online communities and effective push alerts.
The News and Observer — Raleigh, N.C.
Social Media and Analytics Editor (October 2017-January 2018)
- Oversaw social media strategy for two newsrooms — News & Observer and the Herald Sun — across verticals and platforms including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Reddit
- Launched and moderated “The Story of My Street: Gentrification in Durham” Facebook Group with 600+ active members
- Coached staff on uniqueness of each social channel and reader engagement, emphasizing voice and tone
- Designed and implemented social media promotion plans for major projects and news events
- Monitored social media engagement using CrowdTangle
KSHB-TV — Kansas City, Mo.
Digital Executive Producer (December 2015-October 2017)
- Managed team of four digital content producers in executing digital strategy across KSHB.com, mobile apps, alerts and social media
- Tracked web and social media analytics to gauge content strategy success and failures
- Coached newsroom staff on digital tools and mobile journalism trends
- Developed newsroom guidelines for Facebook Live and promoted its use
- Coordinated sponsored content campaigns with digital sales team, like Taste & See KC
WATE-TV — Knoxville, Tenn.
Digital Content Producer (September 2014-December 2015)
- Produced and edited digital content, including web stories and web-only videos on deadline for site and mobile app from first-hand reporting, news releases, notes and broadcast scripts
- Worked with reporters to create digital strategy, including social media plans for every day and larger digital stories
- Monitored web metrics and applied SEO best practices to content
- Shared stories on social media at peak times with engaging copy, photos or video for high engagement
- Worked with producers to make sure all information on TV translated well online and on social media
Skills
Community building, SEO writing, copy editing, Adobe Creative Suite, digital analytics, social analytics, videography, video editing, photography, copy editing, Final Cut Pro, basic HTML and public speaking
Related Experience
NABJ Multimedia Short Course, Mentor
Served as lead digital and social media instructor for the National Association of Black Journalists Multimedia Short Course at N.C. A&T State University. I mentored college journalists in the areas of multimedia storytelling, online news production and social media best practices.
Poynter Leadership Academy for Women in Digital Media, 2017
Graduate of 28-person, week-long intensive leadership training program for women in journalism
Online News Association – CNN Diversity Fellow, 2015
Graduate of fellowship that recognizes five digital journalists with an all-expense paid trip to the ONA conference in Los Angeles.
Society of Professional Journalists Reporters Institute, 2012
One of 32 early career-career journalists who participated in a three-day program at the Poynter Institute
Professional Organizations
- National Association of Black Journalists
Member
- Online News Association – Triangle NC Chapter
Organizer