Holly Baker (BS ’12, journalism) – Communications Manager at American Red Cross of Chicago & Northern Illinois

Holly is a 2012 graduate of the College of Media and spent nearly 5 years working in local TV news as a reporter and anchor, even winning an Emmy during her time at the NBC affiliate in Green Bay, Wisconsin. She then switched over to public relations working as one of the lead press agents for “Broadway In Chicago” during the first months of the record-breaking “Hamilton” run in the Windy City. She currently is the Communications Manager and a spokesperson for the American Red Cross of Chicago & Northern Illinois, working with local media and sharing the humanitarian mission of the Red Cross.

Jon Hansen (BS ’06, journalism) – Reporter, Host, and Announcer at WCIU-TV Chicago, WGN-Radio, and Chicago Blackhawks

Jon is an Emmy Nominated reporter and host at WCIU-TV in Chicago. He is also a host for WGN 720AM, and a public address announcer and stadium host for the Chicago Blackhawks. Jon previously worked as a Lisagor Award nominated reporter at DNAinfo, a traffic reporter for FOX 32, and as a communications staffer for the United States Senate.

Cari James (BS ’01, public relations, Illinois State University) – Associate Director of Leadership Annual Giving & Constituent Engagement, College of Media at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Based out of the Illini Center Chicago, Cari is responsible for managing alumni and constituent engagement activities for the College of Media as well as a portfolio of 125 leadership and major gift prospects.

Robin Kaler (BS ’83, MS ’92, journalism; MBA ’04, business administration) – Associate Chancellor for Public Affairs at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Robin is a member of the chancellor’s senior leadership team and serves as university spokesperson. She is responsible for leading the campus’ communications and public relations efforts. She leads the crisis response communications team and is a frequent presenter to professional organizations on crisis communications and media relations. As director of the Public Affairs office for the university, she manages a team of about 35 full-time communications and media staff. She and her team built the Web Services and Video Services groups that provide services to communications professionals and faculty throughout the University of Illinois System. Her team also is responsible for the design and content of the campus homepage and manages the social media channels for the campus. She created and leads the Chief Communications Officers group to better coordinate communications and marketing efforts across the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Annie Lyons (BS ’18, media and cinema studies) – Public Relations Associate at All Points Public Relations

Annie graduated from the College of Media in 2018 with a degree in Media and Cinema studies. After serving as a marketing intern for a B2B company, Annie began her career as a Public Relations Associate at All Points PR. At All Points, Annie works with clients to create press releases, secure press opportunities, and communicates with her clients on a day-to-day basis.

Chris Malcom (BS ’90, journalism) – Director of Digital Content at the Big Ten Network

Having been at the Big Ten Network (BTN) since the cable network launched, Chris oversees the creation and distribution of video content across multiple platforms. Before BTN, he worked as a writer/editor/producer at the Chicago Tribune RedEye newspaper, Fox Sports, the Chicago Tribune digital sports section, and two smaller daily newspapers.

Anisa McClinton (BS ’16, MS ’17, journalism) – Commercial Producer at Nexstar Broadcasting, WCIA

In her role as a creative Commercial Producer, Anisa works with clients to write, shoot, and edit content for TV and Online promotion. Anisa started her career as a Production Assistant at WCIA and has grown within the company as their News Topical Promotions Producer to where she is today. Anisa is also the on air correspondent for the Viewers Club, a WCIA competition that airs on the evening newscast each night.

Shachar Meron (BS ’01, advertising; MS ’02, advertising) – Partner & Creative Strategist at Bluegreen Branding

Shachar bridges the worlds of brand strategy and creative campaigns. He spent 15 years in marketing and advertising—mostly at boutique B2B agencies (including his own), working on more than 100 brands such as Boeing, Motorola, Nordstrom, Johnson & Johnson, Cars.com, TransUnion and countless startups. He now enjoys teaching at the University of Illinois—notably the Advertising capstone and the Strategy Brand Communication intro course—while taking on consulting projects that challenge and excite him.

Ryann Monahan (BS ’04, media and cinema studies; MS ’05, journalism) – Communications Coordinator, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE ILLINOIS) at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Ryann is a former broadcast journalist and has worked in higher education instruction since 2012 as an adjunct instructor in the Department of Journalism at ILLINOIS and research communicator. Specialties include research translation and dissemination, digital and social media content creation, and impact storytelling. Monahan is also a founder and director of Project Athletes, a non-profit organization.

Samantha Moriarty (BS ’17, advertising) – Account Executive at Cramer-Krasselt

After working at Energy BBDO as an Assistant Account Executive for a year, Samantha was recruited by Cramer-Krasselt for an Account Executive position. She is currently working on the digital side of T. Marzetti’s CPG brands and Cotton Council International’s B2B business. Her favorite part about her job is that she gets to think strategically every day and is able to work on brands that are in completely different categories.

Kate Orloff (BA ‘04, history and classical civilization) – VP, Director at Starcom

As a marketing and media specialist, Kate has more than 13 years of experience across all major disciplines of the industry. Beginning her career at Starcom, she worked with all clients in the role of National Broadcast negotiator; in addition to leading Strategy & Planning for Allstate Insurance and National Video Investment for Hallmark. Kate expanded her skill set by moving to the “dark side” (aka: Sales 🙂 ), taking an Account Executive role at AMC Networks and providing branding solutions to clients across all key categories, including: CPG, QSR, retail, pharma, and financial services. In addition to traditional media experience, Kate has spent 3 years ingrained in the evolution of digital media, programmatic, CRM, loyalty, data & insights, and marketing technology at Conversant. Most recently, Kate has returned to Starcom to lead all Media Investment for the Jim Beam portfolio of brands.

Marisa Randle-Williams (BS ’05, advertising; MBA ’11, marketing, University of Illinois at Chicago) – VP of Marketing & Business Development at Illinois Business Financial Services

Marisa is newly Vice President, Marketing & Business Development for Illinois Business Financial Services, a non-profit economic development and lending company. After graduating from University of Illinois, Advertising (’05), she spent over 4 years at WPP agency Wunderman, where she worked in event marketing and promotions for clients Sears and Burger King. She then pursued her MBA at the University of Illinois at Chicago (’11), and went on to work for Walgreens, Kraft Heinz and organic start-up Back to the Roots in varied marketing, sales, and business analysis roles. She currently sits on the Junior board for Chicago’s Green City Market.

Darin Repp (BS ’96, advertising) – Senior Director at Beam Suntory

Advertising professional with 23 years of experience in both client-side (Beam Suntory) and external agency (DDB, Havas) settings. Has led a variety of marketing communications activities, from global campaigns to local activations for multinational companies and brands.

Allison Vance (BS ’11, journalism; MS ’19, advertising) – Content Strategy Director at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

In her current role, Allison provides leadership on campus messaging and communications, develops strategies for leveraging all university communications vehicles, directs communications for the Office of the Provost and acts as a member of the crisis communications team. She also has a freelance business, assisting clients with a variety of writing and communications projects. Previously, she was a longform journalist and magazine editor.

Julie Wurth (BS ’82, journalism) – Reporter, Columnist at News-Gazette Media

Julie is an award-winning reporter and columnist at The News-Gazette, covering higher education and writing the “Are We There Yet?” column. She recently launched the “Campus Conversation” podcast, part of a series cited by Editor & Publisher’s “10 newspapers that do it right” feature. She previously worked at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Peoria Journal-Star and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press in Washington, D.C. A proud former Daily Illini editor, she holds a journalism degree from the University of Illinois.