Authentic Allyship: Crafting Campaigns that Support LGBTQIA+ Students Year-Round

Transformation has been a hallmark of Jaime's career. In nearly 20 years working in higher education, she been part of four university rebrandings and five website overhauls. She's been hands-on in the development of an integrated marketing communications model at three institutions. As a result, she has gained extensive expertise in brand strategy, recruitment marketing, internal communications, crisis communications, issues management, online innovation, and media relations. She also has in her portfolio government relations and, for two years, she oversaw a public radio station. She is currently the vice president for university communications and chief marketing officer for Old Dominion University, a 23,000-student public R1 research institution in Coastal Virginia. Prior to her current role, she was the vice president and chief communications and marketing officer for Miami University (the one in not-as-sunny Oxford, Ohio). She also served in marketing and media relations leadership roles at Winston-Salem State University (North Carolina), Radford University (Virginia), the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, and Northwestern Health Sciences University (Minnesota). Her background also includes more than four years as a print journalist and three years working for nonprofits and in nonprofit consulting. She earned my bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Minnesota and her master's degree in integrated marketing communications from West Virginia University.

I'm from Columbus, Ohio originally but my partner and I moved to Santa Monica in November 2020. I have a degree in poetry from the University of Pittsburgh and have worked in a number of fields, including politics, government, non-profits, charter schools, agencies, corporations and institutions. My favorite lessons my dad taught me are: "There's always enough money for a book" and "never miss an opportunity to say nothing." I'll always choose music over TV, travel over homeownership. Kindness enthusiast. Tattoo collector. I also host "Higher Voltage" a podcast about higher education marketing and branding. In my role as Director of Community Engagement at SimpsonScarborough, I work with CMOs from institutions across the country to help them reach their strategic goals with data, insights, and programming, while moving the higher ed marketing industry forward in important ways.